On October 6, 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in Case C‑69/14 Dragoș Constantin Târșia versus Statul roman and Serviciul public comunitar regim permise de conducere și înmatriculare a autovehiculelor, (ECLI:EU:C:2015:662).

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 on 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 [the law on administrative proceedings] which allows for revision of decisions of a national court or tribunal when there is an infringement of the principle of the primacy of [European Union] law exclusively in administrative proceedings and which does not allow for revision of national decisions of a court or tribunal 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?

The dispute in the main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling

·        On 3 May 2007, Mr Târşia, a Romanian national, purchased a second-hand motor car in France. On 5 June 2007, in order to register that vehicle in Romania, he had to pay a sum of RON 6 899.51 (around EUR 1 560) in respect of the special tax on motor cars payable under Articles 214a and 214b of the Romanian Tax Code, in the version in force when the vehicle in question was registered.

·        Believing that tax to be incompatible with Article 110 TFEU, Mr Târşia initiated civil proceedings before the Judecătoria Sibiu (District Court, Sibiu) in order to secure the return of the amount of that tax. That court, ruling against the Romanian State by judgment of 13 December 2007, upheld that request, on the ground that the tax in question was contrary to Article 110 TFEU.

·        The Romanian State, represented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, brought an appeal in cassation against that judgment. By Decision No 401/2008, the civil section of the Tribunalul Sibiu (Regional Court, Sibiu) limited the repayment of the special tax on motor cars paid by Mr Târşia to a sum equal to the difference between that tax and the later pollution tax payable by virtue of Government Emergency Order No 50/2008 of 21 April 2008 introducing a pollution tax for motor cars (Ordonanţă de urgenţă a Guvernului nr. 50/2008 pentru instituirea taxei pe poluare pentru autovehicule) (Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, No 327 of 25 April 2008).

·        That decision was the subject of an action for revision brought before the Tribunalul Sibiu (‘the referring court’) by Mr Târşia on 29 September 2011. On the basis of Article 21(2) of the law on administrative proceedings, Mr Târşia requested that Decision No 401/2008 be annulled and that a new decision be made, on the ground that the Court of Justice had ruled, in its judgment in Tatu (C‑402/09, EU:C:2011:219), that Article 110 TFEU precludes the introduction of a tax such as the pollution tax imposed by Government Emergency Order No 50/2008. Consequently, Mr Târşia considers that the Romanian State’s appeal was allowed in breach of the principle of the primacy of EU law, and that the special tax on motor cars paid by him should be repaid to him in its entirety.

·        The referring court notes in that regard that the procedural rules applicable to civil proceedings do not offer any opportunity to bring an action for revision of a final judicial decision for a breach of EU law, although such an action may be brought pursuant to the procedural rules governing administrative proceedings.

·        In those circumstances, the Tribunalul Sibiu (Regional Court, Sibiu) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court of Justice 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 on 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 [the law on administrative proceedings] which allows for revision of decisions of a national court or tribunal when there is an infringement of the principle of the primacy of [European Union] law exclusively in administrative proceedings and which does not allow for revision of national decisions of a court or tribunal 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?’

The CJEU ruled as follows:

European Union law, in particular the principles of equivalence and effectiveness, must be interpreted as not precluding, in circumstances such as those in the dispute in the main proceedings, a situation where there is no possibility for a national court to revise a final decision of a court or tribunal made in the course of civil proceedings when that decision is found to be incompatible with an interpretation of EU law upheld by the Court of Justice of the European Union after the date on which that decision became final, even though such a possibility does exist as regards final decisions of a court or tribunal incompatible with EU law made in the course of administrative proceedings.

For further information click here to be forwarded to the text of the ruling as published on the website of the CJEU, which will open in a new window.

Did you know that in our section CJEU Rulings we have made a selection of rulings of the CJEU? We have organized these rulings based on the subject they relate to (e.g. Freedom of establishment, Free movement of capital, Indirect taxes on the raising of capital, etc).

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