The combination of items under the conditions laid down in Article 4 (3) (a) or (b) of Directive 78/660/EEC shall be restricted in the case of insurance undertakings,

• as regards the balance sheet, to items preceded by arabic numerals, except for items concerning technical provisions, and

• as regards the profit and loss account, to items preceded by one or more lower-case letters, except for items I (1) and (4) and II (1), (5) and (6).

Combination shall be authorized only under the rules laid down by the Member States.