THE European Commission is taking five countries to the European Court of Justice for failing to implement the Fourth Motor Insurance Directive by an agreed date.

It says that until the Directive, which gives European fleets greater insurance protection when their vehicles operate abroad, is properly applied throughout the EU, drivers from one member state involved in an accident with a car registered and insured in another will still face serious difficulties in claiming compensation quickly.

The countries affected are France, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland and Portugal. The Directive should have been implemented in those countries last July.

Under the Directive, member states are also required to:

Impose sanctions to accelerate compensation

Establish information centres to deal with motor vehicle insurance issues in general

Establish a compensation body to settle claims in cases where there is no claims representative or where the liable insurer is too slow to settle.

The Commission has also sent a formal request to Portugal to bring its legislation into line with the Second Motor Insurance Directive so traffic accident victims can be compensated up to a minimum level.

The main purpose of the Second Motor Insurance Directive is to guarantee accident victims adequate compensation irrespective of the member state in which the accident happens.