Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Approximation of laws — Civil liability insurance in respect of motor vehicles — Directive 84/5 — Compensation for damage or injury caused by an unidentified or insufficiently insured vehicle — Obligation to pay compensation attaching to a body under an agreement concluded with a public authority of the Member State — Conditions — (Council Directive 84/5, Art. 1(4))

2. Approximation of laws — Civil liability insurance in respect of motor vehicles — Directive 84/5 — Protection of victims — Adequacy of procedural arrangements under national law — Conditions — (Council Directive 84/5, Art. 1(4))

3. Approximation of laws — Civil liability insurance in respect of motor vehicles — Directive 84/5 — Compensation for damage or injury caused by an unidentified or insufficiently insured vehicle — Compensation taking account of the effluxion of time until actual payment of the sums awarded — Determination of arrangements the responsibility of the Member States — (Council Directive 84/5, Art. 1(4))

4. Approximation of laws — Civil liability insurance in respect of motor vehicles — Directive 84/5 — Compensation for damage or injury caused by an unidentified or insufficiently insured vehicle — Reimbursement of costs incurred by the victim — Conditions — Assessment by the national court — (Council Directive 84/5, Art. 1(4))

5. Community law — Rights conferred on individuals — Breach by a Member State — Obligation to make good damage caused to individuals — Conditions — Sufficiently serious breach — To be determined by the national court

Summary

1. A body may be regarded as authorised by a Member State within the meaning of Article 1(4) of the second Directive 84/5 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles where its obligation to pay compensation to victims for damage or injury caused by unidentified or insufficiently insured vehicles derives from an agreement concluded between that body and a public authority of the Member State, provided that the agreement is interpreted and applied as obliging the body to provide victims with the compensation guaranteed to them by the second directive and provided that victims may apply directly to that body.

see para. 37, operative part 1

2. Procedural arrangements under national law that do not render it impossible or excessively difficult in practice to exercise the right to compensation and that thus comply with the principle of effectiveness are sufficient to provide the protection to which victims of damage or injury caused by unidentified or insufficiently insured vehicles are entitled under the second Directive 84/5 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles.

see paras 54, 58, operative part 1

3. Article 1(4) of the second Directive 84/5 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 meaning that the compensation awarded for damage or injuries caused by an unidentified or insufficiently insured vehicle, paid by the body authorised for that purpose, must take account of the effluxion of time until actual payment of the sums awarded in order to guarantee adequate compensation for the victims. It is incumbent on the Member States to lay down the rules to be applied for that purpose.

see para. 71, operative part 1

4. Article 1(4) of the second Directive 84/5 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 meaning that the compensation awarded for damage or injuries caused by an unidentified or insufficiently insured vehicle, paid by the body authorised for that purpose, is not required to include reimbursement of the costs incurred by victims in connection with the processing of their application for compensation except to the extent to which such reimbursement is necessary to safeguard the rights derived by victims from the second directive in conformity with the principles of equivalence and effectiveness. It is for the national court to consider whether that is the case under the procedural arrangements adopted in the Member State concerned.

see para. 78, operative part 1

5. The conditions to be satisfied for a Member State to be required to make reparation for loss and damage caused to individuals as a result of breaches of Community law for which the State is responsible are threefold: the rule of law infringed must be intended to confer rights on individuals; the breach must be sufficiently serious; and there must be a direct causal link between the breach of the obligation incumbent on the State and the loss or damage sustained by the injured parties.

As regards the question whether a breach is sufficiently serious, all the factors which characterise the situation must be taken into account. Those factors include, in particular, the clarity and precision of the rule infringed, whether the infringement or the damage caused was intentional or involuntary, whether any error of law was excusable or inexcusable, and the fact that the position taken by a Community institution may have contributed towards the adoption or maintenance of national measures or practices contrary to Community law. Those criteria must in principle be applied by the national courts in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Court.

It is incumbent on the national court, if examination of the existing compensation system discloses a defect in transposition of the second Directive 84/5 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 if that defect has adversely affected the person concerned, to determine whether the breach of that obligation of transposition is sufficiently serious.

see paras 83, 86-88, operative part 2