Case C‑350/14

Florin Lazar

v

Allianz SpA

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale di Trieste)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Area of freedom, security and justice — Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 — Article 4(1) — Concepts of ‘country in which the damage occurs’, ‘damage’ and ‘indirect consequences of the tort or delict’ — Damage sustained personally by a family member of a person who died as a result of a road traffic accident — Applicable law’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber), 10 December 2015

1. EU law — Interpretation — Provision not containing any express reference to the law of the Member States — Independent and uniform interpretation

2. Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Law applicable to non-contractual obligations — Regulation No 864/2007 — Obligations resulting from tort or delict — Country in which the damage occurs — Concept — Country where the direct damage occurs

   (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 864/2007, Art. 4(1))

3. Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Law applicable to non-contractual obligations — Regulation No 864/2007 — Obligations resulting from tort or delict — Indirect consequences of tort or delict — Concept — Damage related to the death of a person in a road traffic accident suffered by his close relatives residing in a Member State other than that of the place where the accident occurred — Included

   (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 864/2007, Art. 4(1))

1.  See the text of the decision.

   (see para. 21)

2.  In order to identify the law applicable to a non-contractual obligation arising from a tort or delict, Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II) adopts the law of the country in which the ‘damage’ occurs, irrespective of the country in which the event giving rise to the damage occurred, and irrespective of the country or countries in which the ‘indirect consequences’ of that event occur. The damage which must be taken into account in order to determine the place where the damage occurred is the direct damage, as is clear from recital 16 of that regulation. In the event of physical injuries caused to a person or the damage caused to goods, the EU legislature stated, in recital 17 of the Rome II Regulation, that the county of the place where the direct damage occurs is the country of the place where the injuries were suffered or the goods were damaged. It follows that, where it is possible to identify the occurrence of direct damage, which is usually the case with a road traffic accident, the place where the direct damage occurred is the relevant connecting factor for the determination of the applicable law, regardless of the indirect consequences of that accident.

   Furthermore, the application of the law of the place where the direct damage was suffered contributes to the objective set out in recital 16 of the Rome II Regulation, seeking to ensure the foreseeability of the applicable law, while avoiding the risk that the tort or delict is broken up in to several elements, each subject to a different law according to the places or the persons other than the direct victim who sustain damage.

   (see paras 23-25, 29)

3.  Article 4(1) Regulation No 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II) must be interpreted, in order to determine the law applicable to a non-contractual obligation arising from a road traffic accident, as meaning that the damage related to the death of a person in such an accident which took place in the Member State of the court seised and sustained by the close relatives of that person who reside in another Member State, must be classified as indirect consequences of that accident, within the meaning of that provision.

   (see para. 30, operative part)