Article 3 of the EC Second Non-Life Directive provides that for
the purposes of the First and Second Non-Life Directives any
permanent presence of an undertaking in the territory of a Member
State shall be treated in the same way as an agency or branch. This
is the case even if that presence does not take the form of a
branch or agency, but consists merely of an office managed by the
undertaking’s own staff or of a person who is independent but
has permanent authority to act for the undertaking as an agency
would. In
Kvaerner plc v Staatssecretarisvan Financiën [2001] STC 1007, the
ECJ held that:
“Article 3 of the Directive must
therefore be interpreted as extending the concept of ‘agency
orbranch’ in art 2(c) of the Directive so
that it applies in the broadest sense, whatever theformal term used.’’
If there is no branch in this wide sense, which is broadly
equivalent to a ‘permanent establishment’ under
international tax law (
GIM10110), then any EEA insurer
effecting contracts with UK residents or establishments will be
‘providing services’.
