30As regards the first ground of inadmissibility put forward by the United Kingdom Government, it should be pointed out that Article 267 TFEU gives national courts the widest discretion to refer matters to the Court if they consider that a case pending before them raises questions involving interpretation of provisions of EU law, or consideration of their validity, which are necessary for the resolution of the case. National courts thus have the power and, in certain cases, an obligation, to make a reference for a preliminary ruling once they find, either of their own motion or at the request of the parties, that the substance of the dispute involves a question to be resolved which falls within the scope of the first paragraph of that article. That is the reason why the fact that the parties to the main proceedings have not raised a point of EU law before the referring court does not preclude the latter from bringing the matter before the Court of Justice (judgment of 15 January 2013, Križan and Others, C‑416/10, EU:C:2013:8, paragraphs 64 and 65 and the case-law cited).
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.