Estonia supporting Latvia in case against Sweden in European Court of Justice

  • 2022-04-21
  • LETA/BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - The Estonian government at a sitting on Thursday approved Estonia joining the proceedings in support of Latvia in the latter's litigation against Sweden in the European Court of Justice with regard to Sweden refusing to transfer to the Latvian Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) the contributions paid by the Latvian branch of Nordea Bank AB.

Latvia claims that the court should hold that Sweden has failed to fulfill its obligations by refusing to transfer to the Latvian DGF the contributions paid by the Latvian branch of Nordea Bank AB, calculated for the contribution period in accordance with the EU directive on deposit guarantee schemes. Latvia argues that Sweden has adversely affected the integration of the single market and in so doing undermined the mutual trust between EU member states, which is a pre-requisite for cross-border integration, spokespeople for the Estonian government said.

Estonia's interest in joining the proceedings lies in the analogous implementation of the directive on deposit guarantee schemes with regard to the creation of the Luminor bank in 2017 through the merger of Estonian branches of DNB and Nordea into Luminor Bank AS. The Swedish National Debt Office refused to transfer similar contributions to the Estonian Guarantee Fund and contesting the decision in the Swedish court system did not yield any results. If the European Court of Justice sides with Latvia in its interpretation of the directive on deposit guarantee schemes, Estonia will likewise have a basis to demand the transfer of contributions from Sweden.

The deadline for submitting an application to the European Court of Justice for joining the proceedings is April 25. After the court has received Estonia's application, it will officially send Estonia the case materials and set a deadline for Estonia to present its positions.