Relationship between collective actions and individual actions brought for the purpose of defending the rights of consumers: opinion of the Advocate General in respect of a reference for preliminary ruling

The judgment of the Asturias Audiencia Provincial (First Chamber) of 19 December 2014 (AC/2014/2138), sets out the three positions that exist in national law, and which also appear in the opinion of the Advocate General: «[court decisions] ordering a stay of the relevant proceedings pending a final decision in the Madrid Court proceedings, a second one (constituting a minority view) finding not a preliminary matter for reference but lis pendens (or res judicata), leading to the shelving of the proceedings and, finally, a third one (the majority view) which rejects both»…