Case C-683/19: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Supremo (Spain) lodged on 16 September 2019 – Viesgo Infraestructuras Energéticas, S.L. v Administración del Estado and Others
Date: 2019-09-16
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: consumer protection, discount sale, electrical energy, electricity supply, energy production, energy transport, financing, group of companies, parent company, price of energy








C_2019423EN.01002201.xml










16.12.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 423/22






Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Supremo (Spain) lodged on 16 September 2019 – Viesgo Infraestructuras Energéticas, S.L. v Administración del Estado and Others
(Case C-683/19)
(2019/C 423/28)
Language of the case: Spanish

Referring court

Tribunal Supremo

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Viesgo Infraestructuras Energéticas, S.L.

Defendants: Administración del Estado, Iberdrola, S.A., Gas Natural SDG, S.A., EDP España, S.A., CIDE, Asociación de Distribuidores de Energía Eléctrica, Endesa, S.A., Agri-Energía, S.A., Navarro Generación, S.A., Electra del Cardener, Serviliano García, S.A., Energías de Benasque, S.L., Candín Energía, S.L., Cooperativa Eléctrica Benéfica Catralense, Cooperativa Valenciana, Eléctrica Vaquer, S.A., Hijos de José Bassols, S.A., Electra Aduriz, S.A., El Gas, S.A., Estabanell y Pahisa, S.A., Electra Caldense, S.A., Cooperativa Popular de Fluid Electric Camprodon, S.C.C.L., Fuciños Rivas, S.L., Electra del Maestrazgo, S.A.

Questions referred







1.


In accordance with the case-law established by the Court of Justice, in its judgments of 20 April 2010 (Case C-265/08, Federutility) (1) and of 7 September 2016 (Case C-121/15, ANODE) (2) amongst others, is national legislation — such as that established in Article 45(4) of Ley 24/2013, de 26 de diciembre (Law No 24 of 26 December 2013) and subsequently implemented by Articles 2 and 3 of Real Decreto 968/2014, de 21 de noviembre (Royal Decree No 968 of 21 November 2014) – under which the financing of the ‘bono social’ [regulated discount for electricity for certain vulnerable consumers; ‘the regulated discount’] falls on certain actors in the electricity system, namely the parent companies of company groups or, where applicable, companies that simultaneously carry on electricity production, distribution and retail activities, compatible with the requirements laid down in Article 3(2) of Directive 2009/72/EC, (3) where some of those actors carry very little weight in the sector as a whole, and where, by contrast, other entities or company groups that may be in a better position to bear that cost, either due to their turnover, relative size in a business sector or because they carry on two of those activities simultaneously on an integrated basis, are exempted from that burden?










2.


Is national legislation according to which the obligation to finance the regulated discount is not established on an exceptional basis or limited in time, but indefinitely and with no refund or compensatory measure whatsoever, compatible with the requirement of proportionality established in Article 3(2) of Directive 2009/72/EC?






(1)  EU:C:2010:205.

(2)  EU:C:2016:637.

(3)  Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC (OJ 2009 L 211, p. 55).