Category: European

CT Control (Rotterdam) and JCT Benelux v Commission: ECJ 6 Jul 1993

1. Procedural rules are generally held to apply to all proceedings pending at the time when they enter into force, whereas substantive rules are usually interpreted as not applying to situations existing before their entry into force.
2. The statement of reasons required by Article 190 of the Treaty must disclose clearly and unequivocally the reasoning followed by the adopting body in such a way as to allow the persons concerned to ascertain the reasons for the measure and thus enable them to defend their rights, and to enable the Court to exercise its review. It cannot, however, be required that the statement should go into all the relevant factual and legal points. The question whether the statement of grounds for a decision meets those requirements must be assessed with regard not only to its wording but also to the context of the decision and to all the legal rules governing the matter in question.
3. The sole purpose of the general equity clause contained in Article 13 of Regulation No 1430/79 is to enable importers, when certain special conditions are satisfied and in the absence of negligence or deception, to be exempted from payment of duties from them and not to enable them to contest the actual principle of an amount being due. An argument to the effect that a decision of the national authorities, subjected to review by the national courts, under which an importer is found liable to pay duties is unlawful cannot therefore be relied on in order to contest before the Community court the legality of a Commission decision refusing the benefit of that article.
4. Within the framework of Article 13 of Regulation 1430/79, the procedure for adoption by the Commission of decisions on the repayment or remission of import duties, which comprises several stages, some of which take place at national level (submission of the application by the undertaking concerned, preliminary examination of the application by the customs authorties) and some at Community level (submission of the application to the Commission, examination of it by the Committee on Duty-Free Arrangements, consultation of a group of experts, decision by the Commission, notification to the Member State concerned), affords the persons concerned all the necessary legal safeguards, in particular that of audi alteram partem, which represents the defence’ s most essential right, provided that it is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Community rules.
5. Pursuant to Article 173 of the Treaty, which establishes the conditions for the admissibility of an action for annulment, the Court has jurisdiction to review the legality of acts of the Council and of the Commission. If the action is well founded, under Articles 174 of the Treaty the Court is to declare the act concerned void, but it is not for the Court to rule on the question of the obligations of the national authorities, even though they acted in implementation of the annulled Community act.

Citations:

C-121/91, [1993] EUECJ C-121/91

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

EEC Treaty 173 174

Jurisdiction:

European

European

Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.160699

Le Nan v Cooperative laitiere de Ploudaniel: ECJ 27 Jan 1994

ECJ (Judgment) 1. Under the additional milk levy scheme introduced by Article 5c of Regulation No 804/68, as amended by Regulation No 856/84, an owner who during the reference year acquired the whole or part of a holding by sale, lease or inheritance and who resumed milk production at the time when that scheme entered into force, may receive a reference quantity in respect of the quantity of milk produced by the previous farmer in the course of part of the reference year where the Member State concerned, in the exercise of the power conferred by Article 7(1) of Regulation No 857/84 adopting general rules for the application of the said levy, as amended by Regulation No 590/85 and subparagraph 3 of Article 5 of Regulation No 1371/84 laying down detailed rules for the application of the levy, has decided to allocate a reference quantity to producers who find themselves in such circumstances.
2. Articles 3, 3a, 4 and 4a of Regulation No 857/84, as amended, and Article 3 of Regulation No 1371/84 contain an exhaustive list of the special situations in which reference quantities or individual quantities may be allocated and set out precise rules concerning the determination of those quantities. Since no provision of the regulations makes it possible for an owner and new producer who commenced his milk deliveries on the date of entry into force of the additional levy scheme, and whose reference quantity is calculated on the basis of the deliveries made by the previous farmer in the course of only part of the reference year before he ceased his activities, to have account taken, as a result of that fact, of a reference year different from that chosen by the Member State concerned, such taking into account is excluded, even where the deliveries during the reference year are not representative of the production capacity of the holding during that year.

Citations:

C-189/92, [1994] EUECJ C-189/92

Links:

Bailii

European, Agriculture

Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.160933

H J Banks and Co Ltd v British Coal Corporation: ECJ 13 Apr 1994

The European Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over ECSC treaty disputes. The duty of sincere cooperation imposed the obligation on the national court to mitigate as far as possible in the interests of the Community the risk of a conflicting ruling. ‘As a body which supervises compliance with the Community rules of competition and has specialised departments for that purpose, the Commission has many years of experience with the result that its findings carry a degree of authority, although such authority is not binding. However, it is self-evident that no obstacles may be placed in the path of third parties seeking to challenge before the national court findings which the Commission has arrived at in a decision of that kind. If, on the basis of the parties’ arguments, the national court comes to the conclusion that the issues of fact and/or law decided by the Commission are incorrect or insufficient, or if at any rate it has serious doubts in that regard, then in the light of the Delimitis judgment it must take the following course of action: in the case of findings which carried no weight in the final decision and do not therefore underlie the reasoning of the Commission, the national court is at liberty to adopt a different interpretation: in those circumstances the risk of conflicting decisions and the resultant impairment of the principle of legal certainty is extremely small. On the other hand, in the case of findings which have an influence on the final decision arrived at by the Commission, the national court is well advised, in accordance with the provisions of its national procedural law, to suspend the proceedings in the case and to seek the necessary information from the Commission or make a direct reference to the court for a preliminary ruling concerning the validity of the decision in question or the interpretation of the relevant Community competition rules.’

Judges:

Advocate-General Van Gerven

Citations:

Times 13-May-1994, C-128/92, [1994] 5 CMLR 30, [1994] EUECJ C-128/92, [1994] ECR I-1209

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Citing:

Cited – Foto-Frost v Hauptzollamt Lubeck-Ost ECJ 22-Oct-1987
ECJ Lack of jurisdiction of national courts to declare acts of Community institutions invalid – Validity of a decision on the post-clearance recovery of import duties. . .
Cited – Stergios Delimitis v Henninger Brau AG ECJ 28-Feb-1991
ECJ A beer supply agreement is prohibited by Article 85(1) of the EEC Treaty if two cumulative conditions are met. The first is that, having regard to the economic and legal context of the agreement at issue, it . .
Cited – Hurd v Jones (Judgment) ECJ 15-Jan-1986
‘ . . . [A] provision produces direct effect in relations between the Member States and their subjects only if it is clear and unconditional and not contingent on any discretionary implementing measure.’ and ‘According to a consistent line of . .

Cited by:

Cited – Crehan v Inntrepreneur Pub Company (CPC) CA 21-May-2004
The claimant had taken two leases, but had been made subject to beer ties with the defendant. He claimed damages for the losses, saying he had been forced to pay higher prices than those allowed to non-tied houses, and that the agreement was . .
Cited – Consorzio Del Prosciutto Di Parma v Asda Stores Limited and others HL 8-Feb-2001
The name ‘Parma Ham’ was controlled as to its use under Italian law, and the associated mark, the ‘corona ducale’, was to be applied to a sale of Parma Ham, including any packaging. Proper Parma Ham was imported and resold through the defendant’s . .
At ECJ – H J Banks and Co Ltd and Others v British Coal Corporation QBD 10-Aug-1994
No cause of action could be pursued where the European Commission only can decide liability and no decision had yet been made. An action would be dismissed for want of jurisdiction rather than be stayed until the decision was made. . .
At ECJ – Coal Authority v H J Banks and Company Ltd; H J Banks and Company Ltd v The Coal Authority and Anoher ComC 20-Dec-1996
ComC Summary judgment under RSC Order 14 – claim for royalties – previous decision of the European Commission – claim for damages for breach of article 4 European Coal and Steel Treaty. The defence to the Coal . .
First Reference – HJ Banks and Co Ltd v The Coal Authority and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry ECJ 20-Sep-2001
Europa Reference for a preliminary ruling: Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division) – United Kingdom. ECSC Treaty – Licences to extract raw coal – Discrimination between producers – Special charges – . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Utilities, Jurisdiction

Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.160920

Tavoulareas v Tsavliris and Others (No 2): CA 5 Jan 2007

The claimant sought to enforce here a judgment obtained by default in a Greek court.
Held: The proceedings in Greece had not required service of the proceedings on the defendant, and judgment had been entered by default. An English court was not bound to enforce such a judgment.

Judges:

Longmore LJ

Citations:

Times 05-Jan-2007

Statutes:

Council Regulation (EC) No 44/200 34(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See Also – Tavoulareas v Alexander G Tsavliris and Sons Maritime Company ComC 24-Nov-2005
. .
Appeal from – Tavoulareas v Tsavliris and others ComC 9-Mar-2006
Formal recognition of judgment from Greek court. . .
Cited – Hendrikman and Feyen v Magenta Druck and Verlag ECJ 10-Oct-1996
Judgment – Where proceedings are initiated against a person without his knowledge and a lawyer appears before the court first seised on his behalf but without his authority, such a person is quite powerless to defend himself and must be regarded as . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Jurisdiction, European

Updated: 02 June 2022; Ref: scu.247773

Friedrich Schultz v Hauptzollamt Heilbronn (Rec 1993,p I-6885) (Judgment): ECJ 16 Dec 1993

Europa 1. Article 12(1) of Regulation No 1546/88 laying down detailed rules for the application of the additional levy on milk, as amended by Regulation No 1033/89, must be interpreted as meaning that a Member State is entitled to use only the periods of application of the additional levy scheme expressly laid down by that provision for the purposes of determining the fat content of milk to be considered representative which is taken into account when determining the reference quantities exempt from the levy. In so far as that provision designates the period to be regarded as the reference period and authorizes the choice of another period, which it also designates, in exceptional cases which it lists exhaustively, it lays down precise rules precluding any other possibility. 2. The difference in treatment between, on the one hand, producers the fat content of whose milk declined abnormally during the two periods of application of the additional levy scheme laid down by Article 12(1) of Regulation No 1546/88 for determining the fat content to be considered representative and, on the other, producers who may rely on a representative fat content within one or other of those periods, is objectively justified by the need to lay down, in the interests of both legal certainty and the effectiveness of the additional levy scheme, a limitation on the number of periods which may be taken into account as reference periods. Consequently, that difference in treatment cannot be described as discriminatory.

Citations:

C-120/92, [1993] EUECJ C-120/92

Links:

Bailii

European, Agriculture

Updated: 02 June 2022; Ref: scu.160914

Sparkasse Hilden Ratingen Velbert v Benk and Another: ChD 29 Aug 2012

The claimant bank said that the court had had no jurisdiction to make the order it had on the respondent’s bankruptcy, saying that his ‘centre of activity’ had been Germany, and not England.

Judges:

Purle QC J

Citations:

[2012] EWHC 2432 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Insolvency Act 1986 282(1)(a), Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29th May 2000 on Insolvency Proceedings

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Insolvency, Jurisdiction, European

Updated: 02 June 2022; Ref: scu.463776

Office of Fair Trading v Purely Creative Ltd and Others: ChD 2 Feb 2011

The OFT sought an order to restrain the defendants from continuing what it said were unfair commercial practices in the arrangements it made for prize draws.
Held: Each of the promotions relied upon by the Office contravened the Regulations. The order was granted requiring the respondent not to: ‘create the false impression that the consumer has already won, will win, or will on a particular act win a prize or other equivalent benefit, when in fact taking any action recommended by the defendant in relation to claiming the prize or other equivalent benefit is subject to the consumer paying money or incurring a cost which is either
(a) a substantial proportion of the unit cost to the defendant of the provision to the consumer of the thing described as a prize or other equivalent benefit; or
(b) in the case of a charge stated to be for delivery and insurance, used by the defendant to finance in whole or in part its acquisition, handling or other cost of the making available of that thing other than the actual cost of its delivery to the consumer and insurance (if any) in transit.’
Briggs considered a request to look at the ways in which different countries within the EU had implemented the Regulations, saying: ‘In my judgment recourse to differences of implementation of a directive intended to have uniform effect throughout the EU is likely to prove a time-consuming and ultimately fruitless exercise, as will become apparent from [counsel]’s attempt to pray in aid the different language of the Irish regulations implementing paragraph 31 of Annex 1 to the UCPD.’

Judges:

Briggs J

Citations:

[2011] EWHC 106 (Ch), [2011] WLR (D) 34, [2011] ECC 20

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Enterprise Act 2002 215, Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 3, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Purely Creative Ltd and Others v The Office of Fair Trading CA 29-Jul-2011
The appellants sought to challenge undertakings they had been required to as to the mode of conduct of prize draw competitions. The Regulations forbad misrepresentations that the addressee may already have won a prize. In particular they challenged . .
At first instance – Purely Creative And Others v Office of Fair Trading ECJ 18-Oct-2012
ECJ Directive 2005/29/EC – Unfair commercial practices – Practice of informing the consumer that he has won a prize and obliging him, in order to receive that prize, to incur a cost of whatever kind . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Consumer, European

Updated: 02 June 2022; Ref: scu.428677

Stephan Max Wirth v Landeshauptstadt Hannover Hannover: ECJ 7 Dec 1993

Europa 1. Courses given in an establishment of higher education which is financed essentially out of public funds do not constitute services within the meaning of Article 60 of the EEC Treaty. Under the first paragraph of Article 60 of the Treaty, the chapter on services covers only services normally provided for remuneration. The essential characteristic of remuneration, which lies in the fact that it constitutes consideration for the service in question, is absent in the case of courses provided in an establishment of higher education which is financed out of public funds and where students pay only enrolment fees. Conversely, courses given in an establishment of higher education which seeks to make an economic profit and which is financed essentially out of private funds, particularly out of payments made by students or their parents, do constitute services within the meaning of Article 60 of the Treaty. 2. Where the courses concerned are followed in an establishment whose activities do not constitute services within the meaning of Article 60 of the Treaty, Articles 59 and 62 of the Treaty do not preclude a Member

Citations:

C-109/92, [1993] EUECJ C-109/92

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

EEC Treaty Art 60

European, Education

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160907

Firma Molkerei-Zentrale Sud GmbH and Co. KG v Bundesanstalt fur landwirtschaftliche Marktordnung: ECJ 18 Mar 1993

Europa Since the concept of force majeure must be understood in the sense of abnormal and unforeseeable circumstances, beyond the control of the trader concerned, the consequences of which could not have been avoided despite the exercise of all due care, a case of force majeure can be held to exist within the meaning of Article 22(4) of Regulation No 262/79 on the sale of butter at reduced prices for use in the manufacture of pastry products, ice-cream and other foodstuffs where the failure to respect the time-limit for the production of proof of the processing of the butter in another Member State is due to the delay taken by the administrative authorities of that State in verifying processing and returning the control document to the authorities in the country of origin if the trader concerned exercised or caused to be exercised all possible care in requesting the administrative authorities of the country in which the butter was processed to complete those operations. The fact that the trader failed to make application for other documents to be accepted as equivalent pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation No 1687/76 laying down common detailed rules for verifying the use and/or destination of products from intervention can be relied on against him only if the actual conduct of the administration concerned did not prevent him from protecting his rights by means of that procedure.

Citations:

C-50/92, [1993] EUECJ C-50/92

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Commission Regulation 1687/76 14, Commission Regulation 1687/76, Art. 14 and 262/79 22(4))

European, Agriculture

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160877

Criminal proceedings against Vanacker and Lesage: ECJ 12 Oct 1993

(Judgment) 1. Under the system of judicial cooperation established by Article 177 of the Treaty, the interpretation of national rules is a matter for the national courts and not for the Court of Justice, even though it has been consistently held that where national rules have been adopted in order to implement a Community directive, those courts are required to interpret their national law in the light of the wording and the purpose of the directive.
2. Directive 75/439 on the disposal of waste oils precludes national legislation establishing a system of collection and disposal of waste oils for the benefit of undertakings to which the administrative authorities grant approval for exclusive zones, and which in fact allows such approval to be granted only to national undertakings.

Citations:

1993] ECR I-4947, C-37/92, [1993] EUECJ C-37/92

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Constitutional, European

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160868

Lubbock Fine v Commissioners of Customs and Excise: ECJ 15 Dec 1993

Europa The term ‘letting of immovable property’ used in Article 13B(b) of the Sixth Directive (77/388) on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes to define a transaction which is compulsorily exempt from VAT covers the case where a tenant, for consideration, surrenders his lease and returns the immovable property to his immediate landlord. The same provision, which allows Member States to apply, in addition to the specified exceptions, further exclusions to the scope of the exemption for the letting of immovable property, does not authorize them to tax such consideration when the rent paid under the lease was exempt under the said rule. The relations created by a lease cannot be broken up.

Citations:

C-63/92, [1993] ECR I-6685, [1994] QB 571, [1994] STC 101, [1993] EUECJ C-63/92

Links:

Bailii

Cited by:

Cited – Commissioners of Customs and Excise v Sinclair Collis Limited HL 7-Jun-2001
The appellants operated a system of placing their vending machines in clubs for the sale of cigarettes. They took as consideration a share of the profits of the cigarettes sold, and, in return, maintained the machines. They claimed that the machines . .
Distinguished – Colaingrove Limited v The Commissioners for Customs and Excise ChD 16-Apr-2003
The Directive exempted from a charge to VAT for letting of imoveable property. The taxpayer challenged the requirement to charge to VAT his business of leasing pitches for caravans.
Held: The directive allowed member states to derogate from . .
Cited – Colaingrove Ltd v the Commissioners of Customs and Excise CA 19-Feb-2004
The taxpayer licensed static caravans on seasonal pitches on its land. They claimed exemption from charging VAT on the basis that they were residential lettings exempt under European legislation.
Held: The appeal failed. The legislation . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, VAT

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160883

Office National des Pensions v Raffaele Levatino (Judgment): ECJ 22 Apr 1993

Europa 1. As regards an employed person or assimilated worker who has completed periods of employment in a Member State, resides in that State and is entitled to a pension there, legislative provisions in that State giving all elderly residents a legally protected right to a minimum pension come within the field of social security covered by Article 51 of the Treaty, even where such legislation might fall outside this classification as regards other categories of recipients. Benefits granted to elderly residents whose resources do not reach the minimum guaranteed by the law and which guarantee to their recipients supplementary resources of an amount equal to the difference between that minimum and part of the resources of any kind available to them must therefore be regarded as ‘old-age benefits’ within the meaning of Regulation No 1408/71. 2. The provisions of Article 51(1) of Regulation 1408/71, according to which a recalculation of benefits in accordance with Article 46 of the regulation should not be carried out where the alteration which affects one of the benefits results from events unconnected with the worker’ s personal circumstances and is the consequence of the evolution of the economic and social situation, cannot be applied to an old-age benefit which, whilst aiming to secure a minimum income for its recipients, is of a differential nature and whose amount varies, by its nature, in accordance with the evolution of the amount of the guaranteed minimum income, which is regularly re-assessed, and the resources of the person concerned. The result of the application of that provision would be, on the one hand, that the increase of the resources of the person concerned resulting from the increase in a pension paid to him by virtue of rights acquired in another Member State would not be taken into account and that he would systematically receive an amount of resources exceeding the minimum income guaranteed by law and, on the other, that it would not merely put the migrant worker at an advantage but would alter the purpose of the benefit and disrupt the scheme of the national legislation. Consequently, the provisions of Article 51(2) should be applied to the determination and adjustment of the amount of a benefit designed to secure a guaranteed minimum income paid to a worker who has been in employment in a Member State, resides in that State and receives a retirement pension from that State and a retirement pension from another Member State. As a result of the application of that provision, the benefit should be recalculated in the event of an alteration of the amount of the guaranteed income or of the recipient’ s resources.

Citations:

C-65/92, [1993] EUECJ C-65/92

Links:

Bailii

European, Benefits

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160884

Adrianus Thijssen v Controledienst voor de verzekeringen (Rec 1993,p I-4047) (Judgment): ECJ 13 Jul 1993

ECJ Reference for a preliminary ruling: Raad van State – Belgium. Freedom of establishment – Exercise of official authority. Case C-42/92. Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Derogations – Activities connected with the exercise of public authority – Approved commissioners of insurance undertakings pursuing their activities in Belgium – Not included (EEC Treaty, Art. 55, first paragraph)
The derogation from the freedom of establishment provided for in the first paragraph of Article 55 of the Treaty, which excludes from the application of the provisions on freedom of establishment activities which in a Member State are connected, even occasionally, with the exercise of official authority, must be restricted to activities which in themselves are directly and specifically connected with the exercise of official authority. That is not the case for the activities of approved commissioners with insurance undertakings and private provident associations when they are exercised in a context such as that which operates in Belgium, where vis-a-vis the Insurance Inspectorate, which is a public body participating in the exercise of official authority and endowed with powers of regulation, supervision and direction, the approved commissioner, who is freely appointed by the insurance undertaking and is remunerated by it, has merely an auxiliary and preparatory role to play, notwithstanding the fact that his activities are subject to the supervision of the Insurance Inspectorate, that he must swear an oath and that he may impose a veto with suspensory effect on the implementation of decisions adopted by the undertaking.

Citations:

C-42/92, [1993] EUECJ C-42/92

Links:

Bailii

European

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160873

Hauptzollamt Hamburg-St Annen v Ebbe Sonnichsen: ECJ 29 Apr 1993

ECJ Common customs tariff – Customs value – Decrease in value due to deterioration of goods – Taking into account without regard to the date of transfer of the risk to the buyer (Council Regulation No 1224/80 , Arts 1, 3 and 8; Commission Regulation No 1495/80, Art. 4, as amended by Regulation No 1580/81)
Article 4, second sentence, of Regulation No 1495/80, adopting certain provisions for the implementation of Articles 1, 3 and 8 of Regulation No 1224/80 relating to the valuation of goods for customs purposes, must be interpreted as meaning that no distinction should be drawn according to whether a deterioration of goods which decreases their customs value occurs before or after the transfer of the risk to the buyer.

Citations:

C-59/92, [1993] EUECJ C-59/92

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

European

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160881

Mollmann-Fleisch v Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas: ECJ 31 Mar 1993

ECJ In view of the objectives of the system of variable export refunds for which some agricultural products may qualify, it is essential that products subsidized by such refunds actually reach the market of destination and be marketed there. It is for that reason that Article 6(2) and Article 4 of Regulation No 885/68 laying down general rules for granting export refunds on beef and veal and criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds, in conjunction with Article 20(1) of Regulation No 2730/79 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products, must be interpreted as meaning that importation into a non-member country may be considered as not having been proved where there is reason to doubt that the goods indicated on the customs entry certificate referred to in Article 20(3) of Regulation No 2730/79 actually gained access to the market of the country of destination.

Judges:

CN Kakouris, P

Citations:

C-27/92, [1993] EUECJ C-27/92

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Regulation No 2730/79

European, Agriculture

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160858

Regina v Secretary of State for Health, ex parte Gallaher and others (Judgment): ECJ 22 Jun 1993

Member States may decide size of government health warnings on cigarettes
ECJ Articles 3(3) and 4(4) of Directive 89/622 on the labelling of tobacco products provide respectively that the indications of tar and nicotine yields and the general and specific health warnings that cigarette packets must carry shall cover at least 4% of the surfaces for which they are intended. Those provisions must be interpreted as meaning that, if they consider it to be necessary, Member States are at liberty to decide, so far as domestic production is concerned, that those indications and warnings should cover a greater surface area in view of the level of public awareness of the health risks associated with tobacco consumption. In so far as those Member States cannot make subject to the same requirement products imported from the other Member States which comply with the minimum requirements of the directive, there is a risk of less favourable treatment for national products and of inequality in conditions of competition, although this is inherent in harmonization which confines itself to laying down minimum requirements.

Citations:

Times 28-Jun-1993, C-11/92, [1993] EUECJ C-11/92

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Directive 89/622 3(3) 4(4)

Cited by:

Cited – Khatun, Zeb, Iqbal v London Borough of Newham Admn 10-Oct-2003
Each applicant had been accepted as homeless by the respondent, but was then offered alternative accomodation under terms which they found unacceptable. They argued that the Regulations applied. The council had disapplied one statutory guidance in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Health, Media

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160847

Kraus v Land Baden-Wurttemberg: ECJ 31 Mar 1993

Diplomas acquired in one member state require may authorisation for use in another state.

Citations:

Times 06-Apr-1993, C-19/92, [1993] EUECJ C-19/92

Links:

Bailii

Cited by:

Cited – Gebhard v Consiglio dell’Ordine degli Avvocati e Procuratori di Milano ECJ 30-Nov-1995
Practice by lawyers in other European jurisdictions were governed by the general principles of freedom of establishment under the Treaty: ‘National measures liable to hinder or make less attractive the exercise of fundamental freedoms guaranteed by . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Education

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160852

Hubbard v Hamburger: ECJ 1 Jul 1993

An order for security for costs was being sought against an English solicitor who, in the capacity of executor, was seeking to recover part of the testator’s estate in Germany.
Held: It was discrimination unlawful in European law, to require security from a national of an EC member state before being allowed to take out a grant in an estate if such a security would not be required from a state’s own nationals: ‘Articles 59 and 60 must be interpreted as precluding a Member State from requiring security for costs to be given by a member of a profession established in another Member State who brings an action before one of its courts, on the sole ground that he is a national of another Member State.’
Europa 1. The principle of equal treatment set out in Article 59 of the Treaty applies in all cases where a member of a profession offers services, normally for remuneration, in a Member State other than that in which he is established, wherever the recipients of those services may be established. Where a Member State requires a national of another Member State who brings proceedings before one of its courts in the capacity of an executor to give security for costs solely on the ground that he is a foreigner, this constitutes discrimination on grounds of nationality contrary to Articles 59 and 60 of the Treaty. 2. The right to equal treatment laid down in Community law may not be made dependent on the existence of international agreements, based on the principle of reciprocity, concluded between Member States. 3. The effectiveness of Community law cannot vary according to the various branches of national law which it may affect. The fact that the substantive proceedings come under the law of succession does not justify excluding the application of the right to freedom to provide services enshrined in Community law with respect to a member of a profession responsible for the case.

Citations:

Times 16-Jul-1993, Ind Summary 23-Aug-1993, C-20/92, [1993] EUECJ C-20/92, [1993] ECR 1-377

Links:

Bailii

Cited by:

Cited – QRS 1 APS and others v Frandsen CA 21-May-1999
The appellants were all Danish companies put into liquidation for asset stripping in contravention of Danish law. The respondent was resident in the UK and had owned them. The Danish tax authorities issued tax demands and the liquidators now sought . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Wills and Probate, European

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160853

French Republic v Commission of the European Communities (Rec 1993,p I-3283) (Judgment): ECJ 16 Jun 1993

Europa 1. An action for annulment is available in the case of all measures adopted by the institutions, whatever their nature or form, which are intended to have legal effects. This applies to a Commission communication which sets out to specify the manner of application of Article 5(2) of Directive 80/723 on the transparency of financial relations between Member States and public undertakings, was published in the C Series of the Official Journal and was notified to each Member State. That communication, which requires Member States annually to report to the Commission, on a general, systematic basis, data relating to the financial relations of a particular category of undertaking achieving a specified turnover, constitutes an act intended to have legal effects of its own distinct from those of Article 5(2) of the directive and adds new obligations to those provided for by that provision. 2. The principle of legal certainty, which is part of the Community legal order, requires Community legislation to be clear and its application to be foreseeable for all interested parties. As a result of that requirement, any act intended to have legal effects must derive its binding force from a provision of Community law which prescribes the legal form to be taken by that act and which must be expressly indicated therein as its legal basis, failing which the act in question will be null and void.

Citations:

Case C-325/91, C-325/91, [1993] EUECJ C-325/91

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

EEC Treaty Art. 173, Commission Directive 80/723 Art. 5(2)

European

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160831

France v Commission: ECJ 9 Aug 1994

ECJ 1. In order for an action to be admissible under the first paragraph of Article 173 of the Treaty, the contested act must be an act of an institution which produces legal effects. Since it is apparent from the actual wording of an agreement concluded by the Commission with a non-member country that that agreement is intended to produce legal effects, the act whereby the Commission sought to conclude the agreement must be susceptible to an action for annulment. Exercise of the powers delegated to the Community institutions in international matters cannot escape judicial review, under Article 173 of the Treaty, of the legality of the acts adopted.
2. It is the Community alone, having legal personality pursuant to Article 210 of the Treaty, which has the capacity to bind itself by concluding agreements with a non-member country or an international organization.
3. Article 228 of the Treaty constitutes, as regards the conclusion of treaties, an autonomous general provision of a constitutional nature, in that it confers specific powers on the Community institutions.
The fact that the rule laid down by Article 228(1), which confers upon the Council the power to conclude international agreements, is subject to an exception, in that the exercise of that power is subject to powers vested in the Commission, cannot be relied on by the Commission in support of a claim, made with reference to the practices followed or on the basis of reasoning by analogy with the third paragraph of Article 101 of the EAEC Treaty, that it enjoys powers which are not vested in it by the Treaty.
4. Even though the Commission has the power, pursuant to Article 89 of the Treaty and Regulations Nos 17 and 4064/89, to take individual decisions applying the rules of competition, that does not give it the power to conclude an international agreement with a non-member country in that field. That internal power is not such as to alter the division of powers between the Community institutions with regard to the conclusion of international agreements, which is determined by Article 228 of the Treaty.

Citations:

C-327/91, [1994] EUECJ C-327/91, ECLI:EU:C:1994:305, [1994] ECR I-3641

Links:

Bailii

Cited by:

Cited – Bucnys v Ministry of Justice SC 20-Nov-2013
The Court considered requests made by European Arrest Warrants for the surrender under Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003 of three persons wanted to serve sentences imposed upon their conviction in other member states of the European Union. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160833

Steenhorst-Neerings v Bestuur van de Bedrijfsvereniging voor Detailhandel, Ambachten en Huisvrouwen: ECJ 27 Oct 1993

Europa Community law does not preclude the application of a national rule of law according to which benefits for incapacity for work are payable no more than one year before the date of claim, in the case where an individual seeks to rely on rights conferred directly, with effect from 23 December 1984, by Article 4(1) of Council Directive 79/7/EEC concerning the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sex in matters of social security and where, on the date the claim for benefit was made, the Member State concerned had not yet properly transposed that provision into national law. A national rule restricting the retroactive effect of claims for benefits for incapacity for work does not seek to restrict the right of individuals to rely on Directive 79/7 before the national courts in proceedings against a Member State at fault but serves the requirements of sound administration, in particular as regards the possibility of ascertaining whether the claimant satisfied the conditions for eligibility and the need to determine the degree of incapacity, which may well vary over time, as well as the need to preserve financial equilibrium in a scheme in which claims submitted by insured persons in the course of a year must in principle be covered by the contributions collected during that same year. 2. A Member State may not maintain a provision which, according to its wording, gives rise to a discrimination between men and women within the meaning of Article 4(1) of Directive 79/7. If, however, despite that wording, the national courts consistently apply such a provision without distinction to women and men in the same situation, there is nothing to preclude the national courts from continuing to apply that provision in disputes before them in accordance with such case-law, which enables them to ensure that Article 4(1) of Directive 79/7 is given full effect for so long as the Member State has not yet adopted the legislation necessary to implement it in full. Consequently, Article 4(1) of Directive 79/7 does not preclude the application by the national courts of a legislative provision according to which only women forfeit their benefits for incapacity for work on being awarded a widow’ s pension, if that provision is consistently applied by the courts to widows and widowers alike where they suffer incapacity for work.

Citations:

C-338/91, [1993] ECR 1-5475, [1993] EUECJ C-338/91, [1994] ECR I 5483

Links:

Bailii

Citing:

See Also – Johnson v Chief Adjudication Officer ECJ 11-Jul-1991
ECJ 1. Article 2 of Council Directive 79/7/EEC, on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security, must be interpreted as meaning that the . .

Cited by:

Cited – Magorrian and Cunningham v Eastern Health and Social Services Board and Department of Health and Social Services ECJ 11-Dec-1997
Pension entitlements for part time workers discriminated against were to be re-calculated to allow for wrongful treatment since 1976
Europa Reference for a preliminary ruling: Office of the Industrial . .
Cited – Autologic Holdings Plc and others v Commissioners of Inland Revenue HL 28-Jul-2005
Taxpayer companies challenged the way that the revenue restricted claims for group Corporation Tax relief for subsidiary companies in Europe. The issue was awaiting a decision of the European Court. The Revenue said that the claims now being made by . .
Cited – Walker-Fox v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 29-Nov-2005
The claimant pensioner had moved to France. He sought to claim a retrospective winter fuel allowance claim. The government had eventually agreed to make payments to UK residents abroad.
Held: The claimant was deemed to have had knowledge of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

European, Discrimination, Benefits

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160839

Textilveredlungsunion v Hauptzollamt Nurnberg-Furth: ECJ 11 Feb 1993

ECJ (Judgment) Article 3(2) of Regulation No 1999/85 on inward processing relief arrangements, read in conjunction with Article 3(7) of the implementing regulation, Regulation No 3677/86, must be interpreted as meaning that where, in the context of a job processing contract between a principal and an operator, both of whom are established within the Community, for the processing of non-Community goods, the operator submits the application for authorization to the competent customs authorities, that application must be submitted on behalf of the principal. The competent customs authority must be able to seek from the principal evidence that the economic conditions to which the issue of authorization is subject have been fulfilled and every guarantee which it considers necessary to that end.

Citations:

C-291/91, [1993] EUECJ C-291/91

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Regulation No 1999/85 3(2)

European

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160815