Case C‑287/16

Fidelidade-Companhia de Seguros SA

v

Caisse Suisse de Compensation and Others

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles — Directive 72/166/EEC — Article 3(1) — Second Directive 84/5/EEC — Article 2(1) — Insurance contract concluded on the basis of false statements concerning the ownership of the vehicle and the identity of its usual driver — Policyholder — No economic interest in the conclusion of that contract — Insurance contract null and void — Whether that nullity may be invoked against third-party victims)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 20 July 2017

Approximation of laws — Insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles — Extent of cover for third parties under compulsory insurance — National legislation making it possible to invoke against third-party victims the nullity of insurance contracts concluded on the basis of false statements made by the policyholder — Not permissible

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

Article 3(1) of Council Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972 on the approximation of the laws of the 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, and Article 2(1) of Second Council Directive 84/5/EEC of 30 December 1983 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which would have the effect of making it possible to invoke against third-party victims, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, the nullity of a contract for motor vehicle insurance against civil liability arising as a result of the policyholder initially making false statements concerning the identity of the owner and of the usual driver of the vehicle concerned or from the fact that the person for whom or on whose behalf that insurance contract was concluded had no economic interest in the conclusion of that contract.

(see para. 37, operative part)