Request for a preliminary ruling from the Εfeteio Athinon (Greece) lodged on 18 April 2016 — European Commission v Dimos Zagoriou

(Case C-217/16)

(2016/C 222/09)

Language of the case: Greek

Referring court

Εfeteio Athinon (Greece)

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellant: European Commission

Respondent: Dimos Zagoriou

Questions referred

What is the nature of the acts of the European Commission when it exercises its powers pursuant to Regulations No 2052/88, (1) No 4253/88 (2) and No 4256/88 (3) and, more specifically, are those acts of the Commission acts of public law and do they give rise to administrative disputes as to the substance in any event, in particular where the subject matter of the attachment by the European Commission of assets held by a third party is a private debt, whereas the initial debt for whose satisfaction enforcement is proceeded with derives from a legal relationship governed by public law which has arisen from the foregoing acts of the European Commission, or are they acts of private law and do they give rise to private disputes?

Having regard to the fact that, under Article 299 TFEU, enforcement of acts of the European Commission which impose a pecuniary obligation on persons other than Member States is to be governed by the rules of civil procedure in force in the State in the territory of which enforcement is proceeded with and that, under that article, the courts of the country concerned are to have jurisdiction over complaints that enforcement is being carried out in an irregular manner, how is the jurisdiction of the national courts over disputes which arise from such enforcement determined, when under national law those disputes are administrative disputes as to the substance, that is to say, when the underlying relationship is one of public law?

In the case of enforcement of acts of the European Commission which are adopted pursuant to Regulations No 2052/88, No 4253/88 and No 4256/88 and impose a pecuniary obligation on a person other than Member States, is the capacity to be made a defendant that is possessed by the person liable assessed on the basis of national law or of Community law?

When the person liable to discharge a pecuniary obligation stemming from an act of the European Commission adopted pursuant to Regulations No 2052/88, No 4253/88 and No 4258/88 is a community undertaking, which subsequently was wound up, does the community which owns that undertaking owe an obligation to discharge that pecuniary obligation to the European Commission under the foregoing regulations?

(1) OJ 1988 L 185, p. 9.

(2) OJ 1988 L 374, p. 1.

(3) OJ 1988 L 374, p. 25.