Link: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2022-05/cp220085en.pdf

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Court of Justice of the European Union

PRESS RELEASE No 85/22

Luxembourg, 17 May 2022

Judgments in Case C-600/19 Ibercaja banco, in Joined Cases C-693/19 SPV Project 1503, C-831/19 Banco di Desio e della Brianza and Others, and in Cases C-725/19 Impuls Leasing România and C-869/19 Unicaja Banco

Unfair terms in consumer contracts: national procedural principles cannot impede the rights that individuals derive from EU law

The principle of effectiveness requires an effective review of the potentially unfair nature of the terms

By today’s judgments, the Court, sitting as the Grand Chamber, rules on several requests for a preliminary ruling brought by the Spanish, Italian and Romanian courts, concerning the interpretation of Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts. 1

The Court is asked to rule on whether national procedural principles, such as res judicata, may limit the powers of the national courts, in particular those dealing with enforcement, in order to assess whether contractual terms are unfair. Are principles of national procedural law which do not allow that assessment at the enforcement stage, including by the enforcing court of its own motion, because of the existence of prior national judicial decisions, compatible with Directive 93/13?

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