Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2014:2457
Date: 2014-12-18
Language of the case: English
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation;Principles, objectives and tasks of the Treaties
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: United Kingdom

Action brought on 4 December 2013 – European Commission v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Case C-640/13) Language of the case: English Parties Applicant: European Commission (represented by: R. Lyal, W. Roels, Agents) Defendant: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The applicant claims that the Court should: declare that by retroactively curtailing the right of taxpayers to recover tax which was levied contrary to Union law, the United Kingdom has failed to comply with its obligations under Article 4(3) TEU; order United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to pay the costs. The national legislation in issue Section 107 of the Finance Act 2007 retroactively deprives taxpayers of the right to recover unlawfully charged tax. The main argument In the absence of any provision of EU law on the matter, it is for the national law of each Member State to determine the procedural conditions governing actions to vindicate the rights enjoyed by citizens under EU law. However, that procedural autonomy is subject to observance of the principles of effectiveness and equivalence and to other generally applicable principles of law, such as legal certainty and the protection of legitimate expectations. Section 107 of the Finance Act 2007 fails to observe those principles and is thus incompatible with Article 4(3) TEU.