§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on progress towards the implementation of the third Council directive on non-life insurance, 92/49/EEC and the third Council directive on life assurance, 92/96/EEC by the other states of the European Economic Area.
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansAccording to information currently available Finland, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden have still to complete their implementation of the directives. To the extent that these states have not fully or substantially implemented the directives, the provisions of regulation 71 of the Insurance Companies (Third Insurance Directives) Regulations 1994 or regulation 15 of the Insurance Companies (Amendment) Regulations 1994 will apply to any insurance company whose head office is in one of these states. Such companies will continue to require authorisation under the Insurance Companies Act 1982 to carry on direct insurance business in the United Kingdom. They will also still be required to submit returns to the Department, in accordance with the Insurance Companies (Accounts and Statements) Regulations 1983, in respect of their UK business.