1. The Member States shall inform the Commission of any general difficulties encountered by their insurance undertakings in establishing themselves or carrying on their activities in a third country.
2. Initially no later than six months before the date referred to in the second paragraph of Article 30 of Directive 90/619/EEC (1), and thereafter periodically, the Commission shall draw up a report examining the treatment accorded to Community insurance undertakings in third countries, in the terms referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4, as regards establishment and the carrying on of insurance activities, and the acquisition of holdings in third-country insurance undertakings. The Commission shall submit those reports to the Council, together with any appropriate proposals.
3. Whenever it appears to t
Commission, either on the basis of the reports referred to in paragraph 2 or on the basis of other information, that a third country is not granting Community insurance undertakings effective market access comparable to that granting Community to insurance undertakings effective market access comparable to that granted by the Community to insurance undertakings from that third country, the Commission may submit proposals to the Council for the appropriate mandate for negotiation with a view to obtaining comparable competitive opportunities for Community insurance undertakings. The Council shall decide by a qualified majority.
4. Whenever it appears to the Commission, either on the basis of the reports referred to in paragraph 2 or on the basis of other information, that Community insurance undertakings in a third country are not
receiving national treatment offering the same competitive opportunities as are available to domestic insurance undertakings and that the conditions of effective market access are not being fulfilled, the Commission may initiate negotiations in order to remedy the situation.
In the circumstances described in the first subparagraph, it may also be decided at any time, and in addition to initiating negociations, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 32b (6), that the competent authorities of the Member States must limit or suspend their decisions:
_ regarding requests pending at the moment of the decision or future requests for authorizations, and
_ regarding the acquisition of holdings by direct or indirect parent undertakings governed by the laws of the third country in question.
The duration of the measures referred to may not exceed three months.
Before the end of that three-month period, and in the light of the results of the negotiations, the Council may, acting on a proposal from the Commission, decide by a qualified majority whether the measures shall be continued.
Such limitations or suspension may not apply to the setting up of subsidiaries by insurance undertakings or their subsidiaries duly authorized in the Community, or to the acquisition of holdings in Community insurance undertakings by such undertakings or subsidiaries.
5. Whenever it appears to the Commission that one of the situations described in paragraphs 3 and 4 has arisen, the Member States shall inform it at its request:
(a) of any request for the authorization of a direct or indirect subsidiary one or more parent undertakings of which are governed by the laws of the third country in question;
(b) of any plans for such an undertaking to acquire a holding in a Community insurance undertaking such that the latter would become the subsidiary of the former.
This obligation to provide information shall lapse whenever an agreement is reached with the third country referred to in paragraph 3 or 4 when the measures referred to in the second and third subparagraphs of paragraph 4 cease to apply.
6. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.
The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee.
If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
If, on the expiry of a period to be laid down in each act to be adopted by the Council under this paragraph but which may in no case exceed three months from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission, save where the Council has decided against the said measures by a simple majority.
7. Measures taken under this Article shall comply with the Community's obligations under any international agreements, bilateral or multilateral, governing the taking-up and pursuit of the busin
of insurance undertakings.
(1) OJ No L 330, 29. 11. 1990, p. 50.'
Provisions relating specifically to the freedom to provide services