Article 17 - Right to property
Key facts of the case:
Reference for a preliminary ruling – Article 63 TFEU – Free movement of capital – Article 17 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Right to property – Right of usufruct over agricultural land – National legislation extinguishing, without compensation, the rights of usufruct – Judgment establishing a failure to fulfil obligations – Reinstatement in the land register of a previously deleted right of usufruct, without examination of the lawfulness of the original registration – Finality of the original registration
Outcome of the case:
On those grounds, the Court (Fourth Chamber) hereby rules:
Article 63 TFEU and Article 17 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State under which the right of usufruct created over a plot of agricultural land situated on the territory of that Member State which, after having been registered definitively in the land register, has been cancelled and deleted from that register by effect of legislation of that Member State contrary to those articles, must, at the request of the person who has been deprived of that right, be reinstated in that register, even when the original registration of that right was contrary to the applicable national legislation on the date of that registration.
43. By its question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 63 TFEU and Article 17 of the Charter must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State under which the right of usufruct over a plot of agricultural land situated on the territory of that Member State which, after having been registered definitively in the land register, has been cancelled and deleted from that register by effect of legislation of that Member State contrary to those articles, must, at the request of the person who has been deprived of that right, be reinstated in that register, even when the original registration of that right was in contravention to the applicable national legislation on the date of that registration.
...
48. By its judgment of 21 May 2019, Commission v Hungary (Usufruct over agricultural land) (C‑235/17, EU:C:2019:432), however, the Court held that, by adopting Paragraph 108(1) of the 2013 Law on Transitional Measures, Hungary had failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 63 TFEU and Article 17 of the Charter.
53. In the light of those clarifications, it must be determined whether Article 63 TFEU and Article 17 of the Charter preclude a right of usufruct over a plot of agricultural land situated in Hungary from being reinstated in the land register at the request of a person who has been deprived of those rights when the owner of that plot of land does not reside in Hungary and that usufruct was originally registered in that register in contravention of the applicable national legislation on the date of that registration.
60. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Charter are applicable in all situations governed by EU law and that they must, therefore, be complied with inter alia where, as in the present case, national legislation is such as to obstruct one or more of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the FEU Treaty and the Member State concerned relies on grounds envisaged in Article 65 TFEU, or on overriding reasons in the public interest that are recognised by EU law, in order to justify such an obstacle. In such a situation, the national legislation concerned can, according to settled case-law, fall within the exceptions thereby provided for only if it complies with the fundamental rights the observance of which is ensured by the Court (see, to that effect, judgment of 21 May 2019, Commission v Hungary (Usufruct over agricultural land), C‑235/17, EU:C:2019:432, paragraphs 63 and 64 and the case-law cited).
61. In the present case, it is apparent, in the first place, from the order for reference that the legislation at issue in the main proceedings is intended to give effect to the judgment of 21 May 2019, Commission v Hungary (Usufruct over agricultural land) (C‑235/17, EU:C:2019:432), by which the earlier Hungarian legislation was held to be contrary to Article 63 TFEU and Article 17 of the Charter, by reinstating the rights of usufructuaries who, like GW, had been deprived of those rights in a manner contrary to those articles.
72. In the third place, as observed in paragraph 60 of the present judgment, it is still necessary to examine whether the right to property, as guaranteed by Article 17 of the Charter, is such as to preclude legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings.
73. In that regard, under Article 17(1) of the Charter, everyone has the right to own, use, dispose of and bequeath his or her lawfully acquired possessions and no one may be deprived of his or her possessions, except in the public interest and in the cases and under the conditions provided for by law, subject to fair compensation being paid in good time for their loss.
74. The use of property may be regulated by law in so far as is necessary for the general interest. Moreover, under Article 52(1) of the Charter, there may be limitations on the exercise of the rights and freedoms recognised thereby, such as the right to property, provided that those limitations are provided for by law, respect the essence of those rights and freedoms and, subject to the principle of proportionality, are necessary and genuinely meet objectives of general interest recognised by the European Union or the need to protect the rights and freedoms of others.
75. Although there is nothing to suggest that CN’s rights as landowner of the plot of agricultural land at issue in the main proceedings were not acquired lawfully within the meaning of Article 17(1) of the Charter, the same cannot be said of the transaction by which CN acquired full property rights thereover, due to the deletion of the registration of GW’s right of usufruct over that land from the land register. As is apparent from paragraph 61 of the present judgment, that transaction was completed in a manner contrary to Article 63 TFEU and Article 17 of the Charter.
76. It follows that the full property rights over the plot of agricultural land at issue in the main proceedings, acquired by CN following the deletion of GW’s right of usufruct in accordance with Paragraph 108(1) of the 2013 Law on Transitional Measures and Paragraph 94(1) and (3) of the Law on the land register in force on the date of that deletion, cannot be deemed to have been ‘lawfully acquired’ within the meaning of Article 17(1) of the Charter. Consequently, the legislation at issue in the main proceedings, under which those rights of usufruct were reinstated in the land register, cannot be regarded as being a limitation on the rights enjoyed by CN under Article 17 of the Charter.
77. It follows from all of the foregoing considerations that Article 63 TFEU and Article 17 of the Charter must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State under which the right of usufruct created over a plot of agricultural land situated on the territory of that Member State which, after having been registered definitively in the land register, has been cancelled and deleted from that register by effect of legislation of that Member State contrary to those articles, must, at the request of the person who has been deprived of that right, be reinstated in that register, even when the original registration of that right was contrary to the applicable national legislation on the date of that registration.