Case C‑162/13

Damijan Vnuk

v

Zavarovalnica Triglav d.d.

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Vrhovno sodišče)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Compulsory insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles — Directive 72/166/EEC — Article 3(1) — Concept of ‘use of vehicles’ — Accident caused in the courtyard of a farm by a tractor to which a trailer was attached’

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

1. Judicial proceedings — Oral procedure — Reopening — Obligation to reopen the oral procedure to enable the parties to submit observations on issues of law raised in the Opinion of the Advocate General — None

   (Art. 252, second para., TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Art. 83)

2. EU law — Interpretation — Principles — Independent and uniform interpretation

3. EU law — Interpretation — Multilingual texts — Differences between the various language versions — Account to be taken of the general scheme and purpose of the rules in question

4. Approximation of laws — Insurance against civil liability in respect of motor vehicles — Directive 72/166 — Concept of ‘use of vehicles’ — Accident caused in the courtyard of a farm by a tractor to which a trailer was attached — Included — Conditions — Assessment which is a matter for the national court

   (Council Directive 72/166, Art. 3(1))

1.  See the text of the decision.

   (see paras 26-31)

2.  See the text of the decision.

   (see para. 42)

3.  See the text of the decision.

   (see para. 46)

4.  Article 3(1) of Directive 72/166 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, which is a matter for the national court to determine.

   (see para. 59, operative part)