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… As the European Commission rightly points out in its written observations, even though Romanian law does not provide for a time , but a , which may be or suspended under certain conditions, for the reimbursement of sums levied in breach of national law, the purpose of an application under Article 1 of OUG No 52/2017 is to seek reimbursement of a tax, which also appears to be the objective of Article 219 of the Tax Procedure Code. …

… JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber) 14 October 2020 (*) (Reference for a preliminary ruling - of EU law - of sincere cooperation - of and - Recovery of taxes levied by a Member State in breach of EU law - Time limit for lodging applications for reimbursement of such taxes - No similar time limit for the reimbursement of sums levied by that Member State in breach of national law) In Case C-677/19, REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article …

… More specifically, in the absence of EU rules on the recovery of national taxes levied though not due, it is for each Member State to lay down the detailed procedural rules governing actions for safeguarding rights derived from EU law, provided, however, that those rules comply with both the of and the of (see, to that effect, judgments of 15 September 1998, Edis, C-231/96, EU:C:1998:401, paragraph 19, and of 11 April 2019, PORR Építési Kft., C-691/17 …

… See also, to that effect, Opinion of Advocate General Sharpston in Cargill Deutschland (C-360/18, EU:C:2019:648), in which she stated that there are cogent reasons which indicate that provisions governing should comprise a set of rules specifying the length of the , the date on which time starts to run and the events which have the effect of or suspending the . 28 See, to that effect, judgment of 28 March 2019, Cogeco Communications …

… Moreover, in contrast to the requirements derived from the of , those flowing from the of cannot be relaxed by invoking the principles at the basis of the national system, such as the principle of legal certainty. Indeed, the principle of equivalence requires that a national rule be applied without distinction to procedures based on EU law and those based on national law. …

… In that context, the Tribunalul Specializat Mureş (Specialised Court, Mureş, Romania) decided to stay proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling in the two cases concerned: ‘(1) Do the provisions of [Directive 93/13], in particular the 12th, 21st and 23rd recitals and Articles 2(b), 6(1), 7(2) and 8 of that directive, permit, in accordance with the of procedural autonomy and the of and , a set of …

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… This Court recognised as long ago as 1970 that rules governing in proceedings must be fixed in advance and must fulfil the requirements of legal certainty. (36) There are cogent reasons of procedural logic which indicate that provisions governing should comprise a set of rules specifying the length of the , the date on which time starts to run and the events which have the effect of or suspending the . …

… The Hauptzollamt Krefeld maintains that the national rules at issue comply with the of and and adds that it is essential to apply a limitation period. Cut-off dates for claims are necessary in the interests of legal certainty. 48. Belgium submits that claims for reimbursement are subject to national procedural rules, subject to the of and . …

… The referring court also expresses the view that the national procedural rules at issue are compatible with the of and . 54. I am not convinced that the referring court’s view is correct. 55. …

… Article 221(1) and (3) of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 2700/2000, is to be interpreted as meaning that it is for the Member States to determine, in compliance with the of and , the date on which the amount of duty must be communicated to the debtor for the purposes of the of three years on expiry of which the customs debt is extinguished. [Signatures] * Language of the case: Dutch. …

… :2010:193, paragraph 17 and the case-law cited). 48 In the light of all the foregoing, the answer to the second question is that Article 221(1) and (3) of the Customs Code is to be interpreted as meaning that it is for the Member States to determine, in compliance with the of and , the date on which the amount of duty must be communicated to the debtor for the purposes of the of three years on expiry of which the customs debt is extinguished …

… However, it did not specify either the manner in which the communication is to be effected, or the date on which it must be effected in order to the . …

… of and are observed (see, by analogy, judgment of 5 June 2014, Kone and Others, C-557/12, EU:C:2014:1317, paragraph 24). 43 Accordingly, the rules applicable to actions for safeguarding rights which individuals derive from the direct of EU law must not be less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions ( of ) and must not make it in practice impossible or excessively difficult to exercise rights conferred by EU law ( of …

… of and must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which, first, provides that the in respect of actions for damages is set at three years and starts to run from the date on which the injured party was aware of its right to compensation, even if unaware of the identity of the person liable and the full extent of the damage, and, secondly, does not include any possibility of suspending or that period during the proceedings before …

… With regard to the latter, if the , which starts to run before the completion of the proceedings following which a final decision is made by the national competition authority or by a review court, is too short in relation to the duration of these proceedings and cannot be suspended or during the course of such proceedings, it is not inconceivable that that may expire even before those proceedings are completed. …

… Recital 31 of Regulation No. 1/2003 provides that the rules on for the imposition of fines and penalty payments were laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2988/74(11), which also concerns penalties in the field of transport. In a system of parallel powers, the acts, which may a , should include procedural steps taken independently by the competition authority of a Member State. …

… Under Article 10 of the TEC, it was not allowed to apply such national procedural norms that would render virtually impossible or excessively difficult the exercise of rights conferred by Articles 81 and 82 of the TEC (the of ) or to apply such rules that were less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions (the of ) (decision no. A-248-715-08). 40.   …

… The shall begin on the day on which the unlawful aid is awarded to the beneficiary either as individual aid or as aid under an aid scheme. Any action taken by the Commission or by a Member State, acting at the request of the Commission, with regard to the unlawful aid, shall the . Each shall start time running afresh. …

… Where certain measures become aid following the liberalisation of an activity by Community law, such measures shall not be considered as existing aid after the date fixed for liberalisation; …’ 4 Article 15 of that regulation, entitled ‘ ’, provided: ‘1. The powers of the Commission to recover aid shall be subject to a of 10 years. 2. …

… of and . 74 In that context, it would be contrary to the of legal certainty to apply by analogy the limitation period of 10 years laid down in Article 15(1) of Regulation No 659/1999 to an action for damages brought against the Member State concerned by a competitor of the company benefiting from State aid. 75 A limitation period laid down by a provision which merely seeks to limit in time the powers of the Commission concerning recovery of State aid cannot be …

… not least as a function of the time at which the begins to run and the possibility of this period. …

… suspension or of that . 105. …

… until the identity of the persons liable and of the full extent of the damage is known, to provide a of more than three years or to recognise an entirely new reason for the suspension or of the that is not disclosed in the national law. 106. …