Environmental liability deal leaves compulsory insurance out of the picture

The agreement reached in conciliation between Parliament and
Council has left it to the Commission to propose compulsory
insurance schemes for companies six years after the directive
enters into force.

Disagreements between the Parliament and the Council were ironed
out in conciliation committee. The most serious related to the
question of whether or not to impose mandatory insurance schemes to
companies, as was requested by Parliament.

On another sensitive issue, that of finding ways to treat the
damage after it has been made (the so-called remedies), it was
agreed that they would only be imposed as a means of last
resort.

An innovative feature of the directive is that it allows public
interest groups such as NGOs to require public authorities to act
or to challenge their decisions before the courts.