Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2016:927
Date: 2016-12-07
Language of the case: Croatian
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Environment;Approximation of laws
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Croatia

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 7 December 2016 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Identification of the relevant aspects of EU law — Reformulation of the questions (Art. 267 TFEU) 2. Environment — EU water policy — Directive 2000/60 —Recovery of the costs of services connected with water use — Calculation of the amount due from the consumer — National legislation providing for a variable component related to actual consumption and fixed component independent of that consumption — Lawfulness (European Parliament and Council Directive 2000/60, Arts 2, point 38, and 9) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 16) 2. Directive 2000/60 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides that the price of water services invoiced to the consumer includes not only a variable component calculated according to the volume of water actually consumed by the person concerned, but also a fixed component which is not connected with that volume. Provided that the Member States fulfil the obligation to recover the costs of services connected with water use, including the environmental and resource costs, as provided for in Article 9 of Directive 2000/60, they may choose between various pricing methods best suited to their own situation as part of the discretion left to them under Directive 2000/60, since that directive does not require them to use any specific pricing method. (see paras 23, 27, operative part)