Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber) 7 November 2018, C-171/17 (European Commission v Hungary.)

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The Court of Justice (Fourth Chamber) held that Hungary failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 15(2)(d) of Directive 2006/123 and Article 56 TFEU by instituting and maintaining a national mobile payment system (nemzeti mobil fizetési rendszer) that granted an exclusive statutory monopoly to a single State-owned operator, Nemzeti Mobilfizetési Zrt., for the provision of mobile payment services in areas including public parking and road tolls. The decisive legal issue was whether the monopoly, even if the service could be classified as a service of general economic interest (SGEI), satisfied the proportionality requirement, which it did not, as Hungary itself acknowledged the existence of less restrictive measures—such as a competitive concession system—capable of achieving the same public interest objectives. The Court dismissed the action as to the remainder, including the primary complaint under Article 16(1) of Directive 2006/123 (which was inapplicable to SGEIs by virtue of Article 17(1)) and the alternative complaint under Article 49 TFEU, and ordered each party to bear its own costs.AI