American Bar Ass’n. Antitrust Section Approves EU’s Block Exemption Reg

The Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association has given its view of the European Union’s Block Exemption Regulation (BER). In a notice on its web site (www.abanet.org) the Section said it “appreciates this opportunity to present its views on the European Commission’s [EC] draft regulation continuing, with modifications, a block exemption to the application of Article 81(1) to certain agreements, decisions and concerted practices in the insurance sector.”
The BER exempts certain insurance cooperation measures from EU anti-trust laws. The EC recently announced that it would reverse its decision, made last year, not to extend the exemption when it expires next year.

It has now indicated that it will renew certain parts of the BER, including agreements on setting premiums, as long as the substance of those agreements were “disclosed to consumers.” It won’t renew exemptions on policy wording, however, because the EC has indicated there’s no need to do so, as it’s common practice among banks to standardize their wording, and insurers should be able to do the same thing.

Exemptions for pooling arrangements, involving co-insurance and reinsurance will also be renewed, but with a number of restrictions, most of which are opposed by industry trade groups.

The ABA bulletin said that “although the Antitrust Section generally opposes exempting particular industries from the application of U.S. antitrust laws, the Section recognizes that the analysis that informs choices for block exemption from Section 81(1) is designed to identify and cover clearly procompetitive conduct and is therefore desirable under the unique features of European Community (“EC”) competition law and enforcement procedure.
“The Antitrust Section believes the existing block exemption regulation has served a useful purpose in the special circumstances of EC competition law and enforcement procedures and commends the Commission for proposing modifications that narrow the scope of the exemption.
These views are presented only on behalf of the Antitrust Section of the ABA. They have not been approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the ABA and should not be construed as representing the policy of the ABA.”

Source: American Bar Association

Topics Legislation Europe