(April 24, 2015)

On April 23, 2015 the opinion of Advocate General Jääskinen in Case C‑69/14 Dragoș Constantin Târșia versus Statul român Serviciul Public Comunitar Regim Permise de Conducere și Inmatriculare a Autovehiculelor (ECLI:EU:C:2015:269) was published on the website of the European Court of Justice (CJEU).

The following question was referred to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling:

Can Articles 17, 20, 21 and 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 6 of the Treaty on the European Union, Article 110 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union, and the principle of legal certainty laid down in EU law and in the case-law of the Court of Justice, be interpreted as precluding a rule such as that found in Article 21(2) of Law No 554/2004 which allows for revision of national judicial decisions when there is an infringement of the principle of primacy of [European Union] law exclusively in administrative proceedings and which does not allow for revision of national judicial decisions delivered in proceedings other than administrative proceedings (civil or criminal proceedings) when there is an infringement of the same principle of primacy of [European Union] law at issue in those decisions.

Facts, the main proceedings, the question referred and the proceedings before the Court

·        On 3 May 2007 Mr Târșia, the applicant in the main proceedings, purchased a car that had previously been registered in France. As mentioned above, registration in Romania was contingent at the time on the production of proof of payment of a special tax on motor vehicles. The motor vehicle was registered on 6 June 2007, after the applicant had paid on 5 June 2007 the sum of RON 6 899.51 by way of special motor vehicle tax.

·        The applicant sought repayment of the tax before a civil court on the grounds that the tax levied was inconsistent with Article 90 EC [now Article 110 TFEU] inasmuch as it introduced a discriminatory fiscal measure of internal taxation on goods from other Member States that was far greater than taxes levied on similar goods and sold in the national market. By civil judgment No 6553/2007 of 13 December 2007 the Judecătoria Sibiu (Court of First Instance, Sibiu) granted the application and ordered the Romanian State to reimburse the tax.

·        However, the Romanian State brought an appeal against that judgment, which was upheld by civil Decision No 401/2008 of the Tribunalul Sibiu (District Court, Sibiu), which ordered the Romanian State to repay only part of the tax levied; namely the difference between that paid on 5 June 2007, in respect of the special motor vehicle tax, and the amount resulting from the application of OUG No 50/2008 and its pollution tax on motor vehicles.

·        On 29 September 2011 Mr Târșia sought revision of civil Decision No 401/2008 before the Tribunalul Sibiu, based on the provisions of Article 21(2) of Law No 554/2004, and the ruling of the Court of 7 April 2011 in the aforementioned case of Tatu (C‑402/09, EU:C:2011:219), where the Court held that Article 110 TFEU rendered a tax such as the pollution tax on motor vehicles put in place by OUG No 50/2008 incompatible with EU law. Mr Târșia argued that he was entitled to recovery of all the taxes paid due to the primacy of EU law and the findings of the Court in Tatu.

·        According to the order for reference it was not possible, at that stage of the proceedings, to challenge civil Decision No 401/2008 through the ordinary courts. There is no procedural remedy in civil procedure similar to Article 21(2) of Law No 554/2004 concerning final judgments that infringe the primacy of EU law. The Tribunalul Sibiu thus considered that it was obliged to refer the following question to the Court under Article 267 TFEU.

‘Can Articles 17, 20, 21 and 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 6 of the Treaty on the European Union, Article 110 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union, and the principle of legal certainty laid down in EU law and in the case-law of the Court of Justice, be interpreted as precluding a rule such as that found in Article 21(2) of Law No 554/2004 which allows for revision of national judicial decisions when there is an infringement of the principle of primacy of [European Union] law exclusively in administrative proceedings and which does not allow for revision of national judicial decisions delivered in proceedings other than administrative proceedings (civil or criminal proceedings) when there is an infringement of the same principle of primacy of [European Union] law at issue in those decisions.’

·        Written observations have been made by Mr Târșia, the Romanian and Polish Governments and the Commission. With the exception of Poland, all of them participated at the hearing that took place on 27 January 2015.

In the opinion the Advocate proposes the following answer to the question referred by the Tribunalul Sibiu:

Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the principle of effectiveness laid down in the case-law of the Court of Justice do not preclude national rules which allow for revision of national judicial decisions delivered in administrative proceedings when there is an infringement of the principle of primacy of EU law and which do not allow for revision on the same basis of national judicial decisions delivered in civil proceedings. This is subject to the proviso that there is sufficient clarity as to which is the correct procedure to remedy the infringement of EU law in question, and a final judgment of a court that should have established its incompetence of its own motion cannot bar seeking redress from a competent court.

The principle of equivalence precludes national rules which allow for revision of national judicial decisions delivered in civil proceedings because of a later judgment of the national Constitutional Court or the European Court of Human Rights, but do not allow for this with respect to a later judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Click here to be forwarded to the full text of the opinion as published on the website of the CJEU, which will open in a new window. 

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