DAVID FITZGERALD ELECTED TO COB SUPERVISORY BOARD
MIBI CEO, David Fitzgerald has been elected to the Supervisory Board of the COB. The Supervisory Board is the COB’s main strategic decision making body. As well as supervising the functioning of the COB and the fulfilment of the obligations by members, the Supervisory Board also determines the general strategy and has the power to perform all acts that are necessary or useful for the realisation of the COB’s object and purpose.
David’s election to the Supervisory Board comes after his term as Chair of the COB’s Monitoring Committee, which concluded during his final address to the General Assembly on 8th June. The Monitoring Committee oversees the financial stability of the Green Card and EU cross-border compensation body systems.
In essence, the Monitoring Committee serves as an early warning system to indicate a future financial problem by identifying potentially financially weak members, and assisting them in improving their situation by consultations or recommendations. Members can be placed Under Monitoring, and have specific measures or sanctions imposed on an uncooperative or defaulting member or one is that repeatedly in breach of the financial provisions of the COB’s Internal Regulations.
David had served as Chair of the Monitoring Committee for 3 years and had been a member of that committee for six years in total.
Speaking about his elevation to the Supervisory Board, David Fitzgerald said, “I am honoured to have been asked to join the Supervisory Board of the COB. It has been an absolute privilege to work on the Monitoring Committee and to have the opportunity to interact with so many of the fantastic people who work in the COB and the MIBI’s counterparts in other member bureaux. I look forward to building on those links and helping to support the vital work of the COB during my time on the Supervisory Board,” he said.
Formerly known as the Council of Bureaux, COB is an international organisation active in the motor insurance sector and acting for the protection of cross-border road traffic victims. It coordinates the activities of :
• The Green Card system, whose members are 46 Green Card Bureaux representing more than 1,500 motor insurers in 50 countries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
• The Protection of Visitors system, whose members are the compensation bodies, guarantee funds and information centres applying the European Motor Insurance Directives in the 30 member states of the European Economic Area (EEA).
The mission of COB is two-fold:
• to facilitate free-movement in cross-border road traffic by removing administrative barriers.
• to offer a high level of protection to victims of cross-border road traffic accidents by facilitating the compensation procedures.
The COB operates under the United Nations’ aegis and also cooperates with the EU institutions to improve the free movement of vehicles and the settlement of motor accident claims but it has no political or lobbying purpose. The COB Secretariat is located in Brussels.