) but not covering five other ones (
stricken boxes or ballot box with X) The Council of Bureaux (COB) maintains an international
motor insurance card system in and around
Europe where the certificate issued is known by the name
green card. In 1949, the system was established in the framework of
UNECE. At a later stage, the
EU and
EFTA were involved, and reflecting the deepening of the links with them, the CoBx secretariat was relocated from London to Brussels in 2006. Around 300,000 motor accidents a year were covered in Europe by the green card system during the year 2004 according to a survey. In 2016, the green card system counted around 377,666 international accidents within the green card area. At the origin, the green card was checked while crossing the border. However, inside the
European single market, the green card is no longer checked at internal borders. Insurance for motorized vehicles remains mandatory within the European Union. Some countries (such as France and Belgium A green card is usually issued when the insurance policy starts, but in some cases, the green card is only issued later, upon request. Insurers do not make people pay to have a green card, but intermediaries, including insurance brokers, are allowed in the UK to charge an administration fee. In each member state of the green card system, the
insurance companies established green card bureaux operating with the recognition and approval of the government, and the activities of the Green Card Bureaux are established by law or regulation in each of the countries participating in the system. Each green card bureau has two functions: • As a "bureau of the country of the accident", it has responsibility in accordance with national legal provisions for compulsory third-party motor insurance for the handling and settlement of claims arising from accidents caused by visiting motorists. • As a "guaranteeing bureau" it guarantees certificates of motor insurance ("green cards"), which are issued by its member insurance companies to their policyholders. 36 of the 47 countries participating in the green card system have replaced the green card with a multilateral agreement, which means the green card is no longer a required document when crossing the borders between those countries. There are three types of green card member states as per the multilateral agreement. •
EEA members (EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) • members under section III of the Internal Regulations of the Council of Bureaux (which refers to the multilateral agreement) with the EEA members: Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. • (1968-2022) According to recommendation of the Management Committee of CoBx it is strongly recommended that the geographical scope of the Green card System should be restricted to the following additional states, in accordance with the European and Mediterranean rule:
Algeria,
Libya,
Egypt,
Lebanon,
Syria,
Georgia and possibly upon further consideration
Armenia. Instead of expansion further than that, it is recommended to examine arrangements of cooperation with other motor insurance systems. In 2012 it was decided to add
Kazakhstan to the list of potential members since part of it lies
west of the Urals. In 2008, the
Economic Cooperation Organization asked the CoBx for cooperation, and since some of its members are outside the geographical scope of the Green card system, it was suggested that the ECO members would establish their regional motor insurance system - the
White card system. At the same time, there are discussions whether the scope of the Green card system should be expanded to all
UNECE members or to abandon geographical limitations in exchange for criteria based on the density of trade exchanged by road between the candidate country and the existing members of the System. In 2011
Kosovo submitted application for membership, but it was concluded that the conditions of
vehicle license plate international recognition and
UN membership are not fulfilled. members states currently outside the Green card system are:
Armenia (candidate),
Georgia (candidate),
Kazakhstan (potential candidate),: • Single EEA box: • A: • B: • BG: • CY: (does not include
Northern Cyprus; also covers British territory of
Akrotiri and Dhekelia) • CZ: • D: • DK: (including the
Faroe Islands and
Greenland) • E: (including the
Canary Islands as well as
Ceuta and
Melilla) • EST: • F: (also covers MC - ; includes some oversea territories:
La Réunion,
Martinique,
Guadeloupe,
Saint-Martin,
French Guiana,
Saint Pierre and Miquelon,
Mayotte; does not include the following oversea territories:
Wallis and Futuna,
French Polynesia,
New Caledonia,
Saint-Barthélemy,
French Southern and Antarctic Lands) • FIN: (including the
Åland Islands) • GR: • H: • I: (also covers RSM - and V - ) • IRL: • IS: • L: • LT: • LV: • M: • N: (covering in
Svalbard and Jan Mayen is not known) • NL: (does not include Dutch dependencies in the Caribbean) • P: (including the
Azores and
Madeira) • PL: • RO: • S: • SK: • SLO: • CH: (also covers FL - ) • AL: • AND: • AZ: (including the
Naxçıvan exclave) • BIH: • BY: (suspended since the 30th of June 2023) • HR: • IL: (withdrawn since the 1st of January 2022) • IR: (suspended since the 1st of January 2024) • MA: (also covers WSA - ) • MD: (also covers PMR - ) • MNE: • NMK: (still appearing as
MK, the old code that was discarded in February 2019 following the addition of
North in the name of the country) • RUS: (suspended since the 30th of June 2023) • SRB: (does not cover RKS - ) • TN: • TR: • UA: (also covers territories under Russian occupation) • UK: (including
Northern Ireland and the British dependencies in Europe: GBA - , GBG - , GBJ - , GBM - , GBZ - ) Potential candidates of the green card scope are: • AM: • DZ: • EG: • GE: (not including ABH - and RSO - ) • IRQ: (withdrawn in 1992) • KZ: • LAR: • RL: • SYR:
EU/EEA laws In the single market of the EU and the EEA, international insurance between member states is regulated by specific EU/EEA laws related to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, and to the enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability. Those were amended several times and have been codified: • 1st EU Directive, amended by Council Directive 72/430/EEC of 19 December 1972 or Council Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972 • 2nd Council Directive 84/5/EEC of 30 December 1983 • 3rd Council Directive 90/232/EEC of 14 May 1990 • 4th Directive: Directive 2000/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 May 2000 • 5th Directive 2005/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 amending Council Directives 72/166/EEC, 84/5/EEC, 88/357/EEC and 90/232/EEC and Directive 2000/26/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. • Codified Directive (2009/103/EC) • 6th Directive: DIRECTIVE (EU) 2021/2118 Article 7 (of 2009/103/EC) deals with national measures concerning vehicles normally based on the territory of third countries: In 2021, new rules are considered to introduce an EU-harmonized “Claims History Statement” and to ease prices comparison with free-of-charge and independent price comparison tools. New harmonization set guarantees for personal injuries to € 6 450 000 per accident or € 1 300 000 per injured party or/and for damage to property, € 1 300 000 per accident for vehicles going faster than 14 km/h.
UK withdrawal agreement After the UK withdrew from the EU, it ceased to be an EEA member state. From that date, and until the European Commission waived the obligation in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1145 of 30 June 2021, == Orange card system ==