Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände - Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e.V. v TC Medical Air Ambulance Agency GmbH.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2022:733
• Date: 29 September 2022
• Docket Number: C-633/20
• Celex Number: 62020CJ0633
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling

Provisional text

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (First Chamber)

29 September 2022 (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services – Single market in insurance – Directive 2002/92/EC – Definition of ‘insurance intermediary’ – Activity of ‘insurance mediation’ – Directive (EU) 2016/97 – Activity of ‘distribution of insurance’ – Scope of those directives – Membership of a group insurance policy – Assignment of rights under the insurance contract – Insurance benefits in the event of sickness or accident abroad – Remuneration paid by the member in consideration for the insurance cover acquired – Consumer protection – Equal treatment of insurance intermediaries)

In Case C‑633/20,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice, Germany), made by decision of 15 October 2020, received at the Court on 25 November 2020, in the proceedings

Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände – Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband eV

v

TC Medical Air Ambulance Agency GmbH,

THE COURT (First Chamber),

composed of A. Arabadjiev, President of the Chamber, K. Lenaerts, President of the Court, acting as a Judge of the First Chamber, L. Bay Larsen (Rapporteur), Vice-President of the Court, P.G. Xuereb and A. Kumin, Judges,

Advocate General: M. Szpunar,

Registrar: M. Krausenböck, Administrator,

having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 12 January 2022,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– the Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände – Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband eV, by J. Kummer and P. Wassermann, Rechtsanwälte,

– TC Medical Air Ambulance Agency GmbH, by B. Ackermann, Rechtsanwältin,

– the German Government, by J. Möller and P.‑L. Krüger, acting as Agents,

– the Czech Government, by J. Očková, M. Smolek and J. Vláčil, acting as Agents,

– the Italian Government, by G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, and by F. Subrani, avvocatessa dello Stato,

– the European Commission, by D. Triantafyllou and H. Tserepa-Lacombe, acting as Agents,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 24 March 2022,

gives the following

Judgment

1 The request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 2(3) and (5) of Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002 on insurance mediation (OJ 2003 L 9, p. 3), as amended by Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 (OJ 2014 L 173, p. 349) (‘Directive 2002/92’), and of Article 2(1)(1), (3) and (8) of Directive (EU) 2016/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 January 2016 on the distribution of insurance (OJ 2016 L 26, p. 19), as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/411 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2018 (OJ 2018 L 76, p. 28) (‘Directive 2016/97’).

2 The request has been made in proceedings between the Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände – Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband eV (Federal Union of Consumer Organisations and Associations, Germany) and TC Medical Air Ambulance Agency GmbH concerning the alleged activity of insurance mediation carried out by TC Medical Air Ambulance Agency GmbH without authorisation.

Legal context

European Union law

Directive 2002/92

3 Recitals 8, 9 and 11 of Directive 2002/92 state:

‘(8) The coordination of national provisions on professional requirements and registration of persons taking up and pursuing the activity of insurance mediation can therefore contribute both to the completion of the single market for financial services and to the enhancement of customer protection in this field.

(9) Various types of persons or institutions, such as agents, brokers and “bancassurance” operators, can distribute insurance products. Equality of treatment between operators and customer protection requires that all these persons or institutions be covered by this Directive.

…

(11) The Directive should apply to persons whose activity consists in providing insurance mediation services to third parties for remuneration, which may be pecuniary or take some other form of agreed economic benefit tied to performance.’

4 Article 1 of that directive, entitled ‘Scope’, provides in paragraph 1 thereof:

‘This Directive lays down rules for the taking-up and pursuit of the activities of insurance and reinsurance mediation by natural and legal persons which are established in a Member State or which wish to become established there.’

5 Article 2 of that directive, entitled ‘Definitions’, provides:

‘For the purposes of this Directive:

…

3. “insurance mediation” means the activities of introducing, proposing or carrying out other work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of insurance, or of concluding such contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim.

With the exception of Chapter III A of this Directive, those activities, when undertaken by an insurance undertaking or an employee of an insurance undertaking who is acting under the responsibility of the insurance undertaking shall not be considered to be insurance mediation or insurance distribution.

…

…

5. “insurance intermediary” means any natural or legal person who, for remuneration, takes up or pursues insurance mediation;

…’

6 The first subparagraph of Article 3(1) of that directive provides:

‘Insurance and reinsurance intermediaries shall be registered with a competent authority as defined in Article 7(2), in their home Member State.’

Directive 2016/97

7 Recitals 5 to 7, 10 and 16 of Directive 2016/97 state:

‘(5) Various types of persons or institutions … can distribute insurance products. Equality of treatment between operators and customer protection requires that all those persons or institutions be covered by this Directive.

(6) Consumers should benefit from the same level of protection despite the differences between distribution channels. In order to guarantee that the same level of protection applies and that the consumer can benefit from comparable standards, in particular in the area of the disclosure of information, a level playing field between distributors is essential.

(7) The application of Directive [2002/92] has shown that a number of provisions require further precision with a view to facilitating the exercise of insurance distribution and that the protection of consumers requires an extension of the scope of that Directive to all sales of insurance products. …

…

(10) … It is appropriate … to strengthen the confidence of customers and to make regulatory treatment of the distribution of insurance products more uniform in order to ensure an adequate level of customer protection across the [European] Union. The level of consumer protection should be raised in relation to Directive [2002/92] in order to reduce the need for varying national measures. …

…

(16) This Directive should ensure that the same level of consumer protection applies and that all consumers can benefit from comparable standards. This Directive should promote a level playing field and competition on equal terms between intermediaries, whether or not they are tied to an insurance undertaking. There is a benefit to customers if insurance products are distributed through different channels and through intermediaries with different forms of cooperation with insurance undertakings, provided that they are required to apply similar rules on consumer protection. Such concerns should be taken into account by the Member States in the implementation of this Directive.’

8 Article 1(1) of that directive provides as follows:

‘This Directive lays down rules concerning the taking-up and pursuit of the activities of insurance and reinsurance distribution in the Union.’

9 Article 2(1) of that directive provides:

‘For the purposes of this Directive:

(1) “insurance distribution” means the activities of advising on, proposing, or carrying out other work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of insurance, of concluding such contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim, including the provision of information concerning one or more insurance contracts in accordance with criteria selected by customers through a website or other media and the compilation...