§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to the reply of the Under-Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Knapman) on 13 January,Official Report, column 321, if he will make a statement setting out the elements of the proposed directive on non-life insurance which were agreed at the Internal Council meeting on 18 December.
§ Mr. Maude[holding answer 21 January 1988]: Yes. The most important element of the non-life insurance services directive agreed at the Internal Market Council on 18 December 1987 was the level of the thresholds above 31W which a more liberal regime will be applied to cross-frontier transactions. Other important elements include the circumstances under which a company already established in a member state may do business there on a service basis, treatment of technical reserves (the provisions held by insurers to meet their underwriting liabilities), matching (the requirement of an insurer to hold a proportion of his assets in the currency of his risks), provisions relating to compulsory insurance and provisions relating to taxation of insurance premiums. The directive will also make certain amendments to the non-life insurance establishment directive.
The United Kingdom welcomes this agreement, which represents substantial progress in opening the EC market to cross-frontier transactions and should benefit both the producers and consumers of insurance. We hope the Council will now be able to reach an early common position on the directive.