José Joaquim Neto de Sousa v Estado português.
Date: 2017-09-07
23


It should be observed as a preliminary point that, according to the Court’s settled case-law, in the procedure laid down by Article 267 TFEU, providing for cooperation between national courts and the Court of Justice, it is for the latter to provide the national court with an answer which will be of use to it and enable it to determine the case before it. With this in mind, the Court may have to reformulate the questions referred to it. The Court may also find it necessary to consider provisions of EU law to which the national court has not referred in its questions (judgment of 1 February 2017, Município de Palmela, C‑144/16, EU:C:2017:76, paragraph 20 and the case-law cited).
26


In that regard, it should be noted that the preambles to the First and Second Directives show that their aim is, firstly, to ensure the free movement of vehicles normally based on EU territory and of persons travelling in those vehicles and, secondly, to guarantee that the victims of accidents caused by those vehicles receive comparable treatment irrespective of where in the European Union the accident occurred (judgments of 9 June 2011, Ambrósio Lavrador and Olival Ferreira Bonifácio, C‑409/09, EU:C:2011:371, paragraph 23, and of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 26).
27


The First Directive, as amplified and supplemented by the Second and Third Directives, 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 and the third-party victims to be covered by that insurance (judgment of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 27 and the case-law cited).
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 EU legislation, the latter is, essentially, governed by national law (judgments of 17 March 2011, Carvalho Ferreira Santos, C‑484/09, EU:C:2011:158, paragraph 31, and of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 28).
29


In that regard, the Court has previously held that it is apparent from the aim of the First, Second and Third Directives, and from their wording, that they do not seek to harmonise the rules of the Member States governing civil liability and that, as EU law now stands, the Member States are free to determine the rules of civil liability applicable to road accidents (judgment of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
30


However, 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 the three abovementioned directives (judgment of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 30 and the case-law cited).
31


In addition, the Member States must exercise their powers in compliance with EU law and that the national provisions which govern compensation for road accidents may not deprive the First, Second and Third Directives of their effectiveness (judgment of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 31).
32


The Court has previously held that those directives would be deprived of their effectiveness if, solely on the basis of the victim’s contribution to the occurrence of his injuries, national rules, established on the basis of general and abstract criteria, either denied the victim the right to be compensated by the compulsory insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles or limited such a right in a disproportionate manner (judgments of 9 June 2011, Ambrósio Lavrador and Olival Ferreira Bonifácio, C‑409/09, EU:C:2011:371, paragraph 29, and of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 32).
35


That legislation is thus not such as to limit the civil liability insurance cover established for the insured person in respect of damage caused to third parties (see, by analogy, judgment of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 35).
36


Having regard to the foregoing considerations, it must be held that the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings does not affect the guarantee, provided by the law of the European Union, 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 with the First, Second and Third Directives (see, by analogy, judgment of 23 October 2012, Marques Almeida, C‑300/10, EU:C:2012:656, paragraph 38).