36Furthermore, although the referring court took the view that the exceptions drawn from German civil procedural law to the principle of res judicata did not apply in the case, it must be noted that, under Paragraph 322 of the ZPO, judgments are able to become res judicata only in so far as a ruling has been given on the complaint made in the action or on a counterclaim. Accordingly, it is for the referring court to ascertain whether such a limitation, expressly set out in Paragraph 322(1) of the ZPO, does not authorise it to interpret that provision as meaning that, when a breach of the third sentence of Article 108(3) TFEU is claimed, the force of res judicata extends only to the legal claims on which the court has ruled and therefore does not preclude a court from ruling, in a later dispute, on points of law on which there is no ruling in that definitive decision.
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