On 26 January 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued its judgment in Case C-421, ruling that the accelerated repayment clause in loan agreements, which is permitted in Spain under Law 1/2013 and Decree-Law 7/2013, is unfair. Following on from its judgments in cases C-415, C-602, C-154/15, C-307 and C-308, the Court of Justice took the view, once again, that in failing to provide sufficient protection for consumers, Spanish legislation does not meet the requirements of Directive 93/13/EEC. The Commission launched infringement proceedings (20124074) that were closed with no action having been taken. Up to 500 000 people could have lost their homes as a result of clauses declared to be illegal by the Court of Justice.

In view of this obvious, flagrant and systematic breach of Directive 93/13/EEC by Spanish legislation, and given the judgments handed down by the Court of Justice, why were the infringement proceedings (20124074) closed?

Is the Commission considering launching new infringement proceedings to ensure once and for all that EU consumer protection legislation is complied with?