Enrico Petillo and Carlo Petillo v Unipol Assicurazioni SpA.
Date: 2014-01-23
26. In that regard, it should be noted that the preambles to the First and Second Directives show that their aim is, first, to ensure the free movement of vehicles normally based on EU territory and of persons travelling in those vehicles and, second, to guarantee that the victims of accidents caused by those vehicles receive comparable treatment irrespective of where in the European Union the accident occurred (Case C‑300/10 Marques Almeida [2012] ECR, paragraph 26 and the case-law cited).
27. The First Directive, as amplified and supplemented by the Second Directive, thus requires the Member States to ensure that civil liability in respect of the use of vehicles normally based in their territory is covered by insurance, and specifies, inter alia, the types of damage to be covered by that insurance (Case C‑22/12 Haasová [2013] ECR, paragraph 38).
28. It should however be noted that the obligation to provide insurance cover against civil liability for damage caused to third parties by motor vehicles is distinct from the extent of the compensation to be afforded to them on the basis of the civil liability of the insured person. Whereas the former is defined and guaranteed by European Union legislation, the latter is, essentially, governed by national law (Case C‑277/12 Drozdovs [2013] ECR, paragraph 30).
29. In that regard, the Court has already held that it is apparent from the aim of the First and Second Directives, and from their wording, that they do not seek to harmonise the rules of the Member States governing civil liability and that, as European Union law stands at present, the Member States are free to determine the rules of civil liability applicable to road accidents ( Marques Almeida , paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
30. Consequently, and having regard inter alia to Article 1(2) of the First Directive, as European Union law currently stands, in relation to their civil liability insurance schemes, in principle the Member States remain free to determine, in particular, which damage caused by motor vehicles is to be compensated, the extent of such compensation and the persons who are entitled to it ( Haasová , paragraph 41, and Drozdovs , paragraph 32).
31. However, the Court has emphasised that the Member States are required to ensure that the civil liability resulting from the use of motor vehicles arising under their domestic law is covered by insurance which complies with the provisions of, inter alia, the First and Second Directives ( Marques Almeida , paragraph 30 and the case‑law cited).
33. Consequently, the freedom enjoyed by the Member States to determine the damage covered and the terms and conditions of compulsory insurance has been restricted by, inter alia, the Second Directive, in that it rendered the cover of certain types of damage mandatory, specifying fixed minimum amounts of cover. Personal injuries, as set out in Article 1(1) of the Second Directive, feature among the types of damage in respect of which cover is mandatory ( Haasová , paragraph 46, and Drozdovs , paragraph 37).
34. The notion of ‘personal injuries’ covers any type of damage, in so far as compensation for such damage is provided for as part of the civil liability of the insured under the national law applicable in the dispute, resulting from an injury to physical integrity, which includes both physical and psychological suffering ( Haasová , paragraph 47, and Drozdovs , paragraph 38).
35. Consequently, non‑material damage, compensation for which is provided for as part of the civil liability of the insured person under the national law applicable in the dispute, features among the types of damage in respect of which compensation must be provided in accordance with, inter alia, the First and Second Directives ( Haasová , paragraph 50, and Drozdovs , paragraph 41).
39. Accordingly, that national legislation falls within the scope of the substantive national civil liability law to which the First and Second Directives refer (see, by analogy, Haasová , paragraph 58) and it is not such as to limit the cover of the civil liability incurred by an insured person (see, by analogy, Marques Almeida , paragraph 35).
44. In particular, the fact that, in the assessment of the amount of compensation payable for non-material damage arising from minor injuries, calculation factors which are applicable to the compensation of victims of accidents other than road traffic accidents are omitted or limited does not affect the compatibility with the abovementioned directives of such legislation, since that legislation does not automatically exclude or disproportionally limit the victim’s right to compensation (see, to that effect, Marques Almeida , paragraph 32, and Case C‑409/09 Ambrósio Lavrador and Others [2011] ECR I‑4955, paragraph 29).
46. In view of the foregoing, it must be held that the guarantee, provided under European Union law, that civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, determined according to the applicable national law, will be covered by insurance in accordance, inter alia, with the First and Second Directives, is not affected (see, to that effect, Marques Almeida , paragraph 38 and the case‑law cited).