Doctrine

Unfair Contract Terms Directive, Article 3, 1. Unfair Contract Terms Directive, Article 4

Prêts libellés en devises étrangères.

The series of loans denominated in foreign currencies will take on a new dimension even though the Court of Cassation has handed down various rulings, including several dated 20 February 2019 and 13 March 2019.

In its judgement of 2 August 2019, the District Court was sensitive to the arguments put forward by the applicant. The plaintiff argued that the case law of the Court of Cassation interpreted European texts relating to unfair terms more unfavourably to borrowers than to the CJEU. On the one hand, the Court of Cassation totally failed to apply one of the criteria identified by the CJEU, namely explicit information of the consumer based on the fact that a depreciation of the national currency in relation to the foreign currency will result in it eventually being difficult for him to reimburse his credit. On the other hand, the Court of Cassation would refer to an erroneous criterion since it takes as a criterion that of a simple depreciation of the national currency in relation to the foreign currency whereas the CJEU imposes to “address the impact on repayments of a significant depreciation of the national currency”. The Court of Justice has been seized of the dispute.