{ "attribution": { "source": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=eu:c-158-25", "cite_as": "NovaCopilot, legal.exploreworldai.com (https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=eu:c-158-25)", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/revision", "version": "legal-2026-10-25", "fingerprint": "ewai:eu:c82ec6", "proof": "sha256:8ec920bdc79cdb40d6467750b20dd9a5cf57ea569d6430cdbd08a938c4d692cf", "jurisdiction": "eu", "lang": "en", "publisher": "NovaCopilot by ExploreWorld Legal", "terms": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/om" }, "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "item": { "schema_version": "1.0.0", "id": "eu:c-158-25", "jurisdiction": "eu", "lang": "en", "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "brand": { "product": "NovaCopilot", "platform": "ExploreWorldAI", "infrastructure": "ExploreWorld Legal", "infrastructure_url": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "legal_entity": "Valkiv Ventures AB", "permanent_url": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot", "source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "powered_by": "Powered by NovaCopilot", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor" }, "sections": [ { "title": "Front matter", "paragraphs": [ "para_1", "para_2", "para_3", "para_4", "para_5", "para_6", "para_7", "para_8", "para_9", "para_10", "para_11", "para_12", "para_13", "para_14", "para_15", "para_16", "para_17", "para_18", "para_19", "para_20", "para_21", "para_22", "para_23" ], "kind": "front_matter" }, { "title": "Judgment", "paragraphs": [ "para_24", "para_25", "para_26" ], "kind": "assessment" }, { "title": "Legal context", "paragraphs": [ "para_27" ], "kind": "legal_framework" }, { "title": "European Union law", "paragraphs": [ "para_28", "para_29", "para_30", "para_31", "para_32", "para_33", "para_34", "para_35", "para_36", "para_37", "para_38", "para_39" ], "kind": "legal_framework" }, { "title": "Directive 2006/112/EC", "paragraphs": [ "para_40", "para_41", "para_42", "para_43" ], "kind": "legal_framework" }, { "title": "Luxembourg law", "paragraphs": [ "para_44", "para_45", "para_46", "para_47", "para_48", "para_49", "para_50" ], "kind": "legal_framework" }, { "title": "The dispute in the main proceedings and the questions referred for a preliminary ruling", "paragraphs": [ "para_51", "para_52", "para_53", "para_54", "para_55", "para_56", "para_57", "para_58", "para_59", "para_60", "para_61", "para_62", "para_63", "para_64" ], "kind": "facts" }, { "title": "Consideration of the questions referred", "paragraphs": [ "para_65" ], "kind": "questions" }, { "title": "The first question", "paragraphs": [ "para_66", "para_67", "para_68", "para_69", "para_70", "para_71", "para_72", "para_73", "para_74", "para_75", "para_76", "para_77", "para_78", "para_79", "para_80", "para_81", "para_82", "para_83", "para_84", "para_85", "para_86" ], "kind": "assessment" }, { "title": "The second and third questions", "paragraphs": [ "para_87", "para_88", "para_89", "para_90", "para_91", "para_92", "para_93", "para_94", "para_95", "para_96", "para_97", "para_98", "para_99", "para_100", "para_101", "para_102", "para_103", "para_104", "para_105", "para_106", "para_107", "para_108", "para_109", "para_110", "para_111", "para_112", "para_113" ], "kind": "assessment" }, { "title": "Costs", "paragraphs": [ "para_114", "para_115" ], "kind": "costs" }, { "title": "On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:", "paragraphs": [ "para_116", "para_117", "para_118", "para_119", "para_120", "para_121", "para_122" ], "kind": "operative" } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "Provisional text", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (First Chamber)", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "16 July 2026 ( * )", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "( Reference for a preliminary ruling – Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Right to an effective remedy – Whether applicable – National legislation providing for a system of joint and several liability of company directors for payment of value added tax (VAT) owed …", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "In Case C‑158/25,", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Cour de cassation du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Court of Cassation, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, Luxembourg), made by decision of 20 February 2025, received at the Court on 21 February 2025, in the proceedings", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "QJ", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "v", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "Administration de l’enregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA (AEDT),", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "État du Grand-duché de Luxembourg,", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "THE COURT (First Chamber),", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "composed of F. Biltgen, President of the Chamber, T. von Danwitz, Vice‑President of the Court, acting as judge of the First Chamber, A. Kumin, S. Gervasoni and M. Bošnjak (Rapporteur), Judges,", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "Advocate General: L. Medina,", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "Registrar: C. Di Bella, Administrator,", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 4 December 2025,", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "–        QJ, by N. Le Gouellec and Y. Prussen, avocats,", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "–        the Luxembourg Government, by A. Germeaux and T. Schell, acting as Agents, and by F. Gabaudan and A. Moro, avocats,", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "–        the Spanish Government, by M. Morales Puerta and A. Pérez-Zurita Gutiérrez, acting as Agents,", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "–        the Polish Government, by B. Majczyna, D. Lutostańska, B. Rogowska-Rajda and J. Sawicka, acting as Agents,", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "–        the European Commission, by P. Carlin, M. Herold and F. Moro, acting as Agents,", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 5 March 2026,", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "gives the following", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "Judgment", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "1         This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 47 and Article 51(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "2         The request has been made in proceedings between QJ, a natural person, and the Administration de l’enregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA (AEDT) (the Registration, Land and VAT Authority, Luxembourg) (‘the AEDT’) and the État du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (State of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Luxembourg) concerning a guarantee call decision taken against QJ to collect the value added tax (VAT) owed by a company whose director he was.", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "Legal context", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "European Union law", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "The TFEU", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "3         Article 325(1)TFEU provides:", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "‘The [European] Union and the Member States shall counter fraud and any other illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the Union through measures to be taken in accordance with this Article, which shall act as a deterrent and be such as to afford effective protection in the Member States, and in all the Union’s institutions, bodies, offices and agencies.’", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "The Charter", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "4         Article 47 of the Charter, entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’, stipulates:", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article.", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented.", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "Legal aid shall be made available to those who lack sufficient resources in so far as such aid is necessary to ensure effective access to justice.’", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "5         Article 51 of the Charter, entitled ‘Field of application’, is worded as follows:", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "‘1.      The provisions of this Charter are addressed to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the Member States only when they are implementing Union law. They shall therefore respect the rights, observe the principles and promote the application thereof in accordance with their respective powers and respecting the limits of the powers of the Union as conferred on it in the Treaties.", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "2.      The Charter does not extend the field of application of Union law beyond the powers of the Union or establish any new power or task for the Union, or modify powers and tasks as defined in the Treaties.’", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "Directive 2006/112/EC", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "6         Article 2(1) of Council Directive 2006/112 of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ 2006 L 347, p. 1) determines which transactions are subject to VAT.", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "7         The first paragraph of Article 273 of that directive provides:", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "‘Member States may impose other obligations which they deem necessary to ensure the correct collection of VAT and to prevent evasion, subject to the requirement of equal treatment as between domestic transactions and transactions carried out between Member States by taxable persons and provided that such obligations do not, in trade between Member States, give rise to formalities connected with the crossing of frontiers.’", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "Luxembourg law", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "8         The loi du 12 février 1979 concernant la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (Law of 12 February 1979 on value added tax) ( Mémorial A 1979, p. 186), as amended by the loi du 23 décembre 2016 portant mise en œuvre de la réforme fiscale 2017 (Law of 23 December 2016 implementing the 2017 tax reform) ( Mémorial A 2016, p. 5139) (‘the LTVA’), provides in Article 67-1:", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "‘Managing directors, managers and any de jure or de facto directors responsible for the day-to-day management of the persons liable to pay [VAT] are required to ensure that the legal obligations laid down by this law are complied with, and in particular that [VAT] due is paid from the financial resources which they are responsible for managing.’", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "9         Under Article 67-2 of that law:", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "‘Managing directors, managers and any de jure or de facto directors responsible for the day-to-day management are personally and jointly and severally liable for the payment of [VAT] due where, as a result of their failure to discharge the legal obligations incumbent on them, the legal obligations i …", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "10       The first paragraph of Article 67-3 of that law provides:", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "‘In the event of failure to discharge the legal obligations incumbent on managing directors, managers and any de jure or de facto directors responsible for day-to-day management, the Director of the Registration and Land Authority or his or her representative may issue a guarantee call decision against such persons. That decision confers on the administration the right to recover from those persons the [VAT] owed by the persons liable for payment of [VAT].’", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "The dispute in the main proceedings and the questions referred for a preliminary ruling", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "11       On 17 March 2018, the AEDT issued two VAT assessments against company VN, one for 2014 and the other for 2015 and 2016. The appeal lodged by that company against those assessments was declared inadmissible for being out of time. VN subsequently failed to pay the amounts of VAT due for the years 2014 to 2016.", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "12       From 22 April 2013 to 15 February 2019, the appellant in the main proceedings served as VN’s director and was in charge of its day-to-day management. On 16 May 2019, the AEDT notified a guarantee call decision to the appellant, which was based on Articles 67-1 to 67-3 of the LTVA (‘the guar …", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "13       Following the rejection, by the Director of the AEDT, of the appellant’s objection to the guarantee call decision, the appellant in the main proceedings brought an action before the Tribunal d’arrondissement de Luxembourg (District Court, Luxembourg) seeking to have that decision amended or …", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "14       Hearing an appeal on a point of law by the appellant in the main proceedings, the Cour de Cassation du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Court of Cassation, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Luxembourg), which is the referring court, states that the appellant had challenged, before the appeal court, that …", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "15       The appeal court had rejected the arguments of the appellant in the main proceedings on the ground that, in the absence of any action validly brought by VN within the time limits laid down by law, the tax assessments had become final and could no longer be challenged.", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "16       According to that appeal court, there is no provision which states that a person subject to a guarantee call can bring an appeal against the tax assessment issued against the principal taxable person. As that assessment had become final, it could not be challenged incidentally by the direct …", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "17       Furthermore, as the appellant in the main proceedings was a third party to the ex officio taxation procedure, he was not entitled to rely on any infringements of fundamental rights committed in the context of that procedure against VN. The provisions of national law governing the dispute in …", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "18       In that regard, the referring court notes that the tax proceedings against the appellant in the main proceedings have their origin in a failure to discharge legal obligations in relation to VAT for which, as follows from the guarantee call decision, the appellant is liable in his capacity a …", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "19       Moreover, should Article 47 of the Charter apply, the referring court observes that, in its judgment of 9 September 2021, Adler Real Estate and Others (C‑546/18, EU:C:2021:711), the Court of Justice had inferred from Article 47 that a natural person who was subject to subsequent proceedings …", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "20       In those circumstances, the Cour de cassation du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Court of Cassation, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "‘(1)      Does the Charter …, and in particular Article 47 thereof, apply, in the light of the criteria in Article 51(1) [thereof], to … national legislation [establishing] the joint and several liability of company directors, on account of the failure to discharge their obligations, for payment of the VAT owed by the company which they run?", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "(2)      If the answer to the first question is in the affirmative, is Article 47 of the Charter to be interpreted as conferring on directors who are the subject of a guarantee call the ability to challenge, indirectly, in the context of an action available to them under national law against the adm …", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "(3)      If the answer to the second question is in the affirmative, is Article 47 of the Charter to be interpreted as limiting the grounds on which directors may rely in the context of an indirect challenge to the ex officio tax assessment issued to the taxable company or as encompassing all ground …", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "Consideration of the questions referred", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "The first question", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "21       According to settled case-law, in the procedure laid down by Article 267 TFEU providing for cooperation between national courts and the Court of Justice, it is for the latter to provide the national court with an answer which will be of use to it and enable it to decide the case before it. …", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "22       In the present case, it is apparent from the request for a preliminary ruling that the appellant challenges, before the referring court, the guarantee call decision by relying on arguments alleging the unlawfulness of the tax assessment notified to the taxable company for whose VAT liability he is held liable.", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "23       It should therefore be considered that, by its first question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 47 and the first sentence of Article 51(1) of the Charter must be interpreted as meaning that the requirements stemming from the right to an effective remedy, as enshrined in …", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "24       In the first place, it must be pointed out that the scope of the Charter is defined in the first sentence of Article 51(1) thereof, according to which, so far as action by the Member States is concerned, the provisions of the Charter are addressed to those States only when they are implemen …", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "25       The concept of ‘implementing Union law’, as referred to in that provision, assumes a degree of connection between an EU legal measure and the national measure in question, above and beyond the matters covered being closely related or one of those matters having an indirect impact on the oth …", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "26       In order to determine whether a national measure involves ‘implementing Union law’, it is necessary to determine, inter alia, whether the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings is intended to implement a provision of EU law, what the character of that legislation is, and whet …", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "27       In that regard, it follows, inter alia, from Articles 2 and 273 of Directive 2006/112, read in conjunction with Article 4(3) TEU and Article 325(1) TFEU, that Member States are required to take all legislative and administrative measures appropriate for ensuring collection of all the VAT du …", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "28       Indeed, under Article 2(1)(b) of Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of the European Union (OJ 2014 L 168, p. 105), the European Union’s own resources include, inter alia, revenue from the application of a uniform rate to the harmonised VAT as …", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "29       In the present case, it appears that the guarantee call mechanism at issue is linked to a failure to discharge legal obligations in relation to VAT. In that way, it allows the national tax authority to collect the VAT owed by a taxable legal person from the managing directors, managers and …", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "30       It is clear that such a system has the objective of ensuring the collection of VAT which has not been paid by a taxable legal person and contributes to complying with the obligation, reiterated in paragraph 27 above, incumbent on each Member State, to take all legislative and administrative …", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "31       In the light of the case-law reiterated in paragraphs 27 and 28 above, it must be found that that system involves the implementation of, inter alia, Article 273 of Directive 2006/112 and, consequently, that, by establishing and applying that system, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg is implementing EU law within the meaning of Article 51(1) of the Charter.", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "32       That finding is not called into question by the arguments of the Luxembourg Government which, in order to challenge the applicability of the Charter in the case in the main proceedings, submits that the guarantee call mechanism at issue is not intended to enable the collection of all the VA …", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "33       As observed, in essence, by the Advocate General in point 45 of her Opinion, any national measure which contributes to collecting all or part of VAT not paid by a taxable person, be it from that person or a third person, must be found to help ensuring the correct collection of VAT and, as t …", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "34       Thus, the Court has already held, in a factual and legal context similar to the case in the main proceedings, that a system of joint and several liability which provides, first, that the director of a company becomes jointly and severally liable for all or part of the VAT burden of that com …", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "35       In addition, as conceded by the Luxembourg Government at the hearing, the damage that may be subject to compensation under the guarantee call mechanism at issue is indissociable from the amount of VAT not paid by the taxable legal person.", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "36       In the second place, it follows from the Court’s case-law that the recognition, in a given case, of the right to an effective remedy provided for in Article 47 of the Charter presupposes that the person invoking that right is relying on rights or freedoms guaranteed by EU law or that that p …", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "37       That is the case, in the latter situation which corresponds to the situation in the present case, where a person challenges, within the context of judicial review proceedings, an administrative decision adversely affecting that person and taken on the basis of a national provision implement …", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "38       In the present case, the appellant in the main proceedings brought judicial review proceedings against the guarantee call decision taken on the basis of the guarantee call mechanism at issue which, as stated in paragraph 31 above, constitutes an implementation of EU law within the meaning of Article 51(1) of the Charter. It follows that, in such circumstances, the requirements stemming from Article 47 of the Charter are applicable.", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "39       Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the first question submitted by the referring court does not concern the question whether the guarantee call procedure against the appellant in the main proceedings is subject to the requirements stemming from the right to an effective remedy as en …", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "40       In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the first question is that Article 47 and the first sentence of Article 51(1) of the Charter must be interpreted as meaning that the requirements stemming from the right to an effective remedy as enshrined in Article 47 are applica …", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "The second and third questions", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "41       By its second and third questions, which it is appropriate to examine together, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 47 of the Charter must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which does not allow a company director, who is subject to a guarantee call for the …", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "42       In that regard, it should be recalled that, pursuant to the right to an effective remedy enshrined in Article 47 of the Charter, the person who holds that right must be able to access a court or tribunal with the power to ensure respect for the rights guaranteed to that person by EU law and …", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "43       It must also be recalled that respect for the rights of the defence guaranteed in Article 47 of the Charter means that an applicant must be able not only to ascertain the reasons upon which the decision taken in relation to him or her is based, but also to have access to all the material in …", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "44       In the present case, as concerns the guarantee call mechanism at issue, it is apparent from the documents before the Court that for holding the person who is subject to the guarantee call liable in tax matters, there must be a fault committed by that person, damage, and a causal link betwee …", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "45       In that respect and having regard to the administrative nature of the guarantee call decision, it should be pointed out, furthermore, that respect for the rights of the defence must be ensured not only in the course of any judicial proceedings pursuant to Article 47 of the Charter but also …", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "46       The purpose of the rule that the addressee of an adverse decision must be placed in a position to submit his or her observations before that decision is taken is to enable the competent authority effectively to take into account all relevant information. In order to ensure that the person c …", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "47       However, the principle of respect for the rights of the defence is not an unfettered prerogative but may be restricted, provided that the restrictions in fact correspond to one or more objectives of public interest pursued by the measure in question and do not constitute, in the light of th …", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "48       Accordingly, the Court has already held that, as a general rule, respect for the rights of the defence does not preclude that, in the context of tax proceedings against a taxable person, tax authorities are bound by the findings of fact and the legal classifications which they have made in …", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "49       For the purpose of the respect for the rights of the defence in the context of related administrative procedures, account must also be taken of legal certainty, which is a general principle of EU law. Since the finality of an administrative decision contributes to legal certainty EU law doe …", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "50       However, that is not the case where the person concerned is, de facto, fully deprived of the right to call into question, in a useful and effective way, those findings of fact and those legal classifications in the course of the procedure to which he or she is subject. Such a deprivation wo …", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "51       It follows that national legislation such as the one establishing the guarantee call mechanism at issue is liable to adversely affect the very essence of the rights of the defence of the person who is subject to a guarantee call where that person is fully deprived of the right to call into …", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "52       In that regard, the Court has already held that respect for the rights of the defence in the context of a guarantee call procedure does not require that the person subject to a guarantee call be included, in a personal capacity, in the taxation procedure brought against the legal person for …", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "53       Similarly, the right to an effective remedy, enshrined in Article 47 of the Charter, does not necessarily require that the holder of that right must have a direct legal remedy the primary object of which is to call into question a given measure, but only that the person concerned is recogni …", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "54       The effectiveness of the judicial review guaranteed in Article 47 of the Charter requires that the court or tribunal reviewing the lawfulness of an administrative decision taken in the context of a procedure which constitutes an implementation of EU law can, among others, ascertain the lawf …", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "55       As the Advocate General has observed, in essence, in point 73 of her Opinion, the requirements stemming from Article 47 of the Charter dictate that the court or tribunal hearing a dispute concerning the lawfulness of a guarantee call decision taken on the basis of national legislation such …", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "56       Contrary to what is maintained by the Luxembourg Government, the ability for the person subject to a guarantee call to challenge, incidentally, the tax assessment in reliance on Article 47 of the Charter cannot depend on whether, having regard to the scope of his or her mandate, the company …", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "57       Indeed, the rights of the defence are of a subjective nature, such that it is the concerned parties themselves that must be able effectively to exercise those rights, irrespective of the nature of the proceedings to which they are subject. As the Advocate General has observed, in essence, i …", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "58       That is, in particular, true given that, as submitted by the European Commission in its written observations and at the hearing, the ability, in practice, for the director who is ultimately subject to a guarantee call for VAT liability not paid by the taxable company, to challenge the tax a …", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "59       In addition, as concerns the Luxembourg Government’s line of argument according to which the recognition, in favour of the person subject to a guarantee call, of the ability to challenge, incidentally, the tax assessment would be tantamount to disregarding the finality of that tax assessmen …", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "60       Last, as follows from paragraph 55 above, the right, for the company director, who is subject to a guarantee call, to challenge, as an incidental question, the findings of fact and legal classifications contained in the tax assessment, is limited to the necessary arguments allowing the director concerned to effectively challenge his or her joint and several liability.", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "61       In any event, respect for the rights of the defence guaranteed in Article 47 of the Charter requires that a person subject to a guarantee call may rely, incidentally, in the context of judicial review proceedings against the guarantee call decision, on any infringements of his or her fundamental rights committed in the course of the taxation procedure conducted against the taxable company.", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "62       As concerns, furthermore, the argument of the Luxembourg Government according to which the rights of the defence of the person subject to a guarantee call must be restricted in order to ensure the protection of confidentiality, professional secrecy by which the tax authorities are bound, an …", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "63       However, fundamental rights do not constitute unfettered prerogatives and may be restricted, provided that the restrictions in fact correspond to objectives of general interest pursued by the measure in question and that they do not involve, in the light of the objectives pursued, a disprop …", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "64       In the event of a conflict of, on the one hand, the interest of the person who is the subject of a measure adversely affecting him or her in having access to the information necessary for him or her to be in a position to exercise fully his or her rights of defence and, on the other hand, t …", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "65       In the present case, when weighing up the competing interests at stake, it is for the referring court to take into consideration, inter alia, the fact that the information contained in the tax assessment notified to the taxable company and whose merits the person subject to a guarantee call …", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "66       In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the second and third questions is that Article 47 of the Charter must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which does not allow a person subject to a guarantee call for the payment of VAT liability not paid by a compan …", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "Costs", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "67       Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the referring court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable.", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "1.       Article 47 and the first sentence of Article 51(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’)", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "must be interpreted as meaning that the requirements stemming from the right to an effective remedy, as enshrined in Article 47, are applicable in the context of judicial review proceedings brought by a company director, who is subject to a guarantee call, against a guarantee call decision taken pur …", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "2.       Article 47 of the Charter", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which does not allow a person subject to a guarantee call for the payment of VAT liability not paid by a company subject to that tax to challenge, as an incidental question, in the context of his or her appeal against that guarantee call decisio …", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "[Signatures]", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "*       Language of the case: French.", "paragraph_id": "para_122" } ], "operative_part": "On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:\n\n1.       Article 47 and the first sentence of Article 51(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’)\n\nmust be interpreted as meaning that the requirements stemming from the right to an effective remedy, as e …", "word_count": 8188, "cites": [ "C-617/10", "C-546/18", "C-88/99", "C-182/24", "C-185/23", "C-206/13", "C-709/22", "C-40/11", "C-37/24", "C-1/21", "C-164/24", "C-245/19", "C-246/19", "C-374/23", "C-682/15", "C-189/18", "C-420/22", "C-528/22", "C-277/24", "C-471/23", "C-477/23", "C-430/19", "C-696/22", "C-292/23", "C-628/15", "C-203/21", "C-477/24", "C-358/16" ], "sha256": "c2294090318de3321a5189baa16cf5c0ef821900e983c9c4353295cb3df4af3e", "source_url": "https://publications.europa.eu/resource/celex/62025CJ0158", "fetched_at": "2026-09-28T06:29:07.713+00:00", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/ai/judgments/eu/c-158-25", "risk_graph": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=eu:c-158-25", "relations_graph": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=eu:c-158-25", "changes": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/eu-praxis/changes", "agent": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/eu-praxis/agent?id=eu:c-158-25", "verification": { "stored_sha256": "c2294090318de3321a5189baa16cf5c0ef821900e983c9c4353295cb3df4af3e", "recomputed_sha256": "c2294090318de3321a5189baa16cf5c0ef821900e983c9c4353295cb3df4af3e", "intact": true, "checked_at": "2026-10-25T12:24:08.817Z" } }, "hash": "sha256:8ec920bdc79cdb40d6467750b20dd9a5cf57ea569d6430cdbd08a938c4d692cf", "version": "legal-2026-10-25", "expires": "2026-10-26T00:00:00.000Z", "dependency": { "index_version": "legal-2026-10-25+legal-2026-10-25+2026-10-25T12:13:04", "content_hash": "sha256:8ec920bdc79cdb40d6467750b20dd9a5cf57ea569d6430cdbd08a938c4d692cf", "revalidate_after": "2026-10-25T13:24:09.443Z", "max_copy_age_seconds": 3600, "policy": "revalidate-required; attribution-preferred", "changelog": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/dependency", "verify": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/verify", "stale_copy_invalid": true }, "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=eu:c-158-25", "follow": [ { "rel": "risk", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=eu:c-158-25" }, { "rel": "relations", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=eu:c-158-25" }, { "rel": "agent", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/eu-praxis/agent?id=eu:c-158-25" }, { "rel": "obligations", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obligation-chain" }, { "rel": "changes", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/whats-new?jurisdiction=eu" } ], "disclaimer": "Source reference with official identifier. 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