Insurance Matters and Injured Parties in Brussels I-bis after Bundesrepublik Deutschland v. Mutua Madrileña Automovilista: Which Direction for a Future Recast?

Rules on direct action by injured parties under the Brussels Ibis Regulation have long been set out in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Bundesrepublik Deutschland v. Mutua Madrilena Automovilista, Case C-536/23, is the latest piece of a complex puzzle, and it underscores the need for further clarity in applying the relevant provisions. The Recast of the Brussels I-bis Regulation would be an apt occasion, at least, to crystallise the solutions developed by the Court; yet, from the preliminary 2025 Commission’s Report, it would seem that rules in insurance matters will not be directly affected during the legislative process. The aim of this contribution is to reconstruct the main solutions developed by the CJEU, in light of the persistence of the matter in the Court’s dockets, and to argue that the recast should explicitly address direct actions in insurance matters to bring greater clarity to their application.