10.12.2018

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 445/8

(Case C-614/18)

(2018/C 445/10)

Language of the case: Slovak

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: A. Tokár and C. Cattabriga, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Slovak Republic

Form of order sought

The European Commission claims that the Court should:

—declare that the Slovak Republic, by denying third-country nationals who are not family members of EU citizens, whose visa application has been refused or whose visa has been annulled or revoked, the right to institute court proceedings as defined in EU law, has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 19(1) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, read in conjunction with Article 32(3), Article 34(7) and Article 35(7) of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (Visa Code);

—order Slovak Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of its action, the Commission submits that the legal questions at issue in the present case have been clearly resolved by the judgment of the Court in Case C-403/16, El Hassani, in which the Court ruled that Article 32(3) of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 610/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as meaning that it requires Member States to provide for an appeal procedure against decisions refusing visas, the procedural rules for which are a matter for the legal order of each Member State in accordance with the principles of equivalence and effectiveness. Those proceedings must, at a certain stage of the proceedings, guarantee a judicial appeal.

The Commission therefore concludes that the arguments put forward by the Slovak Republic during the pre-litigation procedure in the present case cannot succeed, and reiterates its own position that the Slovak Republic is failing to fulfil its obligations as set out in the application.

Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) (OJ 2009 L 243, p. 1).

Regulation (EU) No 610/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 amending Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code), the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, Council Regulations (EC) No 1683/95 and (EC) No 539/2001 and Regulations (EC) No 767/2008 and (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ 2013 L 182, p. 1).