argomento: News del mese - Diritto Internazionale e Comunitario

Articoli Correlati: unfair terms - consumer contracts

Ms Kuijpers was a student in an educational establishment in Belgium, and she was not in a position to pay € 1,400 for costs connected with a study trip. She concluded, with the educational establishment, a contract for a plan for the repayment in which the ‘assistance for students’ department advanced her the amount in order to pay her debt and she was required to pay that department € 200 per month for seven months. In addition, the contract provided for the interest of 10% (without formal notice). In 2015, the educational establishment issued a summon against Ms Kuijpers seeking to obtain the interest of 10%: the Belgian court decided to refer that case to the Court of Justice. In today’s judgment (C-147/16), the Court, first of all, recalls its case-law according to which a national court is obliged to arbitrarily assess whether a contractual term is unfair and it may examine the question of whether the contract falls within the scope of the EU directive on unfair terms in consumer contract; next, the Court notes that an educational establishment financed mainly by state funds must be regarded as a ‘seller or supplier’ (within the meaning of the directive) when it grants a repayment plan to a student: the EU legislature intended a broad definition to be given to the notion of ‘seller or supplier’ and that case concerns a service provided by that establishment which is ancillary to its educational activity.