Insurance Europe

Insurance Europe has responded to a consultation conducted by the European Commission on its proposal for a regulation for an anti-coercion instrument (ACI).

Insurance Europe strongly supports the aim of the proposal: ie to empower the EU to react when a third country adopts or threatens to adopt measures to pressure either the EU or a member state into making a particular policy choice.

The ACI must, however, be balanced and should not be used as a tool to obtain EU political objectives and, furthermore, must not be used as a protectionist tool. Moreover, it is of the utmost importance that the EU remains open to international trade and investment.

With that in mind, the ACI must:

• Ensure a proportionate approach, and the industry welcomes the fact that the regulation focuses only on deterrence and prevention. Furthermore, the ACI should be used as a measure of last resort and only in the context of trade measures.
• Include a compensation mechanism for companies affected by third countries’ coercive measures.
• Respect EU obligations and commitments under international law, in particular WTO commitments.