24Lastly, the applicants take the view that, since the competent Austrian courts refused to make a reference for a preliminary ruling on validity to the Court of Justice, even though they were required to do so and the validity of the disputed provisions could legitimately be challenged, their rights can be effectively safeguarded only through the bringing of the present action. They maintain that the reference made to Case C-97/96 Daihatsu Deutschland [1997] ECR I-6843 by the Oberlandesgericht Linz and by the Oberster Gerichtshof in the orders dismissing their actions is irrelevant to the present case. They conclude from the foregoing that, although the action for damages before the Community Courts is only an alternative to the national legal remedies, this action must be regarded as being admissible, since those legal remedies do not allow for the effective safeguarding of their rights in accordance with the case-law of the Court of Justice (Case 175/84 Krohn v Commission [1986] ECR 753, and Case 20/88 Roquette frères v Commission [1989] ECR 1553).
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