The European Commission on Thursday gave Portugal and five other countries two months to fully transpose the EU directive on motor insurance into national law, threatening to take the matter to court.
In November’s infringement package, the European Commission said it had decided to send reasoned opinions to Portugal, as well as Bulgaria, Spain, Latvia, Malta and Romania because these member states had “failed to notify the Commission of the full transposition into national law of the amended Motor Insurance Directive”.
The deadline for transposition from EU to national law was 23 December 2023. On 25 January this year, the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to these member states but did not receive a satisfactory response.
As this new deadline was not met, the EU executive insisted again on Thursday that Bulgaria, Spain, Latvia, Malta, Portugal and Romania now have two months to respond and adopt the necessary measures.
“Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union,” Brussels said.
The Motor Insurance Directive aims to strengthen the protection of victims of road accidents throughout the EU. This amendment clarifies the scope of this protection, facilitates the monitoring of compulsory motor insurance, and creates a mechanism for compensating victims in the event of the responsible insurer’s insolvency.
It also makes it easier for policyholders to change insurance companies, guaranteeing equal and non-discriminatory treatment of claims.
(Ana Matos Neves | Lusa.pt)