L 53/8 Official Journal of the European Union 28.2.2003 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 358/2003 of 27 February 2003 on the application of Article 81(3) of the Treaty to certain categories of agreements, decisions and concerted practices in the insurance sector (Text with EEA relevance) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1534/91 of 31 May 1991 on the application of Article 85(3) of the Treaty to certain categories of agreements, decisions and concerted prac- tices in the insurance sector ('), and in particular Article 1(1)(a), (b), (c) and (e) thereof, Having published a draft of this Regulation (%), Having consulted the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Prac- tices and Dominant Positions, Whereas: (1) Regulation (EEC) No 1534/91 empowers the Commis- sion to apply Article 81(3) of the Treaty by regulation to certain categories of agreements, decisions and concerted practices in the insurance sector which have as their object cooperation with respect to: — the establishment of common risk premium tariffs based on collectively ascertained statistics or the number of claims, — the establishment of common standard policy condi- tions, — the common coverage of certain types of risks, — the settlement of claims, — the testing and acceptance of security devices, — registers of, and information on, aggravated risks. (2)  Pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1534/91, the Commission adopted Regulation (EEC) No 3932/92 of 21 December 1992 on the application of Article 85(3) of the Treaty to certain categories of agreements, () OJ L 143, 7.6.1991, p. 1. () 0J C 163, 9.7.2002, p. 7. 5 ( () 0) () decisions and concerted practices in the insurance sector (*). Regulation (EEC) No 3932/92, as amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, expires on 31 March 2003. Regulation (EEC) No 3932/92 does not grant an exemp- tion to agreements concerning the settlement of claims and registers of, and information on, aggravated risks. The Commission considered that it lacked sufficient experience in handling individual cases to make use of the power conferred by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1534/91 in those fields. This situation has not changed. On 12 May 1999, the Commission adopted a Report (%) to the Council and the European Parliament on the operation of Regulation (EEC) No 3932/92. On 15 December 1999, the Economic and Social Committee adopted an opinion on the Commission's report (). On 19 May 2000, the Parliament adopted a Resolution on the Commission's report (°). On 28 June 2000, the Commission held a consultation meeting with interested parties, including representatives of the insurance sector and national competition authorities, on the Regulation. On 9 July 2002, the Commission published in the Offi- cial Journal a draft of the present Regulation, with an invitation to interested parties to submit comments not later than 30 September 2002. A new Regulation should meet the two requirements of ensuring effective protection of competition and providing adequate legal security for undertakings. The pursuit of these objectives should take account of the need to simplify administrative supervision to as great an extent as possible. Account must also be taken of the Commission's experience in this field since 1992, and the results of the consultations on the 1999 Report and consultations leading up to the adoption of this Regulation. Regulation (EEC) No 153491 requires the exempting regulation of the Commission to define the categories of agreements, decisions and concerted practices to which it applies, to specify the restrictions or clauses which may, or may not, appear in the agreements, decisions and concerted practices, and to specify the clauses which must be contained in the agreements, decisions and concerted practices or the other conditions which must be satisfied. ) OJ L 398, 31.12.1992, p. 7. OM(1999) 192 final. ES 1139/99. PE A5-0104/00.