ABSTRACT
In the case of the insurance sector there have been three generations of Directives in the area of regulation, each generation containing two Directives, one dealing with Life Assurance, the other with non-Life Assurance. The First generation of Directives necessarily started from a very low base in terms of regulatory standards and common provisions, since prior to these Directives each Member State had simply adopted whatever solutions it thought fit to whatever problems it had identified in relation to the regulation of insurance business. The Second generation of Directives represent an important stage in the development of the Internal Market in Insurance. The Third generation of Directives was designed to complete the Single Passport System, and the changes to which it led represented the most important development of the system of insurance regulation in the European Union since regulatory systems became commonplace in the 19th century.
