Category: European

Carlo Fossi v Bundesknappschaft: ECJ 31 Mar 1977

Europa Legislation which confers on the beneficiaries a legally defined position which involves no indivudual and discretionary assessment of need or personal circumstances comes in principle within the field of social security within the meaning of article 51 of the treaty and of regulations nos 3 and 1408/71. Where the competent insurance institutions to which the persons referred to by german legislation had been affiliated before 1945 no longer exist or are situated outside the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and the purpose of such legislation is to alleviate certain situations which arose out of events connected with the national socialist regime and the second world war and where the payment of the benefits in question to nationals is of a discretionary nature where such nationals are residing abroad, those benefits are not to be regarded as in the nature of social security.

Citations:

C-79/76

European

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.132482

Jean Thieffry v Conseil de l’ordre des avocats a la cour de Paris: ECJ 28 Apr 1977

Europa Freedom of establishment, subject to observance of professional rules justified by the general good, is one of the objectives of the treaty. In so far as community law makes no special provision, these objectives may be attained by measures enacted, pursuant to article 5 of the treaty, by the member states. If freedom of establishment can be ensured in a member state either under the provisions of the laws and regulations in force, or by virtue of the practices of the public service or of professional bodies, a person subject to community law cannot be denied the practical benefit of that freedom solely by virtue of the fact that, for a particular profession, the directives provided for by article 57 of the treaty have not yet been adopted. Since the practical enjoyment of freedom of establishment can thus in certain circumstances depend upon national practice or legislation, it is incumbent upon the competent public authorities – including legally recognized professional bodies – to ensure that such practices or legislation are applied in accordance with the objective defined by the provisions of the treaty relating to freedom of establishment. With regard to the distinction between the academic effect and the civil effect of the recognition of equivalence of foreign diplomas, it is for the competent national authorities, taking account of the requirements of community law in relation to freedom of establishment, to make such assessments of the facts as will enable them to judge whether a recognition granted by a university authority can, in addition to its academic effect, constitute valid evidence of a professional qualification. The fact that a national legislation provides for recognition of equivalence only for university purposes does not of itself justify the refusal to recognize such equivalence as evidence of a professional qualification. This is particularly so when a diploma recognized for university purposes is supplemented by a professional qualifying certificate obtained according to the legislation of the country of establishment. When a national of one member state desirous of exercising a professional activity such as the profession of advocate in another member state has obtained a diploma in his country of origin which has been recognized as an equivalent qualification by the competent authority under the legislation of the country of establishment and which has thus enabled him to sit and pass the special qualifying examination for the profession in question, the act of demanding the national diploma prescribed by the legislation of the country of establishment constitutes, even in the absence of the directives provided for in article 57, a restriction incompatible with the freedom of establishment guaranteed by article 52 of the treaty.

Citations:

C-71/76

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, Legal Professions

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.132474

Brack v Insurance Officer: ECJ 29 Sep 1976

Europa The provision in paragraph 1 of point I (United Kingdom) of annex V to Regulation no 1408/71, far from restricting the definition of the term ‘worker’ as it emerges from clarify the scope of subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph vis-a-vis British legislation. A person who:- was compulsorily insured against the contingency of ‘ sickness ‘ successively as an employed person and as a self-employed person under a social security scheme for the whole working population; – was a self-employed person when this contingency occurred; – at the said time and under the provisions of the said scheme, nevertheless could have claimed sickness benefits in cash at the full rate only if there were taken into account both the contributions paid by him or on his behalf when he was an employed person and those which he made as a self-employed person;

constitutes, as regards british legislation, a ‘worker’ within the meaning of article 1(a)(ii) of regulation no 1408/71 for the purposes of the application of the first sentence of article 22(1)(ii) of that regulation.

Citations:

C-17/76

European, Benefits, Employment

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.132425

Filippo Galli (Judgment): ECJ 23 Jan 1975

Europa In sectors covered by a common organization of the market, and especially when this organization is based on a common price system, member states can no longer take action, through national provisions taken unilaterally, affecting the machinery of price formation as established under the common organization. Article 103, which refers to member states’ conjunctural policies, does not relate to those areas already subject to common rules such as the organization of agricultural markets. The only way compatible with community law of enabling member states to attain, in a sector covered by a common organization of the market, the objectives sought by national legislation and intended to combat a rise in prices, is for those states to take, at the community level, the necessary action for the purpose of prompting the competent community authority to institute or authorize measures which are consistent with the single market. The price system established by regulations nos 120/67 and 136/66 is applicable solely at the production and wholesale stage, with the result that these provisions leave member states free – without prejudice to other provisions of the treaty – to take the appropriate measures relating to price formation at the retail and consumption stages, on condition that they do not jeopardize the aims or functioning of the common organization of the market in question.

Citations:

C-31/74

European, Agriculture

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.132372

Acton and Others v Commission: ECJ 18 Mar 1975

Europa 1. In the context of the right of action made available by article 91 of the staff regulations and in the case of a measure of a general nature designed to be implemented by means of a series of individual decisions affecting all or a large proportion of the officials of an institution, an official taken individually cannot be deprived of his right to invoke the illegality of that measure in order to attack the individual decision which alone allows him certain knowledge of the manner in which and the extent to which his individual interests are affected. 2. According to a principle recognized in the labour law of the member states, wages and other benefits pertaining to days on strike are not due to persons who have taken part in that strike. This principle is applicable to relations between the institutions of the communities and their officials. That statement in no way implies any decision in relation to the existence of an official’s right to strike or in relation to the detailed rules which may govern the exercise of such a right. An institution’s decision not to pay for days on strike cannot be invalidated by the fact that the other institutions have chosen not to take measures which they could lawfully have adopted.

Citations:

C-44/74

European

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.132385

Sociaal Fonds voor de Diamantarbeiders v NV Indiamex et Association de fait De Belder: ECJ 13 Dec 1973

Europa In answering the question as to the application of charges having equivalent effect in trade with third countries, account must be taken both of the requirements resulting from the establishment of the common customs tariff, and of those resulting from a common commercial policy, within the meaning of articles 110 to 116 of the treaty, which, according to article 3 (b) of the treaty, regulates trade arrangements with third countries. The definition of the uniform principles upon which the common commercial policy is based involves, as does the common tariff itself, the elimination of national disparities, whether in the field of taxation or of commerce, affecting trade with third countries. It is for the commission or the council to evaluate these requirements in each case both as regards the establishment of the common customs tariff and the adoption of the common commercial policy. The member states may not, subsequent to the establishment of the common customs tariff, introduce, in a unilateral manner, new charges on goods imported directly from third countries or raise the level of those in existence at that time. As regards charges already in existence, prior evaluation by the community authorities is necessary in order to establish their incompatibility with the treaty and the obligation to eliminate them. It follows that such charges may only be considered to be incompatible with community law pursuant to provisions adopted by the community.

Citations:

C-37/73

European, Customs and Excise

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.132277