17In accordance with equally settled case-law, Article 267 TFEU gives national courts the widest discretion in referring matters to the Court if they consider that a case pending before them raises questions involving the interpretation of provisions of EU law, or consideration of their validity, which are necessary for the resolution of the case before them. National courts are, moreover, free to exercise that discretion at whatever stage of the proceedings they consider appropriate (see judgments of 5 October 2010, Elchinov, C‑173/09, EU:C:2010:581, paragraph 26 and the case-law cited, and of 11 September 2014, A, C‑112/13, EU:C:2014:2195, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited). The choice of the most appropriate time to refer a question for a preliminary ruling lies within their exclusive jurisdiction (see judgments of 15 March 2012, Sibilio, C‑157/11, not published, EU:C:2012:148, paragraph 31 and the case-law cited, and of 7 April 2016, Degano Trasporti, C‑546/14, EU:C:2016:206, paragraph 16).
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