By Anna McLauchlin - 31st May 2004
EU governments have blocked a new EU law that could see women paying more for car insurance but less for their pension plans.
The law is now likely to be softened before ministers take a second look.
As they stand the proposed rules, which need unanimous government approval to become law, would wipe out gender as a factor in goods and services in 'actuarial calculations'.
In practice this could mean an end to cheaper car insurance for women but also scrap their higher pension premiums imposed on the basis that they live longer than men.
On Tuesday several delegations, including the UK, Ireland, France and Finland, refused to support a law that could hike premiums for consumers or penalise the insurance industry.
And even those governments like Belgium and Slovakia which support a gender ban in insurance calculations said more studies should be carried out to confirm the European Commission's view that gender is not related to having more car accidents.
Irish Minister for labour affairs and EU president-in-chief Frank Fahey admitted "there is not unanimity at the moment", but said a compromise is possible.
"The Irish presidency has made several proposals, one of which is to find good, comprehensive, statistical data which justifies the difference (between men and womens' insurance premiums)", he told journalists on Tuesday.
An EU official told EUPolitix.com an outright ban on gender in premiums looks unlikely, but that most member states support the onus shifting to insurance companies to "prove that their factors are non-discriminatory."
It is now up to the Dutch, who take over the presidency reins in July, to decide how best this can be done.
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