Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2015:462
Date: 2015-07-09
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Telecommunications
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Austria

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber), 26 November 2015 Approximation of laws — Electronic communications networks and services — Universal service and users’ rights — Directive 2002/22 — Right of subscribers to terminate their contract without penalty in the event of modifications to it — Concept of modification — Adjustment to charges — Not included — Conditions (European Parliament and Council Directive 2002/22, as amended by Directive 2009/136, Art. 20(2)) Article 20(2) of Directive 2002/22 on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks and services (Universal Service Directive), as amended by Directive 2009/136, must be interpreted as meaning that a change in charges for the provision of electronic communications networks or services, resulting from the operation of a price adjustment clause contained in the standard terms and conditions applied by an undertaking providing such services, where that term provides that such a change is to apply in accordance with changes in an objective consumer price index compiled by a public institution, does not constitute a modification to the contractual conditions within the meaning of that provision, which grants the subscriber the right to withdraw from the contract without penalty. The EU legislature recognised that undertakings providing electronic communications services may have a legitimate interest in being able to adjust the prices and charges for their services. In that regard, price adjustments provided for in the contract, in so far as they are based on a clear, comprehensive and easily accessible price index, resulting from State decisions and mechanisms, cannot place end-users in a contractual situation any different from that which arises from a contract in which the term at issue is provided for in the standard terms and conditions of that contract. Consequently, the operation of such a change in charges cannot be characterised as a modification to the contractual conditions, within the meaning of Article 20(2) of Directive 2002/22. (see paras 25, 27-29, operative part)