Keywords
Summary

Keywords

Approximation of laws — Insurance against civil liability in respect of motor vehicles — Directives 72/166, 84/5 and 90/232 — Determination of the rules on civil liability applicable to road accidents — Conditions for limiting the right to compensation paid by compulsory motor vehicle insurance based on the contribution to the damage of a passenger who is a victim of the accident — Powers of the Member States — Limits — Effect of the fact that the passenger concerned is the ‘owner of the vehicle’ — None

(Council Directives 72/166, Art. 3(1), 84/5, Art. 2(1), and 90/232, Art. 1)

Summary

It is clear from the aim of Directives 72/166, 84/5 and 90/232 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States in relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, and from their wording, that they do not seek to harmonise the rules of the Member States governing civil liability and that, as Community law stands at present, the Member States are free to determine the rules of civil liability applicable to road accidents, and, in particular, the conditions for limiting the right to compensation paid by the compulsory motor vehicle insurance on account of the fact that the passenger who is a victim of the accident contributed to the injury.

The Member States must, however, exercise their powers in compliance with Community law and, in particular, with Article 3(1) of Directive 72/166, Article 2(1) of Directive 84/5 and Article 1 of Directive 90/232, whose aim is to ensure that compulsory motor vehicle insurance allows all passengers who are victims of an accident caused by a motor vehicle to be compensated for the injury or loss they have suffered. The national provisions which govern compensation for road accidents cannot, therefore, deprive those provisions of their effectiveness.

Such would be the case specifically where, solely on the basis of the passenger’s contribution to the occurrence of his injuries, national rules, established on the basis of general and abstract criteria either denied the passenger the right to be compensated by the compulsory motor vehicle insurance or limited such a right in a disproportionate manner. The fact that the passenger concerned is the owner of the vehicle the driver of which caused the accident is irrelevant in that regard.

(see paras 24, 27-29, 31, 35, operative part)