Case C-496/25, Lin III: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție (Romania) lodged on 21 July 2025 – Parchetul de pe lângă Curtea de Apel București, D.S.N., D.C.A., S.R., L.D., I.L., B.T., B.M., G.A.A., A.D., G.C., A.D. v Statul român – Agenția națională de Administrare Fiscală, A.G.
Date: 2025-07-21
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: VAT, barring of penalties by limitation, criminal proceedings, fraud against the EU, impunity, rights of the defence, tax offence








C_202505572EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5572


27.10.2025






Request for a preliminary ruling from the Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție (Romania) lodged on 21 July 2025 – Parchetul de pe lângă Curtea de Apel București, D.S.N., D.C.A., S.R., L.D., I.L., B.T., B.M., G.A.A., A.D., G.C., A.D. v Statul român – Agenția națională de Administrare Fiscală, A.G.


(Case C-496/25, Lin III
                (1)
)

(C/2025/5572)
Language of the case: Romanian

Referring court

Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellants: Parchetul de pe lângă Curtea de Apel București, D.S.N., D.C.A., S.R., L.D., I.L., B.T., B.M., G.A.A., A.D., G.C., A.D.

Respondents: Statul român – Agenția națională de Administrare Fiscală, A.G.

Questions referred







1.


When interpreting Article 325 TFEU and Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests (‘the PIF Convention’), (2) can a conspiracy involving several persons for the purpose of committing VAT fraud be regarded as fraud or other illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the European Union, regardless of whether the fraud constituting the purpose of the conspiracy is actually committed?










2.


If the answer to the previous question is in the affirmative, should the provisions of Articles 2 and 4(2) and (3) TEU, Articles 2(2) and 325(1) TFEU and Article 2(1) of the PIF Convention, as interpreted by the judgment of the Court [of 24 July 2023, Lin, C-107/23 PPU, EU:C:2023:606; ‘the Lin judgment’], [and] Articles 20, 49(1), 52(3) and 53 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union [‘the Charter’] be interpreted as meaning that, in criminal proceedings concerning offences relating to VAT and related offences, the national court must disapply the national standard of protection relating to the principle of the retroactive application of the more lenient criminal law (lex mitior), as this emerges from the binding case-law of the highest court of that Member State, according to which standard procedural acts taking place before the national legislative provision governing the causes of interruption of the limitation periods for criminal liability was invalidated do not have the effect of interrupting a limitation period, where:






a.


the disapplication of that national standard is incompatible with the prohibition on applying lex tertia – a principle of constitutional rank;










b.


in application of that national case-law, it can be considered that the general limitation period for criminal liability had expired before the [Lin] judgment was delivered;










c.


the disapplication, on the basis of EU law, of that national standard results in a level of protection of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter that is not equivalent or comparable to the protection guaranteed by Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights [‘the ECHR’];










d.


national law does not lay down specific criteria to be applied by the court of the Member State to assess, at a preliminary stage, the systemic risk of impunity arising from the application of that national standard in cases of serious fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Union?










(1)  The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any party to the proceedings.

(2)  Convention drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests (OJ 1995 C 316, p. 49).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/5572/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)