National Nuclear Third Party Insurance Pools Revisited from a European Union Competition Law Perspective

Abstract

Currently, the European nuclear private insurance sector is structured in pools, and each and every pool is organised along national lines. This article analyses the rule of reason behind the principle of streamlining nuclear insurance pools along national lines. It examines how European Union (EU) competition law has applied to the nuclear private insurance sector to date and to what extent changes are likely to occur in the light of recent developments, inter alia the new insurance block exemption. The article goes on to examine whether there is a risk that the apparent national partitioning of the nuclear third party insurance sector might be questioned as to its sustainability in the long term from a competition law perspective.