Language of document :

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark (Austria) lodged on 8 May 2020 – NE v Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld

(Case C-205/20)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: NE

Respondent authority: Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld

Interested party: Finanzpolizei Team 91

Questions referred

Is the requirement of proportionality of penalties laid down in Article 20 of Directive 2014/67/EU 1 and interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its orders in Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld (C-645/18, EU:C:2019:1108) 2 and Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld (C-140/19, C-141/19, C-492/19, C-493/19 and C-494/19, EU:2019:1103) 3 a directly applicable provision of the Directive?

If Question 1 is answered in the negative:

Does the interpretation of national law in conformity with EU law permit and require the national court and administrative authority to supplement – in the absence of new legislation at national level – the domestic penal provisions applicable in the present proceedings with the criteria of the requirement of proportionality laid down in the orders of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld (C-645/18, EU:C:2019:1108) and Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld (C-140/19, C-141/19, C-492/19, C-493/19 and C-494/19, EU:2019:1103)?

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1 Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System ( ‘the IMI Regulation’ ) (OJ 2014 L 159, p. 11).

2 EU:C:2019:1108.

3 EU:2019:1103.