Italian law grants much more generous amounts of compensation for pain and suffering than German law. This explains the disappointment of Italian accident victims in Germany who, even with significant injuries, receive only a fraction of what they would be entitled to in Italy. The French legal situation seems to correspond to the German one - as can be seen from the judgment of the Court of Cassation v. 25.06.2021, 18286/21.

An Italian couple suffered an accident in Paris and sued for damages for pain and suffering before the Florence Regional Court. The Italian judge had jurisdiction due to the Italian domicile of the defendant insurance company, but the Italian judge had to apply French law due to Article 4 (1) of the Rome II Regulation, as the damage occurred in France. The plaintiffs argued, among other things, that such a rule, which they considered unfair, would violate both European law and the constitutional principle of equal treatment. For reasons not available to the editors and not cited in the cassation judgement, the Florence Regional Court agreed with the plaintiffs. The insurance company appealed and was successful. The Court of Cassation subsequently confirmed that the place-of-success principle of Art. 4(1) is not to be shaken.