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The Future of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation - or How Special is the Insurance Sector?

August 2009
CompetitionInsurance

Abstract

Subject to certain conditions, the current Insurance Block Exemption Regulation (BER) exempts important forms of cooperation in the insurance industry from the application of the prohibition of anti-competitive practices in Article 81 EC Treaty, namely: • joint calculations, tables and studies, • standard policy conditions (SPC), • pools and • security devices. The BER will expire by default on 31 March 2010. Under the Implementing Regulation , the European Commission is required six years after its entry into force, to submit a report to the European Parliament and Council on the functioning of the BER together with any proposals for amendment in the light of experience. The Commission started its review of the functioning of the BER in April 2008, launching a consultation. In addition to the consultation, the Commission sent questionnaires to certain stakeholders, public authorities and consumer organizations. Also, the national competition authorities have been closely involved in the review.

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Author

Portrait image of Jeannine Bartmann
Jeannine Bartmann
Head of Competition, IP and IT-Law, Allianz SE, Germany

Dr. Jeannine Bartmann is a German attorney and in-house counsel, heading the unit competition, IP and IT law at the legal department of Allianz SE, the parent company of the Allianz Group, one of the leading global financial services providers. Before joining Allianz in 2003, Dr. Bartmann was a salary partner in a German-based international law firm advising clients on competition and IP law matters. She is a member of the Committee for Antirust and Unfair Competition Law of the German Insurance Association (GDV). Dr. Bartmann publishes and holds seminars in the field of competition law with a special focus on insurance-related matters. She is a German doctor of law and has an Executive Master of European and International Business Law degree from the University of Sankt Gallen, Switzerland (M.B.L.-HSG).

Company

Allianz SE

Alllianz is an international financial service provider, that offers its 85 million customers products and solutions in insurance and asset management in more than 70 countries.

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