After this, DG Comp (which is the European Commission Directorate General for Competition) and the CCPC started their investigation which ended last year and resulted in them issuing this preliminary ruling.
Now that the preliminary ruling has been issued, the relevant parties, in this case Insurance Ireland, have a chance to put their defence forward. They could refute the evidence entirely and explain to the commission how/why their conclusions are wrong AND/OR they could make a case for why their behaviour was allowable (there are genuine reasons in the directive that allow for companies to engage in what *appears* to be anti-competitive behaviour). They could also just accept the preliminary ruling and hope it leads to a lesser punishment but that’s obviously not what Insurance Ireland has done (we likely would have heard about it now if it was).
After Insurance Ireland put their case forward to the commission a final decision is made and, if Insurance Ireland are still found to have breached competition law, they may be issued quite a hefty fine.
Basically, this preliminary ruling, while significant, is very much open to change and only represents the end of the second stage of the entire process of the commission trying to determine whether Insurance Ireland has breach EU anti-trust law.
DG Comp and the CCPC both have the power to levy fairly significant fines; up to a maximum of 10% of annual global turnover iirc and they can order an end to the anti competitive behaviour. There are aggravating and mitigating factors to consider when deciding on the fine as well as leniency grounds for getting fines reduced.
To sum
**tl;dr: Old article. Only a preliminary ruling. More steps in this process. Final determination could be different. There is potential for massive fines.**
>Minister of State with responsibility for insurance, Sean Fleming, noted
the preliminary findings of the investigation. **Minister Fleming, who is**
**also Chairperson of the Office to Promote Competition in the Insurance**
**Market**, also noted the comments made by Insurance Ireland.
So he’s just standing on the sidelines looking on like a spectator, instead of refereeing it.
8 comments
> this negatively affected costs, quality of service and pricing.
>It also acted as a barrier to entry and thus reduced the possibility of more competitive prices and choice of suppliers
Great. Now the government can do something about it.
Right? Right!?
Glad the EU/EC is doing something about it. The Irish government sure wouldn’t.
EU shitting on our insurance industry?
This day can’t get any better
I genuinely can’t understand how this investigation took two years.
This is prime “no shit Sherlock”
Wait so you’re telling me our insurance is ripping us off? Insurance????
This article is from June last year and this is only a preliminary ruling and absolutely not the end of the story.
Basically this whole process started back in 2017 when a slew of insurance companies were raided by [DG Comp and the CCPC](https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/eu-raid-only-latest-chapter-in-insurance-controversies-1.3145884) where documents were likely seized.
After this, DG Comp (which is the European Commission Directorate General for Competition) and the CCPC started their investigation which ended last year and resulted in them issuing this preliminary ruling.
Now that the preliminary ruling has been issued, the relevant parties, in this case Insurance Ireland, have a chance to put their defence forward. They could refute the evidence entirely and explain to the commission how/why their conclusions are wrong AND/OR they could make a case for why their behaviour was allowable (there are genuine reasons in the directive that allow for companies to engage in what *appears* to be anti-competitive behaviour). They could also just accept the preliminary ruling and hope it leads to a lesser punishment but that’s obviously not what Insurance Ireland has done (we likely would have heard about it now if it was).
After Insurance Ireland put their case forward to the commission a final decision is made and, if Insurance Ireland are still found to have breached competition law, they may be issued quite a hefty fine.
Basically, this preliminary ruling, while significant, is very much open to change and only represents the end of the second stage of the entire process of the commission trying to determine whether Insurance Ireland has breach EU anti-trust law.
DG Comp and the CCPC both have the power to levy fairly significant fines; up to a maximum of 10% of annual global turnover iirc and they can order an end to the anti competitive behaviour. There are aggravating and mitigating factors to consider when deciding on the fine as well as leniency grounds for getting fines reduced.
To sum
**tl;dr: Old article. Only a preliminary ruling. More steps in this process. Final determination could be different. There is potential for massive fines.**
>Minister of State with responsibility for insurance, Sean Fleming, noted
the preliminary findings of the investigation. **Minister Fleming, who is**
**also Chairperson of the Office to Promote Competition in the Insurance**
**Market**, also noted the comments made by Insurance Ireland.
So he’s just standing on the sidelines looking on like a spectator, instead of refereeing it.