European Commission threatens Portugal with court action
The European Commission on Thursday gave Portugal and five other countries two months to fully transpose the European Union (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 “have failed to notify the Commission of the complete transposition of the amended motor insurance directive into national law”.
The deadline for this transposition from EU to national law was December 23, 2023, and on January 25 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 appears not to have not been met, the EU executive has insisted again today 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,” says Brussels.
The directive on motor insurance aims to strengthen the protection of victims of road accidents throughout the EU, and the amendment now in question clarifies the scope of this protection, makes it easier to monitor compulsory motor insurance and creates a mechanism for compensating victims in the event of the insolvency of the insurer responsible.
It also makes it easier for policyholders to change insurance companies, guaranteeing equal and non-discriminatory treatment of claims.
LUSA
