Insurance Europe is aware of the difficulties of trying to harmonise measures at Level 3 when the relevant rules are not harmonised at Level 1, and as such these guidelines necessarily should be kept high level in nature. It is crucial to ensure a coherent approach and avoid going beyond the scope and requirements of the relevant primary legislation. Moreover, the guidelines should not address issues and requirements that are not specific to cross-selling practices.
A number of issues that are addressed in the proposed guidelines are not only relevant in the context of cross-selling, eg advice, disclosures, training and remuneration, but are relevant to the sale of all insurance products. There is no clear consumer benefit, therefore, in issuing specific guidance on how they should be addressed in the case of cross-selling.
Insurance Europe would also like to highlight the fact that tying and bundling practices are captured by both EU and national competition law, while any practices that are perceived to be unfair may be covered under the provisions of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC). This Directive is designed to achieve a high level of consumer protection across EU member states and prohibits any practices that would be harmful to consumers’ economic interests.
A final report, along with the final guidelines, is expected to be published by the Joint Committee by the end of 2015.
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