EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 428/2

(Case C-344/16)

(2016/C 428/03)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Die Länderbahn GmbH DLB

Defendant: DB Station & Service AG

Questions referred

1.Is a provision of national law under which the user of a railway infrastructure against whom an action has been brought by the infrastructure manager before a civil court for payment of a user charge, or who seeks before that court to secure repayment of user charges already paid, may argue that the charge set by the infrastructure manager is not fair and reasonable compatible with the provisions of the directive (1) concerning the independence of the management of the infrastructure undertaking (Article 4(1), (4) and (5)), the principles governing the fixing of charges (Articles 7 to 12) and the tasks of the regulatory body (Article 30)?

2.If Question 1 is to be answered in the affirmative: is a provision of national law compatible with the abovementioned provisions of the directive where, under that provision of national law, the court is entitled and obliged, should it conclude that the charge set is not fair, to determine by judicial decision what charge will instead be payable?

Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001 on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification (OJ 2001 L 75, p. 29).

* * *