Commencement of the Limitation Period for Irregularities in EU Co-Financed Projects: Commentary on the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 6 February 2025 in Case C-42/24, Emporiki Serron AE (ECLI:EU:C:2025:56)

Abstract

The commented judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerns the clarification of legal uncertainties as to the possibility for Member States to modify, in national law, the beginning of the limitation period for irregularities specified in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) of Regulation No. 2988/95. In the justification of the commented judgment, the Court correctly assumed that national law only allows for an extension of the limitation period in relation to that provided for in the provisions of Regulation No. 2988/95, excluding any changes to the starting point of that period. Therefore, by introducing – on the basis of Article 66a(1) of the Public Finance Act – a modification to the beginning of the limitation period by linking it to the closing of the program balance or the issuance of a final reimbursement decision, the Polish legislator violated the provisions of Article 3(3) in conjunction with the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) of Regulation No. 2988/95. In order to bring Article 66a(1) of the Public Finance Act into compliance with the provisions of EU law, national courts and administrative authorities should at least partially derogate from its application and apply the directly effective Article 3(1) of Regulation No. 2988/95.