In each of the countries belonging to the Green Card System there is a Body which brings together all motor insurance entities and which is responsible for guaranteeing the correct operation of compulsory third-party liability insurance for motor vehicles in international traffic, that is, of national vehicles in other countries and, vice versa, vehicles from other countries in its own territory.

The obligation to drive while insured and the protection of victims is guaranteed, between States, through the National Bureaux, which in turn organise the handling, settlement and payment of claims involving an international element. Specifically, each National Bureau is entrusted with:

• International Function: To guarantee that vehicles normally based (registered) in its territory are properly insured to cover the damage they cause in the territory of other States.

• Internal Function: To guarantee that victims or injured parties in their own country caused by vehicles bearing a number plate belonging to another country of the System are compensated at the expense of that vehicle’s insurer, or of its National Bureau.