ELD in CEE: As Seen by Munich Re

Harald Etzdorf, senior underwriter, Casualty Facultative, Munich Re

It is difficult to make any general comments in respect of the coverage of environmental liability in Central and Eastern Europe, as this topic is handled different in every country. The awareness of environment protection and all questions connected with it are not yet a central topic in all countries. In April 2007, a new environmental liability directive was due to be transposed into national law throughout the EU. We expected by then that the individual markets in the EU would be looking for innovative insurance solutions in this field as a result of this directive, but these expectations were not fully met. There will be a report by a EU commission this year about the respective developments since 2007 in the Member States. Maybe the accident in Hungary will put more pressure on national legislations to put more emphasis on environmental protection as well as insurance solutions and protection. In CEE countries outside the EU, it does not look any better. Insurance products for environmental liability do not exist in every country.