Case C-561/21,  Banco Santander (Point from which the limitation period starts to run): Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 25 April 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Supremo – Spain) – GP, BG v Banco Santander SA (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Consumer protection – Directive 93/13/EEC – Unfair terms in consumer contracts – Mortgage loan contract – Term stipulating that costs relating to the contract are to be paid by the consumer – Final judicial decision finding that term unfair and declaring it void – Action for restitution of the sums paid pursuant to the unfair term – Point from which the limitation period for the action for restitution starts to run)
Date: 2024-04-25
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: consumer credit, consumer protection, equal treatment, limitation of legal proceedings, principle of legal certainty, real estate credit, unfair terms of contract








C_202403564EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/3564


17.6.2024






Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 25 April 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Supremo – Spain) – GP, BG v Banco Santander SA


(Case C-561/21,
                (1)
Banco Santander (Point from which the limitation period starts to run))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Consumer protection - Directive 93/13/EEC - Unfair terms in consumer contracts - Mortgage loan contract - Term stipulating that costs relating to the contract are to be paid by the consumer - Final judicial decision finding that term unfair and declaring it void - Action for restitution of the sums paid pursuant to the unfair term - Point from which the limitation period for the action for restitution starts to run)
(C/2024/3564)
Language of the case: Spanish

Referring court

Tribunal Supremo

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: GP, BG

Defendant: Banco Santander SA

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 6(1) and Article 7(1) of Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts and the principle of legal certainty
must be interpreted as not precluding the limitation period for an action for restitution of costs that were paid by the consumer, pursuant to a contractual term that has been found to be unfair by a final judicial decision given subsequent to the payment of those costs, from beginning to run on the date on which that decision becomes final, without prejudice to the right of the seller or supplier to prove that that consumer was or could reasonably have been aware of the unfairness of the term concerned before the delivery of that decision.










2.


Article 6(1) and Article 7(1) of Directive 93/13
must be interpreted as precluding the limitation period for an action for restitution of costs that were paid by the consumer, pursuant to a term of a contract concluded with a seller or supplier that has been found to be unfair by a final judicial decision given subsequent to the payment of those costs, from beginning to run on an earlier date, on which the national supreme court delivered, in separate cases, judgments declaring standard terms corresponding to the term in question of that contract unfair.










3.


Article 6(1) and Article 7(1) of Directive 93/13
must be interpreted as precluding the limitation period for an action for restitution of costs that were paid by the consumer, pursuant to a term of a contract concluded with a seller or supplier that has been found to be unfair by a final judicial decision, from beginning to run on the date of certain judgments of the Court that have confirmed, in principle, that limitation periods for actions for restitution are compatible with EU law provided that they observe the principles of equivalence and effectiveness.






(1)  
            OJ C 15, 16.1.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3564/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)