Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2016:3
Date: 2016-01-13
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Citizenship of the Union;Free movement of workers;Fundamental rights;Charter of Fundamental Rights
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary — Judgment of the Court (First Chamber), 17 March 2016 1. EU law — Direct effect — Individual rights — Safeguarding by the national courts — Legal action — Principle of procedural autonomy — Limits — National legislation making the admissibility of a plea in law alleging infringement of the right to be heard raised for the first time before the national court hearing an appeal on a point of law subject to that plea being based on public policy — Lawfulness — Condition — Compliance with the principle of equivalence — To be determined by the national court (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41) 2. Fundamental rights — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Right to good administration — Right to be heard — Scope (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 41) 1. EU law must be interpreted as meaning that where, in accordance with the applicable national law, a plea alleging infringement of national law raised for the first time before the national court hearing an appeal on a point of law is admissible only if that plea is based on public policy, a plea alleging infringement of the right to be heard, as guaranteed by EU law, raised for the first time before that same court, must be held to be admissible if that right, as guaranteed by national law, satisfies the conditions required by national law for it to be classified as a plea based on public policy, this being a matter for the referring court to determine. In the absence of EU rules on the matter, it is for the national legal order of each Member State to establish them in accordance with the principle of procedural autonomy, on condition, however, that those rules comply with the principles of equivalence and effectiveness. Compliance with the principle of equivalence requires that the national rule in question apply without distinction to actions based on infringement of EU law and those based on infringement of national law having a similar purpose and cause of action. Consequently, if a national court hearing an appeal on a point of law considers the plea based on failure to respect the right to be heard to be a plea based on national public policy which may be raised for the first time before it in proceedings governed by national law, the principle of equivalence requires that, in the same proceedings, a similar plea alleging infringement of EU law may also be raised for the first time before that same court at the stage of an appeal on a point of law. (see paras 24, 29, 31, 35, operative part) 2. See the text of the decision. (see para. 33)