Request for a preliminary ruling from the Kammergericht Berlin (Germany) lodged on 30 December 2020 – DB Station & Service AG v ODEG Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH

(Case C-721/20)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Kammergericht Berlin

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: DB Station & Service AG

Defendant: ODEG Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH

Questions referred

Is it compatible with Directive 2001/14/EC, ¹ including its provisions on the management independence of the infrastructure undertaking (Article 4), the principles of charging (Articles 7 to 12) and the tasks of the regulatory body (Article 30), for national civil courts to review the charges levied based on the criteria laid down in Article 102 TFEU and/or in national competition law on a case-by-case basis independently of the monitoring carried out by the regulatory body?

If Question 1 is answered in the affirmative: Are the national civil courts permitted and required to conduct an assessment of abusive practices in the light of the criteria laid down in Article 102 TFEU and/or in national competition law, even where the rail transport undertakings have the possibility to request the competent regulatory body to review the fairness of the charges paid? Must the national civil courts wait for a decision in the matter by the regulatory body and, where applicable, if it is contested before the courts, for that decision to become enforceable?

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¹ Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001 on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification (OJ 2001 L 75, p. 29).