taxud/2414/08 - European Commission - Europa

(b)
the activity may result in the creation, continuation, alteration or extinction of
parties' rights and obligations in respect of an exempt insurance or financial
service;
The second positive criterion is to verify whether the services may create, continue, alter
or extinguish parties' rights and obligations in respect of an exempt insurance or financial
service; where this can be established, the services qualifies as exempt intermediation.
These are services which have a direct impact on rights and obligations of parties and
establish a causal link, because without that intermediation these changes in the financial
situation would not have taken place. The same principles apply where intermediation
leads to the client abandoning his withdrawal from a contract and him continuing his
contract. In fact, in modern intermediation, the activities for accompanying clients in
continuing their contracts have even become more important than intermediation for the
conclusion of contracts; where this cannot be established the next criterion must be
verified
(c)
the activity consists in the provision of advice which reflects specialised
knowledge regarding an exempt insurance or financial service.
This criterion verifies whether the service provided contains a certain level of advice
reflecting a superior know-how of the mediator; where this is the case, the service
qualifies as intermediation;
2. Where in situations other than those covered by paragraph 1, a service is
standardised in such a way that a person may provide it on the basis of prior instructions,
it shall not constitute a distinct act of mediation for the purposes of point (9) of
Article 135a of Directive 2006/112/EC.
For other services the forth – negative - criterion applies and it must be verified whether
the service provided was standardised to the extent that, for example, a student could
provide it on the basis of prior instructions; in this case the service does not qualify as
exempt intermediation. However, there will certainly be cases which are not covered by
any of the positive and negative criteria and which qualify for the exempt intermediation.
3. The definition of "intermediation in insurance and financial transactions"
provided for in point (9) of Article 135a of Directive 2006/112/EC shall cover at least the
following:
(a)
the supply of services involving negotiation on the conditions of the product;
Services involving negotiation on the conditions of the product: such services are usually
activities requiring special know-how of a mediator and a need for making choices which
require that know-how; they cover scenarios where, for example a weekly travel
magazine negotiates with an insurer special rates of insurance cover for its subscribers
against sickness travel cancellation. The magazine sets out the full details of what is
covered or excluded and the price of the insurance. The subscribers can then either
complete a coupon in the magazine and send it with a cheque to the insurer or telephone
the insurer quoting a reference published in the magazine with their credit card details.
The magazine receives commission for each policy taken up plus a separate payment for
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