Geen EU-akkoord over gelijke behandelingen mannen en vrouwen bij verzekeringen (en)

The Council for Employment and Social Policy on Monday (4 october) delayed a decision on a directive, which would force insurance companies to treat men and women equally.

The Netherlands had reached a compromise deal with the insurers, according to which member states would be allowed to differentiate between genders in national laws if backed up by scientific data.

A final decision could not be reached however, as Germany decided to abstain from voting.

All other EU member states backed the compromise solution.

Germany expressed its hope that between now and the next Social Council meeting in December it will be able to change its abstention into full support for the directive, said Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Aart Jan De Geus.

The most important point in this directive is that insurance companies have to treat men and women in the same way when it comes to premiums and benefits, explained the minister.

The ministers agreed that they could only deviate from this basic rule if insurance companies can show that gender is a decisive factor in assessing risks for their products.

The European Commission is going to monitor implementation of the directive and will report on its findings.

"This is more or less the best deal we could get, and it is a recognition of our arguments", said Lucia Caudet, a spokesperson for the European federation of insurance.