Insurance sector: freedom to provide services and general good

The Committee adopted the report by Marlies MOSIEK-URBAHN (EPP, D) on the Commission's interpretative communication on freedom to provide services and the general good in the insurance sector. The committee welcomes the Commission's decision to open up its discussions with the authorities of the Member States on the concept of "the general good" in the insurance sector to wider public consultation. The aim of the Commission's communication is to eliminate as far as possible the remaining obstacles to freedom of movement in the insurance sector caused by the uncertainty surrounding the interpretation of this concept. The committee shares the Commission's view that the concept of "the general good" is best defined by identifying and describing areas that are not included in the concept. It welcomes the practical examples of provisions introduced by the Member States on grounds of the general good which are in fact deemed "inadmissible" by the Commission and asks the Commission to provide examples which do satisfy the criteria. It calls on the Commission to continue to issue warnings and initiate proceedings for failure to act against Member States when it detects an unjustified use of the term "the general good".�