"We have to take into consideration that no market solutions for the terrorism risk exist in Southern Europe apart from Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal, and in the rest of Europe apart from Hungary, Poland and Denmark. Another important issue is that apart from France (major risks) and Spain no other country makes cession to a pool obligatory", pointed Francois VILLNET, Chairman of APREF, during the RSV official press conference in Monte Carlo.

Concerning capping of guarantees VILLNET said: "France, Spain and the UK offer unlimited pools guaranteed by the State, the other countries offer capped guarantees (max EUR 10 billion in Germany) that sometimes are very low (EUR 200 million Austria)."

The most frequent market solutions are limited to:

• Damage to property (Only Belgium and the Netherlands take into account the possible involvement of both life and Non-life branches).
• Sometimes only commercial and industrial risks are covered: Germany, the UK and Switzerland have no pools for personal risks.
  

Regarding the exclusion of NBCR coverage, including the nuclear risk, VILLNET said: "NBCR presents enormous potential for economic and human losses, in particular for nuclear scenarios, the latter are rarely covered and often specifically excluded from European market solutions".

British, Belgian, Spanish, French and Dutch markets and pools cover the risk of nuclear terrorism (NBCR coverage exists only in France).