Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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205. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the steps he is taking to ensure that no sectors of the economy or motorsports are damaged by the Vnuk judgment of the European Court of Justice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3554/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​My officials have been in ongoing discussion with the European Commission and EU counterparts about the issues raised by the Vnuk European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment. This includes exchanges with representatives of Member States, participation at meetings of Member States hosted by the Commission in May and December 2015, and a meeting of my officials with the Commission in December 2016. The Commission published an Inception Impact Assessment in June 2016 which stated that 'the Court's ruling on the obligations laid down in the [Motor Insurance] Directive in the Vnuk judgment risks having a significant impact on ordinary motor vehicle insurance policyholders, the insurance industry and Member States.  The Commission proposal indicated that the main policy objective of an amendment to the Motor Insurance Directive would be that the scope of the Directive 'should be limited to the use of vehicles in the context of traffic' (Option 3 in the document), which the Commission stated 'will protect the viability of the motor sports sector'.  My Department will continue to raise with the Commission concerns expressed regarding the effect of the ECJ judgement in the Vnuk case including any possible effect on the motorsport and other sectors.  The Commission have stated they share the concerns of member states regarding the unintended consequences of the Vnuk judgement (Comments of EU Commissioner to the European Parliament Internal Markets Committee refers ).

Should the Deputy wish to assist with Ireland's efforts in this matter, he could consider asking his four MEP party colleagues to raise in that forum the importance of the Commission expediting an amendment of the motor insurance directive in the preferred manner (Option 3) indicated by the Commission in June 2016.