After the European Commission had already proposed an amendment to the Motor Insurance Directive in May 2018, the negotiations will now gain momentum in the new legislative period. As no significant progress was made in the Council, the reform was postponed to the new legislative period. To move the reform forward, the Parliamentary Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) requested the resumption of work on 18 July 2019 and appointed a new rapporteur.
The Commission originally proposed a reform in five areas: compensation to victims of accidents in which an insurer goes bankrupt; minimum amounts of cover; control of motor insurance by Member States; the way in which claims history statements are used by a new insurer; and the scope of the Directive.
In February 2019, the plenary of the European Parliament discussed amendments, but did not end the first reading and instructed the IMCO Committee to enter into inter-institutional negotiations with Member States (Council of the EU) and the Commission. The Parliament explicitly highlighted three reform proposals. On the one hand, the provisions on controls are to be tightened in order to tackle uninsured driving and to streamline the procedure for compensating injured parties in the event of the insurer's insolvency. On the other hand, small vehicles such as electric scooters or e-bikes should be excluded from the scope of the directive and the corresponding regulation should be left to the national states. It will also examine the suitability of the rules for new autonomous vehicles and high-speed lightweight vehicles.
See also: - Procedure File.