30So far as the principle of equivalence is concerned, it stems from that principle that, where the national court ruling in appeal proceedings has a discretion or the obligation to examine of its own motion the validity of a legal measure in the light of national rules of public policy, even though no conflict in that area was raised at first instance, it must also exercise such a power for the purposes of assessing, of its own motion, in the light of the criteria in Directive 93/13, whether a contractual term falling within the scope of application of that directive is unfair. Should the referring court establish that, in domestic-law situations, it has that power, it would be required to exercise it in a situation such as that in the main proceedings, which calls into question the protection of the rights which the consumer derives from European Union law (see, to that effect, Case C-40/08 Asturcom Telecomunicaciones [2009] ECR I-9579, paragraphs 53 and 54, and Case C-488/11 Asbeek Brusse and de Man Garabito [2013] ECR, paragraphs 45 and 46).
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