From the Brussels office

Legal expenses insurance and choice of lawyer

The European Court of Justice has answered a preliminary reference from Austria concerning the Directive on Legal Expenses Insurance. The Austrian court asked whether this directive should be interpreted as precluding a clause entitling the insurer to select the legal representative for insurance claims concerning losses suffered by a large number of insured persons from the same event. The court held that article 4(1)(a) of the directive must be interpreted as prohibiting the legal expenses insurer from reserving the right, where a large number of insured persons suffer loss as a result of the same event, to select the legal representative of all the insured persons concerned.

IP protection measures

The Commission adopted a communication on 14 September that seeks to increase protection for intellectual property rights. It sets down non-legislative measures in order to supplement the existing legislative framework and augment enforcement across the internal market. The initiatives include the establishment of an EU Counterfeiting and Piracy Observatory to collate information from all member states, increased administrative cooperation through national coordinators, and the provision of aid to voluntary arrangements between stakeholders.