Official Journal of the European Union

C series

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C/2025/1620

24.3.2025

(Case C-510/23,

(1)

Trenitalia)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Consumer protection - Unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market - Directive 2005/29/EC - Measures intended to combat such practices - Articles 11 and 13 - Procedures for infringement of the rules of consumer law - Compliance with a reasonable time limit - National legislation requiring the national authority to issue a statement of objections within a time limit of 90 days of knowledge of the essential elements of the infringement - Automatic annulment in its entirety of the decision of the national authority in the event of failure to comply with that time limit - Principle ne bis in idem - Revocation of the power to initiate new infringement proceedings in respect of the same facts - Principle of effectiveness - Rights of defence of undertakings)

(C/2025/1620)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Trenitalia SpA

Defendant: Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato

Interested party: Federconsumatori

Operative part of the judgment

Articles 11 and 13 of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’), read in the light of the principle of effectiveness,

must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which, in proceedings for a finding establishing an unfair commercial practice by a national authority responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws, first, requires that authority to commence the inter partes investigation stage of those proceedings by notifying the statement of objections to the undertaking concerned within a period of 90 days, starting from the moment it has knowledge of the essential elements of the alleged infringement, which could be no more than those set out in the first report of the infringement, and, second, penalises failure to observe that period by annulling in its entirety the final decision of that authority at the end of the infringement proceedings and revoking that authority’s power to initiate new infringement proceedings in respect of that same practice.

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(1) OJ C C/2023/206.

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ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/1620/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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