Case C-140/18: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark (Austria) lodged on 22 February 2018 — Humbert Jörg Köfler and Others
C2592018EN1720120180222EN0024172182
Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark (Austria) lodged on 22 February 2018 — Humbert Jörg Köfler and Others
(Case C-140/18)2018/C 259/24Language of the case: German
Referring court
Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark
Parties to the main proceedings
Appellants: Humbert Jörg Köfler, Wolfgang Leitner, Joachim Schönbeck, Wolfgang Semper
Respondent authority: Bezirkshauptmannschaft Murtal
Interested party: Finanzpolizei
Questions referred
1.
Must Article 56 TFEU and Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services ( 1 ) and Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC ( 2 ) be interpreted as precluding a national provision which, for infringements of formal obligations in connection with the cross-border deployment of labour, such as failure by the hiring-out entity to make documents relating to pay available to the third-party employer, provides for very high fines, in particular high minimum penalties, which are imposed cumulatively in respect of each worker concerned?
2.
If the answer to Question 1 is in the negative:
Must Article 56 TFEU and Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC be interpreted as precluding the imposition of cumulative fines for infringements of formal obligations in connection with the cross-border deployment of labour which have no absolute upper limits?
3.
If the answer to Question 1 or Question 2 is in the negative:
Must Article 49(3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union be interpreted as precluding a national provision which provides for fines with no upper limit or several years’ imprisonment for non-collectible fines for offences committed as a result of negligence?
( 1 ) OJ 1997 L 18, p. 1.
( 2 ) OJ 2014 L 159, p. 11.
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