First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance
Modified by
  • Council Directiveof 29 June 1976amending Directive 73/239/EEC on the co-ordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance(76/580/EEC), 376L0580, July 13, 1976
  • Actconcerning the conditions of accession of the Hellenic Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties, 179H, November 19, 1979
  • Council Directiveof 10 December 1984amending, particularly as regards tourist assistance, the First Directive (73/239/EEC) on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance(84/641/EEC), 384L0641, December 27, 1984
  • Actconcerning the conditions of accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties, 185I, November 15, 1985
  • Council Directiveof 22 June 1987amending, as regards credit insurance and suretyship insurance, First Directive 73/239/EEC on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance(87/343/EEC), 387L0343, July 4, 1987
  • Council Directiveof 22 June 1987on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to legal expenses insurance(87/344/EEC), 387L0344, July 4, 1987
  • Second Council Directiveof 22 June 1988on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance and laying down provisions to facilitate the effective exercise of freedom to provide services and amending Directive 73/239/EEC(88/357/EEC), 388L0357, July 4, 1988
  • Council Directiveof 8 November 1990amending, particularly as regards motor vehicle liability insurance, Directive 73/239/EEC and Directive 88/357/EEC which concern the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance(90/618/EEC), 390L0618, November 29, 1990
  • Council Directive 92/49/EECof 18 June 1992on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance and amending Directives 73/239/EEC and 88/357/EEC (third non-life insurance Directive), 392L0049, August 11, 1992
  • Actconcerning the conditions of accession of the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded (94/C 241/08) Decision of the Council of the European Unionof 1 January 1995adjusting the instruments concerning the accession of new Member States to the European Union(95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC), 194N395D0001, August 29, 1994
  • Decision of the Council of the European Unionof 1 January 1995adjusting the instruments concerning the accession of new Member States to the European Union(95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC), 395D0001, January 1, 1995
  • European Parliament and Council Directive 95/26/ECof 29 June 1995amending Directives 77/780/EEC and 89/646/EEC in the field of credit institutions, Directives 73/239/EEC and 92/49/EEC in the field of non-life insurance, Directives 79/267/EEC and 92/96/EEC in the field of life assurance, Directive 93/22/EEC in the field of investment firms and Directive 85/611/EEC in the field of undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (Ucits), with a view to reinforcing prudential supervision, 395L0026, July 18, 1995
  • Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97of 17 June 1997on certain provisions relating to the introduction of the euro, 397R1103, June 19, 1997
  • Directive 2000/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 16 May 2000on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles and amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC and 88/357/EEC(Fourth motor insurance Directive), 300L0026, July 20, 2000
  • Directive 2002/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 5 March 2002amending Council Directive 73/239/EEC as regards the solvency margin requirements for non-life insurance undertakings, 302L0013, March 20, 2002
  • Directive 2002/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 16 December 2002on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate and amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC, 79/267/EEC, 92/49/EEC, 92/96/EEC, 93/6/EEC and 93/22/EEC, and Directives 98/78/EC and 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, 302L0087, February 11, 2003
  • Actconcerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, 103T, September 23, 2003
  • Directive 2005/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 9 March 2005amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC, 85/611/EEC, 91/675/EEC, 92/49/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directives 94/19/EC, 98/78/EC, 2000/12/EC, 2001/34/EC, 2002/83/EC and 2002/87/EC in order to establish a new organisational structure for financial services committees(Text with EEA relevance), 305L0001, March 24, 2005
  • Directive 2005/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 16 November 2005on reinsurance and amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC, 92/49/EEC as well as Directives 98/78/EC and 2002/83/EC(Text with EEA relevance), 305L0068, December 9, 2005
  • Council Directive 2006/101/ECof 20 November 2006adapting Directives 73/239/EEC, 74/557/EEC and 2002/83/EC in the field of freedom to provide services, by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, 306L0101, December 20, 2006
Corrected by
  • Corrigendum to the First Council Directive of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance, 373L0239R(01), January 7, 1978
First Council Directiveof 24 July 1973on the coordination of laws, Regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance(73/239/EEC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 57 (2) thereof; Having regard to the General ProgrammeOJ No 2, 15. 1. 1962, p. 36/62. for the abolition of restrictions on freedom of establishment, and in particular Title IV C thereof; Having regard to the proposal from the Commission; Having regard to the Opinion of the European ParliamentOJ No C 27, 28. 3. 1968, p. 15.; Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social CommitteeOJ No 158, 18. 7. 1967, p. 1.; Whereas by virtue of the General Programme the removal of restrictions on the establishment of agencies and branches is, in the case of the direct insurance business, dependent on the coordination of the conditions for the taking-up and pursuit of this business; whereas such coodination should be effected in the first place in respect of direct insurance other than life assurance; Whereas in order to facilitate the taking-up and pursuit of the business of insurance, it is essential to eliminate certain divergencies which exist between national supervisory legislation; whereas in order to achieve this objective, and at the same time ensure adequate protection for insured and third parties in all the Member States, it is desirable to coordinate, in particular, the provisions relating to the financial guarantees required of insurance undertakings; Whereas a classification of risks in the different classes of insurance is necessary in order to determine, in particular, the activities subject to a compulsory authorization and the amount of the minimum guarantee fund fixed for the class of insurance concerned; Whereas it is desirable to exclude from the application of this Directive mutual associations which, by virtue of their legal status, fulfil appropriate conditions as to security and financial guarantees; whereas it is further desirable to exclude certain institutions in several Member States whose business covers a very limited sector only and is restricted by law to a specified territory or to specified persons; Whereas the various laws contain different rules as to the simultaneous undertaking of health insurance, credit and suretyship insurance and insurance in respect of recourse against third parties and legal defence, whether with one another or with other classes of insurance; whereas continuance of this divergence after the abolition of restrictions on the right of establishment in classes other than life assurance would mean that obstacles to establishment would continue to exist; whereas a solution to this problem must be provided in subsequent coordination to be effected within a relatively short period of time; Whereas it is necessary to extend supervision in each Member State to all the classes of insurance to which this Directive applies; whereas such supervision is not possible unless the undertaking of such classes of insurance is subject to an official authorization; whereas it is therefore necessary to define the conditions for the granting or withdrawal of such authorization; whereas provision must be made for a right to apply to the courts should an authorization be refused or withdrawn; Whereas it is desirable to bring the classes of insurance known as transport classes bearing Nos 4, 5, 6, 7 and 12 in Paragraph A of the Annex, and the credit insurance classes bearing Nos 14 and 15 in paragraph A of the Annex, under more flexible rules in view of the continual fluctuations in conditions affecting goods and credit; Whereas the search for a common method of calculating technical reserves is at present the subject of studies at Community level; whereas it therefore appears to be desirable to reserve the attainment of coordination in this matter, as well as questions relating to the determination of categories of investments and the valuation of assets, for subsequent Directives; Whereas it is necessary that insurance undertakings should possess, over and above technical reserves of sufficient amount to meet their underwriting liabilities, a supplementary reserve, to be known as the solvency margin, and represented by free assets, in order to provide against business fluctuations; whereas in order to ensure that the requirements imposed for such purposes are determined according to objective criteria, whereby undertakings of the same size are placed on an equal footing as regards competition, it is desirable to provide that such margin shall be related to the overall volume of business of the undertaking and be determined by reference to two indices of security, one based on premiums and the other on claims; Whereas it is desirable to require a minimum guarantee fund related to the size of the risk in the classes undertaken, in order to ensure that undertakings possess adequate resources when they are set up and that in the subsequent course of business the solvency margin shall in no event fall below a minimum of security; Whereas it is necessary to make provision for the case where the financial condition of the undertaking becomes such that it is difficult for it to meet its underwriting liabilities; Whereas the coordinated rules concerning the taking-up and pursuit of the business or direct insurance within the Community should, in principle, apply to all undertakings entering the market and, consequently, also to agencies and branches where the head office of the undertaking is situated outside the Community; whereas it is, nevertheless, desirable as regards the methods of supervision to make special provision with respect to such agencies or branches in view of the fact that the assets of the undertakings to which they belong are situated outside the Community; Whereas it is, however, desirable to permit the relaxation of such special conditions, while observing the principle that such agencies and branches should not obtain more favourable treatment than undertakings within the Community; Whereas certain transitional provisions are required in order, in particular, to permit small and medium-sized undertakings already in existence to adapt themselves to the requirements which must be imposed by the Member States in pursuance of this Directive, subject to the application of Article 53 of the Treaty; Whereas it is important to guarantee the uniform application of coordinated rules and to provide, in this respect, for close collaboration between the Commission and the Member States in this field; HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
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