The European Court of Justice has upheld a substantial claim against the UK, made by General Motors Acceptance Corporation in connection with defaults and repossessions in the HP car industry. Roderick Cordara QC, who has acted successfully for GMAC in a number of related cases, has kept GMAC’s unbeaten record. He had argued before the ECJ that the UK was not entitled to deny traders their directly effective EU rights by treating income from the second-time sales of repossessed cars as relevant to losses from defaults by the original HP buyers. Agreeing that the approach of the UK was not in accordance with EU law, the ECJ made clear that Member States which have legislated poorly, cannot seek to correct matters by failing to respect directly effective rights. The case may well have wide-ranging applications in situations where domestic legislation is out of line with EU law, or where Member States seek to argue that directly effective rights should give way to other considerations. The ECJ has made clear that traders’ directly effective rights are to be enforced vigorously. It may also have implications for the car industry in general.
