International Law

Case C?400/08, Commission v Spain

Posted on March 29, 2011
In this case, the Commission of the European Communities claimed that  Spain had  failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 43 EC, by imposing restrictions on the establishment of shopping centres in Catalonia.The action brought by the Commission comprised, in essence, three complaints relating to the incompatibility with Article 43 EC of: (i) the restrictions on the location and size of large retail establishments; (ii) the conditions for obtaining the specific retail licence required to set up such establishments; and (iii) certain aspects of the procedure for the grant of that licence...

Case C?565/08, Commission v Italy

Posted on March 29, 2011
By this application, the Commission asked the Court to declare that, by maintaining provisions which obliged lawyers to comply with maximum tariffs, the Italian Republic had failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 43 EC and 49 EC.The profession of lawyer is regulated in Italy by Regio decreto legge n...

Case C-359/09, Donat Cornelius Ebert

Posted on February 15, 2011
This was an interesting case on the relationship between the Professional Qualification Directive and the Lawyers Directive  The European Professional Qualification Directive (Directive 89/48) established a general system for the recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least three years? duration...

Case C-463/09, CLECE SA

Posted on February 05, 2011
This reference for a preliminary ruling concerned the interpretation of Art. 1(1) of the (revised) Transfer of Undertakings Directive (Directive 2001/23).The question had arisen in the course of legal proceedings brought by CLECE SA against Mrs Martín Valor and the Ayuntamiento de Cobisa (municipal authority of Cobisa (pictured right)) concerning Mrs Martín Valor?s dismissal...

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C?239/09 Seydaland Vereinigte Agrarbetriebe v BVVG

Posted on February 04, 2011
This case concerned the interpretation of the  Commission Communication on State aid elements in sales of land and buildings by public authorities (OJ 1997 C 209, p. 3), which inter alia provides that land and buildings are to be sold by public authorities following either a sufficiently well-publicized, open and unconditional bidding procedure or 'an independent evaluation ? carried out by one or more independent asset valuers prior to the sale negotiations in order to establish the market value on the basis of generally accepted market indicators and valuation standards?...

Case C?155/09, Commission v Greece

Posted on February 04, 2011
An interesting case on Arts 12 EC, 18 EC, 39 EC and 43 EC regarding a tax exemption granted solely to persons residing in Greece and to persons of Greek origin not residing in Greece at the date of purchase. The Commission argued that Greece had failed to fulfil its obligations under these provisions by, first of all, granting exemption from a Greek tax on the transfer of immovable property solely to persons permanently resident in Greece but not to non-residents who intended to settle in Greece in the future, and, secondly, by granting, on certain conditions, exemption from the tax solely to Greek nationals on the purchase of a first home in Greece, expressly discriminating against persons resident abroad who were not Greek nationals...

Case C-540/08, Mediaprint Zeitungs- und Zeitschriftenverlag

Posted on November 10, 2010
This reference for a preliminary ruling, which concerned the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Directive 2005/29), was made in a dispute between two newspaper publishers, Mediaprint and Österreich?-Zeitungsverlag, concerning the lawfulness or otherwise of a sale with bonuses organised by the latter...

Case C?67/09 P, Nuova Agricast

Posted on November 08, 2010
By the present appeal, Nuova Agricast and Cofra sought to have set aside the judgment in Joined Cases T?362/05 and T-363/05 Nuova Agricast and Cofra v CommissionIn the latter case, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (now ?the General Court?) dismissed their actions for damages in respect of losses allegedly suffered as a result of the adoption by the Commission of the decision of 12 July 2000 not to raise objections to an aid scheme for investment in the less-favoured regions of Italy...

Case T-85/09, Kadi II

Posted on October 26, 2010
Guest post by Tim Stahlberg, Lawyer at CMS Hasche Sigle in HamburgThe General Court of the EU quashes the regulation freezing terror suspect Yassin Abdullah Kadi's funds. The judgment of 30 September 2010 ? it is the sequel to the seminal Kadi decision of the Court of Justice ? deals with fundamental rights and EU anti-terror sanctions based on UN Security Council resolutions...

C-208/09, Sayn-Wittgenstein (Opinion)

Posted on October 19, 2010
Of Princesses and CastlesGuest post by Tim Stahlberg, Laywer at CMS Hasche Sigle in HamburgLast Thursday, Advocate General Sharpston issued a thoughtful opinion in the preliminary ruling procedure C-208/09 Sayn-Wittgenstein, a case which raises interesting questions of private international law and European citizenship (not to be confused with case 5/88 in which Prinzessin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein seemed to profit unfairly from European milk quotas, to the detriment of a small farmer who made her land suitable for milk production, a result which the Court of Justice corrected by holding for the first time that Member States must respect fundamental rights when they implement European rules)...

Case C?64/08, Engelmann

Posted on September 12, 2010
This reference for a preliminary ruling, which related to the interpretation of Arts 43 EC and 49 EC had been made in the context of criminal proceedings against Mr Engelmann for failure to comply with the Austrian legislation concerning the operation of gaming establishments...

Case C?399/08 P, Deutsche Post

Posted on September 05, 2010
Appeal in Deutsche Post state aid case dismissedBy its appeal, the Commission of the European Communities sought to have set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (now ?the General Court?) in Case T?266/02 Deutsche Post v Commission [2008], by which it annulled Commission Decision 2002/753/EC of 19 June 2002 on measures implemented by Germany for Deutsche Post AG...

Case C?290/07 P, Commission v. Scott SA

Posted on September 04, 2010
By its appeal, the Commission of the European Communities requested the Court of Justice to set aside the judgment of 29 March 2007 in Case T?366/00 Scott v Commission [2007] . By that judgement, the General Court had annulled Art. 2 of Commission Decision 2002/14/EC of 12 July 2000 on the State aid granted by France to Scott Paper SA/Kimberly-Clark...

Case C-139/07 P, Technische Glaswerke Ilmenau GmbH

Posted on September 03, 2010
By letter of 27 March 2002, the Commission rejected that application for access stating, in particular, that the documents sought were covered by the exception in Art. 4(2) of Regulation 1049/2001. The Commission also stated that the documents concerning TGI were documents forming part of the current formal investigation procedure C 44/2001...

Case C-28/08 P, Bavarian Lager

Posted on September 03, 2010
Commission rightfully refusing Bavaria Lager access to certain EU documents(Mensing & Stetcher 1879)By this appeal, the Commission of the European Communities sought the annulment of the judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (now ?the General Court?) of 8 November 2007 in Case T-194/04 Bavarian Lager v Commission [2007], on which I wrote this post,   By that  judgment, the General Court had annulled the Commission?s decision of 18 March 2004, rejecting the request by Bavarian Lager for access to the full minutes of a meeting of 11 October 1996, held in the context of a procedure for failure to fulfil obligationsAccording to its Preamble, the purpose of Regulation 1049/2010 was to give the fullest possible effect to the right of public access to documents and to lay down the general principles and limits on such access...

Joined Cases C-105/09 and C-110/09, Terre wallonne ASBL

Posted on September 02, 2010
Court clarifies scope of Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive    By judgment of 22 September 2005 in Case C-221/03 Commission v Belgium [2005], the Court held that, by failing to adopt within the relevant time-limit the measures needed for the full and correct implementation of Directive 91/676, the Belgium had failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive...

Case C-140/09,Fellimento Traghetti del Mediterraneo SpA v Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri,

Posted on September 02, 2010
Subsidies granted in 1980's still state aidThis reference for a preliminary ruling  had been made in the context of proceedings between fellimento Traghetti del Mediterraneo SpA (?TDM?), a maritime transport undertaking in liquidation, and the Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, concerning compensation for the damage which TDM allegedly suffered as a result of an incorrect interpretation by the Corte suprema di cassazione (Supreme Court of Cassation) of the European Union rules on competition and State aid, and because of that court?s refusal to bring the matter before the Court of Justice in accordance with the third paragraph of Art...

Case C-58/08, Vodafone Ltd et.al

Posted on September 02, 2010
Court uphelds Roaming Directive Roaming messageIn 2002, the Community legislature adopted, on the basis of Art. 95 EC, a regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services. The purpose of this Directive was inter alia to ensure that all transmission networks and associated services would be subject to the same regulatory framework, which consisted, in particular, of Directive 2002/21 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services (?the Framework Directive?), as well as specific directives...

Case C-377/09, Françoise-Eléonor Hanssens-Ensch v European Community

Posted on September 01, 2010
Action for damages brought against the Community on the basis of non-contractual liability not falling within the jurisdiction of the national courts.This reference for a preliminary ruling concerned the interpretation of Art. 235 EC and the second paragraph of Art...

Case C?343/09, Afton Chemical Limited

Posted on August 31, 2010
Art. 1(8) of Fuel Quality Directive not infringing precautionary principle  This reference for a preliminary ruling concerned the validity of Art. 1(8) of Directive 2009/30.    Afton was based in the United Kingdom and formed part of the Afton Chemical group, which manufactures and sells MMT for used worldwide...

Case C?246/07, Commission v Sweden

Posted on May 09, 2010
By this application, the Commission of the European Communities requested the Court to declare that, by unilaterally proposing that a substance, perfluoroctane sulfonate (?PFOS?), be added to Annex A to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (?the Stockholm Convention?), Sweden had failed to fulfil its obligations under Arts 10 EC and 300(1) EC...

Joined Cases C?145/08 and C?149/08

Posted on May 06, 2010
In Case C-145/08, the competent interministerial committee decided to privatise Elliniko Kazino Parnithas AE (?EKP?), a subsidiary of Ellinika Touristika Akinita AE (?ETA?), an undertaking wholly owned by the Greek State. The contract notice published in October 2001 provided for an initial preselection stage to determine which tenderers met the conditions set out in that notice...

Security risks of new WEEE Directive?

Posted on April 17, 2010
Yesterday, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) adopted an opinion on the European Commission's proposal to recast the WEEE Directive (Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment). This  proposal is currently discussed in the European Parliament and Council...

Case C?518/08, Fundación Gala-Salvador Dalí

Posted on April 17, 2010
This reference for a preliminary ruling concerned the interpretation of Arts 6(1) and 8(2) and (3) of the Resale Rights Directive (Directive 2001/84).The reference had been made in the course of proceedings brought by the Fundación Gala-Salvador Dalí and Visual Entidad de Gestión de Artistas Plásticos (?VEGAP?), against the Société des auteurs dans les arts graphiques et plastiques (?ADAGP?), Mr Bonet Domenech, Mrs Bas Dalí, Mrs Domenech Biosca, Mr Domenech Biosca, and Mrs Ana-María Busquets Bonet and Mrs Mónica Busquets Bonet, who were family members of Salvador Dalí, concerning royalties received on sales of works of art by Salvador Dalí...

Improvement of EU language rights

Posted on April 08, 2010
A very important vote today by the European Parliaments Civil Liberties Committee. The Committee  backed new measures to guarantee EU citizens access to translation and interpretation in their own language when facing a criminal trial in another Member State...

State aid scheme for farmers authorised

Posted on April 01, 2010
The Commission today authorised a temporary UK scheme to grant limited amounts of aid of up to ?15,000 to farmers, with a total  budget of approximately £20 million (?22.3 million). The measure is aimed at supporting farmers in UK who encounter difficulties as a result of the current economic crisis...

Case C?440/08, Gielen v Staatssecretaris van Financiën

Posted on March 28, 2010
This reference for a preliminary ruling concerned the interpretation of Art. 43 EC. The reference had been made in the context of a dispute between Mr Gielen and the State Secretary for Finance in relation to income tax for 2001.Art. 2.1(b) of the Law on income tax of 2001 provided that natural persons who were not resident in the Netherlands but who received income from that country were liable to income tax...

Case C?378/08, Raffinerie Mediterranee

Posted on March 28, 2010
Another important case on the polluter pays principle (see my previous post on this principle). The dispute concerned the Priolo Gargallo Region in Sicily (pictured left), which had been declared a ?Site of National Interest for decontamination purposes?, and in particular the Augusta roadstead...

Relaunch of ECJBlog

Posted on March 28, 2010
After not having posted anything for  some months I today relaunch ECJBlog.com, completely revised and updated. Changes mainly aim to improve readability as well as to make it easier to find information on previous cases. Changes include: - Less categories on the right, as some categories have been merged...

Case C?451/08, Helmut Müller

Posted on March 28, 2010
This reference for a preliminary ruling concerned the interpretation of the concept of ?public works contracts? within the meaning of Directive 2004/18.The Bundesanstalt - the German federal agency responsible for managing public property - was owner of a property known as the ?Wittekind barracks?, occupying an area of just under 24 hectares in Wildeshausen (pictured)...

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