Parliament debates on updated motor insurance rules to ensure better protection and equal treatment of EU citizens involved in accidents or when insuring their vehicles. Opening statements by Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur and by Mairead McGUINNESS, European Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability, and Capital Markets Union.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

CHARANZOVÁ, Dita (Renew, CZ)

McGUINNESS, Mairead (EPP, IE)

road safety (T)

Insurance of motor vehicles: opening statements by Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur and by Mairead McGUINNESS, European Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability, and Capital Markets Union

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, Thank you very much, Mr. President. Madam Commissioner, today we will take an important step, an important step towards making our road safer, a better insurance system that protects victims of accidents, including when an insurance company goes bankrupt.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, Today we start the process to end discrimination discrimination of EU car owners who move from one member state to another, so experienced drivers are no longer treated like they just turned 18 years again.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, Today we end the uncertainty around our motorsports in Europe, who will be able to keep racing. Today, we prevent overregulation that would have harmed the uptake of e-bikes and could have made even a wheelchairs subject to a law designed for cars and trucks.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, Overall, this is a good day for all vehicles, users in Europe and to anyone who unfortunately finds themselves injured in an accident. These are concrete examples of Europe taking concrete actions for our citizens. On average, there is one car for two Europeans. Vehicles are a huge part of our lives and will continue to be.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, While our hope that our citizens never have to use their motor insurance, they should know that it will work if need it. I am proud to have been part of this effort. Concretely, if you have an accident and your insurance or the insurance of the other person goes bankrupt, you are protected.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, Every member state must have a compensation fund that will ensure compensation for injured parties as if your insurer was still active. The European Parliament also made sure that you should receive your compensation as soon as possible was in weeks and set of years. Soon, you will see also a harmonised claim history statement across Europe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, There will no longer be any excuse to discriminate against a driver coming from another member state. So if a check driver moves to France, even if his or her statement is in check. A harmonised form will ensure it is understandable. The boxes will be the same throughout Europe. In addition, the parliament also ensure that if an insurer offers a discount for good drivers that you are also entitled to the same discount.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, No matter your nationality, your clean driving record will be universally understood and valued across Europe. We have also ended the dark cloud over our motorsport's in Europe. For years, it has been unclear what the insurance requirements for racing vehicles were. For many, motor sports, especially amateur competitions, to require a full motor insurance would have been their demise as either no one would sell them.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, The insurance or the price of that insurance would be beyond all reason. After today, it will be clear while competition must have insurance to cover spectators and other third parties, there is no European requirement to have full motor insurance on each racing vehicle. This means the viewing public can keep going to the race track on Fridays in our cities and towns across Europe and have a good time.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, They will be protected and a motorsports will stay legal in Europe. Lastly, citizens can feel free to go out and buy e-bikes. There is no European requirement for motor insurance on e-bike, while many should take out voluntary insurance. Others can continue to be covered by other types of house or family insurance.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, But you can feel safe that buying an e-bike will be easier than buying a car or truck. President, these and many other items was under directive are examples of the European Parliament applying common sense, common sense to our motor insurance rules. Listened to our citizens what they wanted and we delivered.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, However, citizens should know that a European directive can only do so much. How these reforms are now implemented are in the hands of the member states, so I can only hope that member states will use the tools we have given them and the law to make sure the common sense that the European Parliament has shown is merit.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, Also, at a national level, just because you can require insurance on anything with an engine or wheels don't mean you should. President, so let me end by thanking everyone who had a hand in this process and in this success from the European Commission, especially Commissioner McGuinness to the Croatian, German and especially Portuguese presidencies who worked with us over some very technical details of this file and found this good and very successful compromise.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, Let me also thank to all my shadows their assistance, but also the IMCO secretariat who kept this file alive and a special thanks to my assistant, Andrew Helmond, who was vital at every stage of this negotiation and who left this file with me during the last more than two years. Thank you all.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mairead McGUINNESS, European Commissioner for Financial Services, Thank you for the appreciation for the work of vicepresident Charanzova and all of her shadows. And can I say I really appreciate your common sense approach? And indeed, if you look back on the history of the Motor Insurance Directive, the first one was adopted in 1972, and for nearly 50 years, it has enabled vehicles and motorists to travel freely across the European Union using the same compulsory insurance.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mairead McGUINNESS, European Commissioner for Financial Services, But above all, the directive protects the victims of accidents. We have made a number of improvements to the directive over the past five years, and the text we agreed at the end of June is another important step towards improving the rules. The negotiations were long, in part because of the pandemic, but I believe we have reached a good compromise, which will have significant benefits for the people you represent in this house.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dita CHARANZOVÁ (Renew, CZ), rapporteur, It means that citizens will be protected if their insurer becomes insolvent. Policyholders that move to another member state will have their claims history assessed in the same way as residents of that member state. In other words, people can take their no claims track record with them if they move to another EU country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mairead McGUINNESS, European Commissioner for Financial Services, And most importantly, European citizens who are victims of an accident will receive timely compensation for injuries or damages. Finally, clarifying the scope will improve legal certainty for victims and policyholders. Colleagues, I wish you all the best for the vote today, and I hope for the adoption of this revision of the Motor Insurance Directive. Thank you.