1) This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 46 of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (OJ 2013 L 180, p. 60), and of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).

...

3 Recitals 18, 20, 23, 25, 50 and 60 of Directive 2013/32 state:

...

(60) This Directive respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised by the Charter. In particular, this Directive seeks to ensure full respect for human dignity and to promote the application of Articles 1, 4, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24 and 47 of the Charter and has to be implemented accordingly.’

...

24) In those circumstances, the Conseil d’État (Council of State) decided to stay proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court for a preliminary ruling: ‘Must Article 46 of [Directive 2013/32], by virtue of which applicants must be given a right to an effective remedy against decisions “taken on their application for international protection”, and Article 47 of [the Charter] be interpreted as precluding a rule of national procedure, such as Article 39/57 of [the Law of 15 December 1980], read in conjunction with Article 51/2, point 5° of the first subparagraph of Article 57/6(3) and Article 57/6/2(1) of that law, establishing a time limit of 10 “calendar” days, starting from the service of the administrative decision, for bringing an action against a decision declaring a subsequent application for international protection lodged by a third-country national to be inadmissible, in particular where that service was made at the head office of [the CGRS] where the applicant is “deemed” by law to have specified a place for service?’

...

25) By its question, the referring court seeks, in essence, to ascertain whether Article 46 of Directive 2013/32, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State which provides that an action brought against a decision declaring a subsequent application for international protection to be inadmissible is subject to a limitation period of 10 days, including public holidays, as from the service of such a decision, even where, when the applicant concerned has not specified a address for service in that Member State, such service is made at the head office of the national authority responsible for the examination of those applications.

...

27) The characteristics of the remedy provided for in Article 46 of Directive 2013/32 must be determined in a manner consistent with Article 47 of the Charter, which states that any person whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by EU law are violated should have the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in that article (judgment of 18 October 2018, E.G., C‑662/17, EU:C:2018:847, paragraph 47 and the case-law cited).

...

67) In the light of the foregoing, the answer to the question referred is that Article 46 of Directive 2013/32, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter, must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State which provides that proceedings challenging a decision declaring a subsequent application for international protection to be inadmissible are subject to a limitation period of 10 days, including public holidays, as from the date of service of such decision, even where, when the applicant concerned has not specified an address for service in that Member State, that service is made at the head office of the national authority responsible for the examination of those applications, provided that (i) those applicants are informed that, where they have not specified an address for service for the purposes of notification of the decision concerning their application, they will be deemed to have specified their address for service for those purposes at the head office of that national authority; (ii) the conditions for access of those applicants to that head office do not render receipt by those applicants of the decisions concerning them excessively difficult, (iii) genuine access to the procedural safeguards granted to applicants for international protection by EU law is ensured within such a period, and (iv) the principle of equivalence is respected. It is for the referring court to determine whether the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings meets those requirements.

...

68) 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 (First Chamber) hereby rules:

Article 46 of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State which provides that proceedings challenging a decision declaring a subsequent application for international protection to be inadmissible are subject to a limitation period of 10 days, including public holidays, as from the date of service of such decision, even where, when the applicant concerned has not specified an address for service in that Member State, that service is made at the head office of the national authority responsible for the examination of those applications, provided that (i) those applicants are informed that, where they have not specified an address for service for the purposes of notification of the decision concerning their application, they will be deemed to have specified an address for service for those purposes at the head office of that national authority; (ii) the conditions for access of those applicants to that head office do not render receipt by those applicants of the decisions concerning them excessively difficult, (iii) genuine access to the procedural safeguards granted to applicants for international protection by EU law is ensured within such a period, and (iv) the principle of equivalence is respected. It is for the referring court to determine whether the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings meets those requirements.