The European Commission last Thursday gave Portugal and five other countries two months to fully incorporate the EU’s car insurance directive into national law, threatening legal action.

In the November infringement package, the European Commission said it had decided to send reasoned opinions to Portugal, as well as to Bulgaria, Spain, Latvia, Malta and Romania, because those Member States had “not communicated to the Commission the full transposition into national law of the amended Motor Insurance Directive’.

The deadline for transposition from the EU into national law was 23 December 2023. On 25 January this year, the European Commission sent a letter of warning to the Member States in question, but did not receive a satisfactory response.

As this new deadline was not met, the Commission insisted again on Thursday that Bulgaria, Spain, Latvia, Malta, Portugal and Romania now have two months to respond and take the necessary measures.

“Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union,” Brussels said.

The Motor Insurance Directive aims to strengthen the protection of road accident victims across the EU. This amendment clarifies the scope of this protection, facilitates the monitoring of compulsory vehicle insurance and creates a compensation mechanism for victims in case of insolvency of the responsible insurer.

It also makes it easier for policyholders to switch insurance companies, ensuring equal and fair treatment of claims.