Judgment_paragraph 50 · Q-Beef NV v Belgische Staat and Frans Bosschaert v Belgische Staat, Vleesgroothandel Georges Goossens en Zonen NV and Slachthuizen Goossens NV (C-89/10, C-96/10)

50According to settled case-law following Emmott, however, the Court has acknowledged that a defaulting Member State may rely on the expiry of a limitation period as a defence against legal proceedings, even though by the date on which the actions in question were brought that Member State had not yet correctly transposed the directive in question, ruling that the solution established in Emmott had been justified by the circumstances particular to that case, in which a time-bar had had the result of depriving the applicant in the main proceedings of any opportunity whatever to invoke her right to equal treatment under a directive (see Iaia and Others, paragraph 19 and the case-law cited).