As discussed in our
Spring 2011 e-zine, on 1 March 2011 the European Court of
Justice (the "ECJ") delivered judgment in the Test-Achats
case ruling that, with effect from 21 December 2012 (the
"Effective Date"), Article 5(2) of Council Directive
2004/113/EC (the "Gender Directive") is
invalid.
Since this judgment, there has been considerable uncertainty and
confusion within the insurance industry and among national
regulators and legislators as to how the judgment will apply in
practice.
With the aim of facilitating compliance by Member States at a
national level, the European Commission published its guidelines on
the application of the Gender Directive to insurance in light of
the judgment of the ECJ in Test-Achats (the
"Guidelines"). The Guidelines are stated to be
without prejudice to any future interpretation that the ECJ may
give to Article 5 of the Gender Directive and the ECJ is not bound
by the Guidelines.
