Insurance Europe: Harmonisation not answer to difficulties arising from different rules on limitation periods

14 July 2016

There is no need to harmonise rules on limitation periods across the EU, according to a speech that Nicolas Jeanmart, head of personal insurance, general insurance and macroeconomics at Insurance Europe, gave at a hearing at the European Parliament.

The hearing, which took place on 12 July, addressed difficulties for victims of road traffic accidents as a result of the existence of different rules on limitation or prescription periods in the EU, and how to address these difficulties.

These difficulties are generally perceived as taking two forms:

• They can either be the result of limitation periods in some member states being considered too short to allow access to redress in cross-border claims.
• Or they may be linked to a perceived lack of information about the rules in different states.

In his speech, Jeanmart noted that a study by the European Commission in 2009 found that such “cases are relatively rare” and that any solutions should not “lead to overhauling the whole legal framework of member states”.

A subsequent Commission consultation in 2012 suggested two types of solutions: either providing information on the differences in limitation periods, or harmonising certain aspects of the rules on limitation periods, when they apply to cross-border accidents.

Jeanmart said that the provision of information by the Commission was Insurance Europe’s favoured option to address the potential difficulties arising from the differences in limitation periods and to support victims of cross-border accidents. On the other hand, he said that amending the rules on limitation periods would be a very complex and disproportionate endeavour.

Full speech

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