CJEU - C 510/13 / Judgment

E.ON Földgáz Trade Zrt v Magyar Energetikai és Közmű-szabályozási Hivatal.
Policy area
Internal market
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Type
Decision
Decision date
28/04/2015
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2015:189

EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Title VI: Justice

Article 47 - Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial

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  • CJEU - C 510/13 / Judgment

    Key fact of the case:

    (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Internal market in natural gas –Directive 2003/55/EC — Article 25 — Directive 2009/73/EC — Articles 41 and 54 — Temporal application –Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 — Article 5 — Capacity allocation mechanisms and congestion management procedures — Decision of a regulatory authority — Right to bring an action — Action brought by a company holding a natural gas transmission authorisation — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Article 47 — Right to effective judicial protection against a decision of a regulatory authority)

    Results (sanctions) and key consequences of the case:

    ...  the Court (Fourth Chamber) hereby rules:

    1. Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC, the period allowed for whose transposition expired on 3 March 2011 and, in particular, the new provisions introduced in Article 41(17) thereof, must be interpreted as not applying to an action against a decision of a regulatory authority, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, adopted before the expiry of that period allowed for transposition and which was still pending on that date.
    2. Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 September 2005 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks, read in conjunction with the Annex to that regulation, and Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation concerning the exercise of rights of action before the court or tribunal having jurisdiction to review the lawfulness of acts of a regulatory authority, which, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, does not make it possible to confer on an operator, such as E.ON Földgáz Trade Zrt, locus standi for the purpose of bringing an action against a decision of that authority relating to the gas network code.
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

     

    50. Thus, whilst it is, in principle, for national law to determine an individual’s standing and legal interest in bringing proceedings, EU law nevertheless requires, in addition to observance of the principles of equivalence and effectiveness, that the national legislation should not undermine the right to effective judicial protection, as provided for in Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’) (see, to that effect, judgment in Mono Car Styling, C‑12/08, EU:C:2009:466, paragraph 49 and case-law cited).

    51. In the light of all the foregoing considerations, the answer to the third to fifth questions is that Article 5 of Regulation No 1775/2005, read in conjunction with the Annex to that regulation, and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union must be interpreted as precluding national legislation concerning the exercise of rights of action before the court or tribunal having jurisdiction to review the lawfulness of acts of a regulatory authority, which, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, does not make it possible to confer on an operator, such as E.ON Földgáz, locus standi for the purpose of bringing an action against a decision of that regulatory authority relating to the network code.