62022CJ0582_SUM
Case C‑582/22
Die Länderbahn GmbH and Others
v
Federal Republic of Germany
(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Köln)
Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 7 March 2024
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Rail transport – Directive 2012/34/EU – Access to railway infrastructure – Charges – Article 56 – Single national regulatory body for the railway sector – Powers – Review of the infrastructure charges whose period of application has expired – Power to declare invalidity with effect ex tunc and to order the reimbursement of charges)
Transport – Rail transport – Directive 2012/34/EC – Allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and levying of charges – Levying of charges for the use of infrastructure – Functions of the regulatory body – Review of the lawfulness of infrastructure charges – National legislation excluding the competence of that body to carry out that review in respect of charges levied in the past and to declare invalidity with effect ex tunc – Not permissible
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2012/34, Arts 56(1), (6) and (9))
(see paragraphs 47-49, 55, 57, 68, operative part 1)
Transport – Rail transport – Directive 2012/34 – Allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and levying of charges – Levying of charges for the use of infrastructure – Functions of the regulatory body – Right of appeal for railway undertakings to challenge the lawfulness of infrastructure charges – Temporal limits – Principle of procedural autonomy – Compliance with the principles of equivalence, effectiveness and legal certainty
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2012/34, Arts 56(1), (9) and (10))
(see paragraphs 64-66)
Transport – Rail transport – Directive 2012/34 – Allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and levying of charges – Levying of charges for the use of infrastructure – Functions of the regulatory body – Obligation to provide for the competence of that body to order the reimbursement of infrastructure charges – None – National legislation allowing civil courts to order the reimbursement – Whether permissible – Conditions
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2012/34, Art. 56(9))
(see paragraphs 71-75, 77, 78, operative part 2)
See the text of the decision.