Unfair terms must be regarded as never having existed, restoring the consumer's original position.

European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) · 21 december 2016 · Judgment · Preliminary ruling

(References for a preliminary ruling — Directive 93/13/EEC — Consumer contracts — Mortgage loans — Unfair terms — Article 4(2) — Article 6(1) — Declaration of nullity — Limitation by the national court of the temporal effects of the declaration of nullity of an unfair term)

Rechtsvraag

Whether Article 6(1) of Directive 93/13/EEC precludes national case-law that temporally limits the restitutory effects connected with a finding of unfairness in respect of a clause in a contract between a consumer and a seller or supplier to amounts overpaid after the judicial decision.

Conclusie

Article 6(1) of Directive 93/13/EEC precludes national case-law that temporally limits the restitutory effects connected with a finding of unfairness by a court, in accordance with Article 3(1) of that directive, in respect of a clause contained in a contract concluded between a consumer and a seller or supplier, to amounts overpaid under such a clause after the delivery of the decision in which the finding of unfairness is made.

Tijdlijn

  1. 09-05-2013 Tribunal Supremo declared 'floor clauses' in mortgage agreements void due to lack of transparency but limited retroactive effects to payments after judgment date.
  2. 25-03-2015 Tribunal Supremo upheld the limitation of retroactive effect of 'floor clauses' nullity in an individual action, limiting restitution to amounts overpaid after 09-05-2013.
  3. 25-03-2015 Juzgado de lo Mercantil No 1 de Granada requested a preliminary ruling from the ECJ regarding the compatibility of limiting effects of nullity declaration with Article 6(1) of Directive 93/13/EEC.
  4. 01-04-2015 ECJ received the preliminary ruling request from the Juzgado de lo Mercantil No 1 de Granada.
  5. 15-06-2015 Audiencia Provincial de Alicante requested a preliminary ruling from the ECJ regarding the compatibility of limiting effects of nullity declaration with Article 6(1) of Directive 93/13/EEC in Cases C-307/15 and C-308/15.
  6. 01-07-2015 ECJ received the preliminary ruling requests from the Audiencia Provincial de Alicante in Cases C-307/15 and C-308/15.
  7. 10-07-2015 President of the Court joined Cases C-307/15 and C-308/15 for written and oral procedure and judgment.
  8. 14-08-2015 President of the Court rejected the request for expedited procedure for Cases C-307/15 and C-308/15.
  9. 21-10-2015 President of the Court joined Case C-154/15 with Cases C-307/15 and C-308/15 for oral procedure and judgment.
  10. 26-04-2016 ECJ held a hearing on the preliminary ruling requests.
  11. 13-07-2016 Advocate General delivered the opinion on the preliminary ruling requests.
  12. 21-12-2016 ECJ delivered the judgment, ruling that Article 6(1) of Directive 93/13/EEC precludes national case-law that temporally limits the restitutory effects of a finding of unfairness of a clause in a consumer contract to amounts overpaid after the decision.