Case C‑565/12

LCL Le Crédit Lyonnais SA

v

Fesih Kalhan

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the tribunal d’instance d’Orléans)

(Consumer protection — Credit agreements for consumers — Directive 2008/48/EC — Articles 8 and 23 — Creditor’s obligation to assess the borrower’s creditworthiness prior to conclusion of the agreement — National provision imposing the obligation to consult a database — Forfeiture of entitlement to contractual interest in the event of failure to comply with that obligation — Effective, proportionate and dissuasive nature of the penalty)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber), 27 March 2014

1.        Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Limits — Clearly irrelevant questions and hypothetical questions put in a context not permitting a useful answer — Questions bearing no relation to the subject matter of the case in the main proceedings

(Art. 267 TFEU)

2.        Acts of the institutions — Directives — Implementation by Member States — Need to ensure that directives are effective — Obligations of national courts — Obligation to interpret national law in conformity with EU law

(Art. 288, third para. TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directive 2008/48)

3.        Consumer protection — Credit agreements for consumers — Directive 2008/48 — Creditor’s obligation to assess the borrower’s creditworthiness — Failure on the part of the creditor to comply with that obligation — National system of penalties — Forfeiture of entitlement to contractual interest — Entitlement to interest at the increased statutory rate maintained — Unlawful — Condition — Amounts which the creditor is likely to receive following the forfeiture of entitlement to contractual interest not significantly lower than those which it could have received had it complied with that obligation — Determination by the national court

(European Parliament and Council Directive 2008/48, Art. 23)

1.        See the text of the decision.

(see paras 37, 38)

2.        See the text of the decision.

(see para. 54)

3.        Article 23 of Directive 2008/48 on credit agreements for consumers must be interpreted as precluding the application of a national system of penalties under which, in the event of failure on the part of the creditor to comply with its obligation, prior to conclusion of an agreement, to assess the borrower’s creditworthiness by consulting the relevant database, that creditor forfeits its entitlement to contractual interest but is automatically entitled to interest at the statutory rate, payable from the date of delivery of a court decision ordering that borrower to pay the outstanding sums, which is further increased by five percentage points if, on expiry of a period of two months following that decision, the borrower has not repaid his debt in full, where the referring court finds that — in a situation in which the outstanding amount of the principal of the loan is immediately payable as a result of the borrower’s default — the amounts which the creditor is in fact likely to receive following the application of the penalty of forfeiture of entitlement to contractual interest are not significantly lower than those which it could have received had it complied with its obligation to assess the borrower’s creditworthiness.

(see para. 55, operative part)