Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 4 September 2014.

Delivered 2014-09-04 · ECLI:EU:C:2014:2146 · Court of Justice · Languages: LT · EN · IT · SV · PL · LV · ET · SL · FR · DE

Case
C-162/13
Court
Court of Justice
Date
2014-09-04
Parties
Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav d.d.
ECLI
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2146
Original
EUR-Lex ↗
PresidentM. IlešičJudgeC.G. FernlundJudgeA. ÓcaoimhJudgeC. ToaderJudge · rapporteurE. JarašiūnasAdvocate GeneralP. MengozziRegistrarA. Calot Escobar
Summary
Preparing…

Parties

Grounds

Operative part

Parties

In Case C‑162/13,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Vrhovno sodišče (Slovenia), made by decision of 11 March 2013, received at the Court on 29 March 2013, in the proceedings

Damijan Vnuk

v

Zavarovalnica Triglav d.d.,

THE COURT (Third Chamber),

composed of M. Ilešič, President of the Chamber, C.G. Fernlund, A. Ó Caoimh, C. Toader and E. Jarašiūnas (Rapporteur), Judges,

Advocate General: P. Mengozzi,

Registrar: A. Calot Escobar,

having regard to the written procedure,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

Grounds

Judgment

Legal context

European Union law

‘Whereas it is desirable that … measures should be taken further to liberalise the rules regarding the movement of persons and motor vehicles travelling between Member States; …

Whereas such relaxation of the rules relating to the movement of travellers constitutes another step towards the mutual opening of their markets by Member States and the creation of conditions similar to those of a domestic market;

Whereas the abolition of checks on green cards for vehicles normally based in a Member State entering the territory of another Member State can be effected … ;’

‘For the purposes of this Directive:

…’

‘Each Member State shall, subject to Article 4, take all appropriate measures to ensure that civil liability in respect of the use of vehicles normally based in its territory is covered by insurance. The extent of the liability covered and the terms and conditions of the cover shall be determined on the basis of these measures.’
‘A Member State may act in derogation of Article 3 in respect of:

…

(b) certain types of vehicle or certain vehicles having a special plate; the list of such types or of such vehicles shall be drawn up by the State concerned and communicated to the other Member States and to the [European] Commission.

…’

‘The insurance referred to in Article 3(1) of [the First Directive] shall cover compulsorily both damage to property and personal injuries.’
‘Each Member State shall take the necessary measures to ensure that any statutory provision or any contractual clause contained in an insurance policy issued in accordance with Article 3(1) of [the First Directive], which excludes from insurance the use or driving of vehicles by:

shall, for the purposes of Article 3(1) of [the First Directive], be deemed to be void in respect of claims by third parties who have been victims of an accident.

…’

‘The members of the family of the insured person, driver or any other person who is liable under civil law in the event of an accident, and whose liability is covered by the insurance referred to in Article 1(1) shall not be excluded from insurance in respect of their personal injuries by virtue of that relationship.’
‘… the insurance referred to in Article 3(1) of [the First Directive] shall cover liability for personal injuries to all passengers, other than the driver, arising out of the use of a vehicle.

Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that any statutory provision or any contractual clause contained in an insurance policy which excludes a passenger from such cover on the basis that he knew or should have known that the driver of the vehicle was under the influence of alcohol or of any other intoxicating agent at the time of an accident, shall be deemed to be void in respect of the claims of such passenger.

…’

‘The insurance referred to in Article 3(1) of [the First Directive] shall cover personal injuries and damage to property suffered by pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorised users of the roads who, as a consequence of an accident in which a motor vehicle is involved, are entitled to compensation in accordance with national civil law. …’
‘Insurance undertakings shall not rely on excesses against the injured party to an accident as far as the insurance referred to in Article 3(1) of [the First Directive] is concerned.’
‘Each Member State shall ensure that injured parties … enjoy a direct right of action against the insurance undertaking covering the responsible person against civil liability.’
‘1. This Directive concerns the taking-up and pursuit of the self-employed activity of direct insurance … carried on by undertakings which are established in the territory of a Member State or which wish to become established there.

…

‘A. Classification of risks according to classes of insurance

…

All liability arising out of the use of motor vehicles operating on the land (including carrier’s liability).

…’

Slovenian law

‘The owner of a vehicle must take out insurance covering liability for damage caused by the use of the vehicle to third parties resulting in death, physical injury, invalidity, loss of or damage to property …, with the exception of liability for damage to property which the proprietor has agreed to transport. …’

The dispute in the main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling

‘Must the concept of “the use of vehicles” within the meaning of Article 3(1) of [the First Directive] be interpreted as not extending to the circumstances of the present case, in which the person insured by the defendant struck the applicant’s ladder with a tractor towing a trailer while hay was being stored in a hayloft, on the basis that the incident did not occur in the context of a road traffic accident?’

The requests seeking the reopening of the oral procedure

Consideration of the question referred

Costs

Operative part

On those grounds, the Court (Third Chamber) hereby rules:

Article 3(1) of Council Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972 on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, and to the enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘use of vehicles’ in that article covers any use of a vehicle that is consistent with the normal function of that vehicle. That concept may therefore cover the manoeuvre of a tractor in the courtyard of a farm in order to bring the trailer attached to that tractor into a barn, as in the case in the main proceedings, which is a matter for the referring court to determine.

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