BRUSSELS—The European Commission has adopted a revised Block Exemption Regulation that continues to exempt insurers in pooling arrangements, but with changes that some say could reduce capacity.

The new rule, which goes into effect April 1, also leaves intact the exemption for joint compilations, tables and studies among insurers. Risk managers have favored the exemption they say allows insurers easier access to new markets.

“The block exemption continues to be justified for pools and certain types of information exchange necessary for the industry to be able to carry out its business,” Joaquin Almunia, the commission's vp of competition policy, said in a Wednesday statement.

He warned, however, that the commission, “together with the national competition authorities, will see to it that the industry does not use the exemption as a blanket protection and will enforce competition rules where and whenever necessary.”

The rule, which remains in effect until March 31, 2017, exempts pools that cover new risks and pools that fall below certain market share thresholds if they cover risks that are not new.

But the regulation changes the market share calculation. Like the current regulation that expires March 31, the new rule includes gross premiums earned within the pool. Unlike the current rule, the new regulation also counts premiums earned by pool members outside the pooling arrangement. Market sources have complained that the change could restrict insurance capacity by limiting the number of exempt pools.

New risks are broadly defined by the regulation to include those that have “changed so materially that it is not possible to know in advance what subscription capacity is necessary in order to cover such a risk,” the commission said in the statement.

The new rule no longer exempts agreements among insurers on standard policy conditions or security devices.

The Federation of European Risk Managers has said the practice of insurers to reach agreements on standard policy conditions reduces transaction costs, facilitates the comparison between policy conditions, and provides better contract certainty.