Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Sweden.

JurisdictionEuropean Union
ECLIECLI:EU:C:2002:281
CourtCourt of Justice (European Union)
Date07 May 2002
Docket NumberC-478/99
Procedure TypeRecours en constatation de manquement - non fondé
Celex Number61999CJ0478
EUR-Lex - 61999J0478 - EN 61999J0478

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 7 May 2002. - Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Sweden. - Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations - Directive 93/13/EEC - Unfair terms in consumer contracts - Obligation to reproduce in national legislation the list of terms which may be regarded as unfair contained in the annex to Directive 93/13. - Case C-478/99.

European Court reports 2002 Page I-04147


Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

Acts of the institutions - Directives - Implementation by the Member States - Need for full transposition - List contained in the annex to the Directive reproduced in its entirety in the preparatory work for the implementing law - Whether permissible

(Council Directive 93/13, Art. 3(3))

Summary

$$Each of the Member States to which a directive is addressed is obliged to adopt, within its national legal system, all the measures necessary to ensure that the directive is fully effective, in accordance with the objective it pursues. It is essential that the legal situation resulting from national implementing measures be sufficiently precise and clear and that individuals be made fully aware of their rights so that, where appropriate, they may rely on them before the national courts.

The latter condition is of particular importance where the directive in question is intended to confer rights on nationals of other Member States, as is the case for Directive 93/13 on unfair terms in consumer contracts. As regards the annex referred to in Article 3(3) of the Directive, the annex in question is, according to the terms of Article 3(3), to contain an indicative and non-exhaustive list of terms which may be regarded as unfair. It is not disputed that a term appearing in the list need not necessarily be considered unfair and, conversely, a term that does not appear in the list may none the less be regarded as unfair. In so far as it does not limit the discretion of the national authorities to determine the unfairness of a term, the list contained in the annex to the Directive does not seek to give consumers rights going beyond those that result from Articles 3 to 7 of the Directive. It in no way alters the result sought by the Directive which, as such, is binding on Member States.

It follows that the full effect of the Directive can be ensured in a sufficiently precise and clear legal framework without the list contained in the annex to the Directive forming an integral part of the provisions implementing the Directive. Inasmuch as the list contained in the annex to the Directive is of indicative and illustrative value, it constitutes a source of information both for the national authorities responsible for applying the implementing measures and for individuals affected by those measures. Member States must therefore, in order to achieve the result sought by the Directive, choose a form and method of implementation that offer a sufficient guarantee that the public can obtain knowledge of it.

( see paras 15, 18, 20-22 )

Parties

In Case C-478/99,

Commission of the European Communities, represented by L. Parpala and P. Stancanelli, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,

applicant,

v

Kingdom of Sweden, represented by L. Nordling and A. Kruse, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,

defendant,

supported by

Kingdom of Denmark, represented by J. Molde, acting as Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg,

and by

Republic of Finland, represented by T. Pynnä and E. Bygglin, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg,

interveners,

APPLICATION for a declaration that, by failing to adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to implement in its national legal system the annex referred to in Article 3(3) of Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts (OJ 1993 L 95, p. 29), the Kingdom of Sweden has failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive,

THE...

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15 practice notes
  • Commission of the European Communities v Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.
    • European Union
    • Court of Justice (European Union)
    • 18 Mayo 2006
    ...du 20 novembre 2003, Commission/France (C‑296/01, Rec. p. I-13909, point 92). 13 – Voir, notamment, arrêts du 7 mai 2002, Commission/Suède (C‑478/99, Rec. p. I‑4147, point 15), et du 26 juin 2003, Commission/France (C‑233/00, Rec. p. I‑6625, point 75). 14 – Arrêt Commission/Italie, précité ......
  • Commission of the European Communities v Portuguese Republic.
    • European Union
    • Court of Justice (European Union)
    • 6 Marzo 2003
    ... ... France [2001] ECR I-2053, paragraph 9 and Case C-478/99 ... Commission v ... Sweden [2002] ECR I-4147, paragraph 15; see also Case C-324/01 (cited in footnote 5), paragraph 18 ... 7 – ... ...
  • Commission of the European Communities v Portuguese Republic.
    • European Union
    • Court of Justice (European Union)
    • 24 Junio 2003
    ...I-3771, apartado 19; de 8 de marzo de 2001, Comisión/Francia; C-97/00, Rec. p. I-2053, apartado 9, y de 7 de mayo de 2002, Comisión/Suecia, C-478/99, Rec. p. I-4147, apartado 15). 19 El artículo 12, apartado 1, de la Directiva 79/409, obliga a los Estados miembros a preparar, cada tres años......
  • Ottília Lovasné Tóth v ERSTE Bank Hungary Zrt.
    • European Union
    • Court of Justice (European Union)
    • 19 Septiembre 2019
    ...que no figura en él puede, sin embargo, ser declarada abusiva [véase, en este sentido, la sentencia de 7 de mayo de 2002, Comisión/Suecia (C‑478/99, EU:C:2002:281), apartado 46 De ello se deduce que, ante una cláusula de un contrato, en virtud del artículo 3, apartados 1 y 3, de la Directiv......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
13 cases
  • Commission of the European Communities v Portuguese Republic.
    • European Union
    • Court of Justice (European Union)
    • 6 Marzo 2003
    ... ... France [2001] ECR I-2053, paragraph 9 and Case C-478/99 ... Commission v ... Sweden [2002] ECR I-4147, paragraph 15; see also Case C-324/01 (cited in footnote 5), paragraph 18 ... 7 – ... ...
  • Commission of the European Communities v Portuguese Republic.
    • European Union
    • Court of Justice (European Union)
    • 24 Junio 2003
    ...I-3771, apartado 19; de 8 de marzo de 2001, Comisión/Francia; C-97/00, Rec. p. I-2053, apartado 9, y de 7 de mayo de 2002, Comisión/Suecia, C-478/99, Rec. p. I-4147, apartado 15). 19 El artículo 12, apartado 1, de la Directiva 79/409, obliga a los Estados miembros a preparar, cada tres años......
  • VB Pénzügyi Lízing Zrt. v Ferenc Schneider.
    • European Union
    • Court of Justice (European Union)
    • 6 Julio 2010
    ...de 7 de diciembre de 2006, SGAE (C‑306/05, Rec. p. I‑11519), apartado 31. 36 – Véanse las sentencias de 7 de mayo de 2002, Comisión/Suecia (C‑478/99, Rec. p. I‑4147), apartado 17, y de 1 de abril de 2004, Freiburger Kommunalbauten (C‑237/02, Rec. p. I‑3403), apartado 20. 37 – En este sentid......
  • Commission of the European Communities v Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.
    • European Union
    • Court of Justice (European Union)
    • 18 Mayo 2006
    ...du 20 novembre 2003, Commission/France (C‑296/01, Rec. p. I-13909, point 92). 13 – Voir, notamment, arrêts du 7 mai 2002, Commission/Suède (C‑478/99, Rec. p. I‑4147, point 15), et du 26 juin 2003, Commission/France (C‑233/00, Rec. p. I‑6625, point 75). 14 – Arrêt Commission/Italie, précité ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
2 books & journal articles
  • A Toolbox for European Judges
    • European Union
    • European Law Journal No. 17-4, July 2011
    • 1 Julio 2011
    ...inK. Riesenhuber (ed), Europäische Methodenlehre; Handbuch für Ausbildung und Praxis (Berlin: DeGruyter Recht, 2006), § 8, nr. 32. In Case C-478/99, Commission v Sweden, para. 23, the Court took intoaccount the fact that ‘according to a legal tradition that is well established in Sweden and......
  • El penúltimo capítulo sobre cláusulas abusivas: reflexiones al hilo de la sentencia TJUE Ibercaja Banco
    • European Union
    • Revista Española de Derecho Europeo No. 75, July 2020
    • 1 Julio 2020
    ...TJUE. (2016). Gutiérrez Naranjo y otros, C-145/15, C-307/15 y C-308/15, ECLI: EU:C:2016:980. Sentencia TJUE. (2002). Comisión c. Suecia, C-478/99. ECLI: EU:C:2002:281. Sentencia TS 558/2017 (16 de oct.). Sentencia TS 205/2018 (11 de abr.). ECLI:ES:TS:2018:1238. Sentencia TJUE. (2018). Smith......

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