1) This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of the principles of equivalence and effectiveness and of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).

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33) In those circumstances, the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:

‘1. Are the principle of effectiveness set out in the case-law [of the Court of Justice] of the European Union and the principle of effective judicial protection enshrined in Article 47 of the [Charter] to be interpreted as not permitting a national procedural rule such as Article 133(1) of the [APK] which makes jurisdiction in administrative disputes concerning the implementation of the European Union’s common agricultural policy dependent solely on the seat of the administrative authority which adopted the contested administrative act, considering that that rule does not take into consideration the place in which the properties are located or the place of residence of the person seeking justice?

2. Is the principle of equivalence set out in the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union to be interpreted as not permitting a national procedural rule such as Article 133(1) of the APK which makes jurisdiction in administrative disputes concerning the implementation of the European Union’s common agricultural policy dependent solely on the seat of the administrative authority which adopted the contested administrative act, if account is taken of Paragraph 19 of the transitional and final provisions of the Law amending and supplementing the [APK] (which concerns jurisdiction in domestic administrative disputes concerning agricultural land)?’

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34) By its questions, which fall to be examined together, the referring court asks, in essence, whether European Union law, in particular the principles of equivalence and effectiveness and Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as precluding a national jurisdiction rule such as that set out in Article 133(1) of the APK, which results in conferring on a single court all the disputes relating to decisions of a national authority responsible for the payment of agricultural aid under the common agricultural policy.

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59) So far as concerns, lastly, Article 47 of the Charter, it is apparent from the Court’s case-law that that provision constitutes a reaffirmation of the principle of effective judicial protection, a general principle of European Union law stemming from the constitutional traditions common to the Member States, which has been enshrined in Articles 6 and 13 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed at Rome on 4 November 1950 (see to that effect, inter alia, Case 222/84 Johnston [1986] ECR 1651, paragraph 18; Case C-432/05 Unibet [2007] ECR I-2271, paragraph 37; and Case C-334/12 RX-II Arango Jaramillo and Others v EIB [2013] ECR, paragraph 40).

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61) In the light of the foregoing, the answer to the questions referred is that European Union law, in particular the principles of equivalence and effectiveness and Article 47 of the Charter, does not preclude a national rule of jurisdiction such as that in Article 133(1) of the APK, which results in conferring on a single court all disputes relating to decisions of a national authority responsible for the payment of agricultural aid under the European Union common agricultural policy, provided that actions intended to ensure the safeguarding of the rights which individuals derive from European Union law are not conducted in less advantageous conditions than those provided for in respect of actions intended to protect the rights derived from any aid schemes for farmers established under national law, and that jurisdiction rule does not cause individuals procedural problems in terms, inter alia, of the duration of the proceedings, such as to render the exercise of the rights derived from European Union law excessively difficult, which it is for the referring court to ascertain.

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62) Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable.

On those grounds, the Court (Third Chamber) hereby rules:

European Union law, in particular the principles of equivalence and effectiveness and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, does not preclude a national rule of jurisdiction such as that in Article 133(1) of the Code of Administrative Procedure (Administrativnoprotsesualen kodeks), which results in conferring on a single court all disputes relating to decisions of a national authority responsible for the payment of agricultural support under the European Union common agricultural policy, provided that actions intended to ensure the safeguarding of the rights which individuals derive from European Union law are not conducted in less advantageous conditions than those provided for in respect of actions intended to protect the rights derived from any aid schemes for farmers established under national law, and that jurisdiction rule does not cause individuals procedural problems in terms, inter alia, of the duration of the proceedings, such as to render the exercise of the rights derived from European Union law excessively difficult, which it is for the referring court to ascertain.