Directie van de Dienst Wegverkeer (RDW) v X et Y, X and Y v Directie van de Dienst Wegverkeer (RDW) and Directie van de Dienst Wegverkeer (RDW) v Z.
Date: 2019-01-24
46


First of all, it is apparent from the very wording of Article 4 of Directive 1999/37, which provides that a registration certificate issued by a Member State in accordance with the template set out in the annex to that directive ‘shall be recognised’ by the other Member States for the re-registration of the vehicle in another Member State, that that provision does not leave any discretion to the Member States as regards compliance with the principle of recognition of vehicle registration certificates (judgment of 6 September 2012, Commission v Belgium, C‑150/11, EU:C:2012:539, paragraph 73).
47


The Court has ruled that Directive 1999/37 does not allow Member States to require a document other than the registration certificate when registering a vehicle previously registered in another Member State (see, to this effect, judgment of 6 September 2012, Commission v Belgium, C‑150/11, EU:C:2012:539, paragraph 79).
48


However, the Court considered that a Member State was entitled, before registering a vehicle previously registered in another Member State, to identify that vehicle and to require for that purpose that the vehicle be presented for a physical examination, in order to verify whether that vehicle was actually present on its territory and corresponded to the data mentioned in the registration certificate (see, to that effect, judgment of 20 September 2007, Commission v Netherlands, C‑297/05, EU:C:2007:531, paragraphs 54, 55 and 57 to 63).
49


Such a presentation was classified by the Court as a mere administrative formality, which does not introduce any additional testing, but which is integral to the actual processing of the application for registration and also to the conduct of the procedure (see, to that effect, judgment of 20 September 2007, Commission v Netherlands, C‑297/05, EU:C:2007:531, paragraph 58).
50


With respect to the objectives of Directive 1999/37, it should be recalled that that directive seeks to help towards the free movement, on the roads in the territory of the other Member States, of vehicles registered in a Member State by laying down, as a prerequisite for registering a vehicle that has previously been registered in another Member State, the presentation of a document certifying that registration and the technical characteristics of the vehicle, in order to facilitate the re-entry into service of such vehicles in another Member State and to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market (judgment of 6 September 2012, Commission v Belgium, C‑150/11, EU:C:2012:539, paragraph 74).
52


In that regard, the registration certificate issued previously by a Member State must allow the identification of the vehicle concerned, which must correspond to the data indicated on that certificate for its re-registration in another Member State (see, to that effect, judgment of 20 September 2007, Commission v Netherlands, C‑297/05, EU:C:2007:531, paragraphs 54 to 56), in order to ensure that road safety requirements are met.
65


However, the fact that a national court has, formally speaking, worded its request for a preliminary ruling by referring to certain provisions of EU law does not preclude the Court of Justice from providing to the national court all the elements of interpretation which may be of assistance in adjudicating on the case pending before it, whether or not that court has referred to them in its questions. It is for the Court to extract from all the information provided by the national court, in particular from the grounds of the order for reference, the points of EU law which require interpretation, having regard to the subject matter of the dispute (judgment of 29 September 2016, Essent Belgium, C‑492/14, EU:C:2016:732, paragraph 43 and the case-law cited).
68


As is apparent from the case-law of the Court, Member States are in principle required to take due account, for vehicles previously registered in other Member States, of the results of roadworthiness tests carried out in those Member States, and those vehicles cannot be generally and systematically made subject to a roadworthiness test (see, to that effect, judgments of 5 June 2008, Commission v Poland, C‑170/07, not published, EU:C:2008:322, paragraphs 39 and 44, and of 6 September 2012, Commission v Belgium, C‑150/11, EU:C:2012:539, paragraph 62). Nevertheless, taking account of the importance of the objective of ensuring road traffic safety within the Union pursued by Directive 2009/40, as set out in recital 2 thereof, it is open to Member States to require an imported vehicle to be submitted for testing prior to registration in that State if, despite taking into account the results of roadworthiness tests carried out in another Member State, there are concrete indications that the vehicle does indeed present a risk to road safety (see, to that effect, judgment of 6 September 2012, Commission v Belgium, C‑150/11, EU:C:2012:539, paragraphs 59 to 61).