42Thirdly, as regards consideration of the first question in the light of the principle of effectiveness, it should be recalled that the Court has stated that it is compatible with EU law to lay down reasonable time limits for bringing proceedings in the interests of legal certainty which protects both the taxpayer and the authorities concerned. Such periods are not by their nature liable to make it virtually impossible or excessively difficult to exercise the rights conferred by EU law, even if the expiry of those periods necessarily entails the dismissal, in whole or in part, of the action brought (see, to that effect, judgments of 17 July 1997, Haahr Petroleum, C‑90/94, EU:C:1997:368, paragraph 48, and of 8 September 2011, Q-Beef and Bosschaert, C‑89/10 and C‑96/10, EU:C:2011:555, paragraph 36). In that context, a national limitation period of three years appears to be reasonable (see, to that effect, judgments of 11 July 2002, Marks & Spencer, C‑62/00, EU:C:2002:435, paragraph 35, and of 15 April 2010, Barth, C‑542/08, EU:C:2010:193, paragraph 28.)
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