Keywords
Summary

Keywords

++++

Acts of the institutions ° Regulations ° Dispute before a national court as to the legality of a regulation during an action brought against a national implementing measure ° Ordering of interim measure provisionally disapplying the regulation ° Whether permissible ° Conditions ° Prima facie case ° Question of validity submitted to the Court by way of a reference for a preliminary ruling on validity ° Serious and irreparable damage ° Account to be taken of the Community interest ° Respect for the relevant decisions of the Community judicature

(EC Treaty, Arts 177, 185 , 186 and 189, second para.)

Summary

Article 189 of the Treaty does not preclude national courts from granting interim relief to settle or regulate the disputed legal positions or relationships with reference to a national administrative measure based on a Community regulation which is the subject of a reference for a preliminary ruling on its validity.

The Court has already held, having regard to the requirement of the coherence of the system of interim legal protection, that national courts which have referred such questions for a preliminary ruling are able to order suspension of enforcement of a national administrative measure based on the contested regulation, considering that in the context of actions for annulment, Article 185 of the Treaty enables applicants to request enforcement of the contested act to be suspended and empowers the Court to order such suspension: firstly, the Treaty not only, in Article 185, authorizes the Court to order such suspension but also, in Article 186, confers on it the power to prescribe any necessary interim measure, and secondly, the interim legal protection which the national courts must afford to individuals under Community law must be the same, whether they seek suspension of enforcement of a national administrative measure or the grant of the interim measures in question, since that grant does not as such have more radical consequences for the Community legal order than the mere suspension of enforcement of a national measure adopted on the basis of a regulation.

For the national court to be able to order such interim relief, it must entertain serious doubts as to the validity of the Community act and state them in its decision; if the validity of the contested act is not already before the Court of Justice, it must itself refer the question to the Court of Justice; there must be urgency, in that the interim relief is necessary in order to avoid serious and irreparable damage being caused to the party seeking the relief; and due account must be taken of the Community interest. Taking such account means that the national court must examine whether the Community act in question would be deprived of all effectiveness if not immediately implemented, and must take account in that respect of the damage which may be caused to the legal regime established by the regulation for the Community as a whole. It also means that if the grant of interim relief represents a financial risk for the Community, the national court must be able to require the applicant to provide adequate guarantees. Finally, in its assessment of all those conditions, the national court must respect any decisions of the Court of Justice or the Court of First Instance ruling on the lawfulness of the regulation or on an application for interim measures seeking similar interim relief at Community level.