12 November 2019

Services Directive: Scope of application
The fact that the legislation at issue is of a criminal nature cannot be sufficient to preclude the application of Directive No 2006/123, since it affects access to and the exercise of a service activity.
CJEU Case C-393/17 hof van beroep te Antwerpen, Judgment of 4 July 2019, LawLex201900001315JBJ

Services Directive: Scope of application
Since the legislation, which aims to guarantee the effectiveness of the rules relating to the authorization to confer degrees applies to services, provided by private operators acting on their own initiative, for profit and without any public funding, it cannot be regarded as relating solely to non-economic services of general interest, which are excluded from the scope of Directive No 2006/123.
CJEU Case C-393/17 hof van beroep te Antwerpen, Judgment of 4 July 2019, LawLex201900001315JBJ

Unfair commercial practices: Scope of application
National legislation which provides for criminal penalties to be imposed on persons who, without prior authorization from the competent authority, confer a ‘master’s’ degree, cannot be considered to relate to a commercial practice in direct connection with the provision of a service, within the meaning of Directive No 2005/29.
CJEU Case C-393/17 hof van beroep te Antwerpen, Judgment of 4 July 2019, LawLex201900001315JBJ

Unfair terms: Scope of application
National legislation, which, for the purpose of securing the payment of the debt arising under a consumer credit agreement concluded between a seller or supplier and a consumer, makes it possible to stipulate in that contract an obligation on the borrower to issue a blank promissory note, and which makes the lawfulness of the issuance of such a note subject to the prior conclusion of a promissory note agreement determining the detailed rules in accordance with which that note may be complete, is not incompatible with Directive No 93/13.
CJEU, Cases C-419/18 and C-483/18 Profi Credit Polska S.A of 7 November 2019, LawLex201900001335JBJ

Unfair terms: Role of court
Where a national court has serious doubts as to the merits of an application based on a promissory note intended to secure the debt arising under a consumer credit agreement and that note was initially left blank when issued by the maker and subsequently completed by the payee, that court must examine of its own motion whether the provisions agreed between the parties are unfair and, in that respect, may require the seller or supplier to produce the document recording those provisions.
CJEU, Cases C-419/18 and C-483/18 Profi Credit Polska S.A of 7 November 2019, LawLex201900001335JBJ