C-177/20: ‘Grossmania’ Mezőgazdasági Termelő és Szolgáltató Kft v Vas Megyei Kormányhivatal
(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Győri Közigazgatási és Munkaügyi Bíróság (Administrative and Labour Court, Győr, Hungary))
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Principles of EU law – Primacy – Direct effect – Conflict between EU law and national law – Infringement of EU law established by the Court of Justice in a preliminary ruling as well as in an infringement action – Obligations and rights of national administrative authorities and courts – Non‑application of the national law to cases which are similar, but not identical, to those at issue in that preliminary ruling – Administrative decision becoming final in the absence of a challenge before the courts – Disapplication or withdrawal of such a decision due to it being contrary to EU law – Kühne & Heitz (C‑453/00) line of case-law)
Advocate General Tanchev concludes that the Hungarian court is bound by the judgment of the EU Court of Justice. The EU Court of Justice has ruled that the Hungarian rights cancellation scheme is contrary to EU law. It is irrelevant that the facts differ slightly.
AG Opinion
1. The referring court must comply with the judgment of 6 March 2018, SEGRO and Horváth (C‑52/16 and C‑113/16, EU:C:2018:157), and must, in order to ensure the effet utile of EU law, disapply, of its own motion, national provisions which are, according to the Court’s interpretation, contrary to Article 63 TFEU. The duty to ensure the effet utile of EU law is binding not only on the court seised of the case, but also on any other national authority. Those authorities must disapply national legal norms which infringe EU law and must apply the national law in a manner which allows an end to be put, as soon as possible, to the contradiction between national law and EU law and which nullifies the legal consequences of an infringement of EU law.
2. Subject to verification by the referring court, Article 63 TFEU should be interpreted as precluding national provisions such as Subparagraphs 4 and 5 of Paragraph 108 of the 2013 Law on transitional measures, in so far as the procedure for re-registration of a right cancelled in breach of EU law is suspended until the conclusion of the investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the resultant judicial proceedings.
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