# C_2010161EN.01002001.xml

| 19.6.2010 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 161/20 |
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19.6.2010

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 161/20

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Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hof van Beroep te Brussel, lodged on 29 March 2010 — Express Line NV v Belgisch Instituut voor Postdiensten en Telecommunicatie

(Case C-148/10)

(2010/C 161/29)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Hof van Beroep te Brussel

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellant: Express Line NV

Respondent: Belgisch Instituut voor Postdiensten en Telecommunicatie

Questions referred

| 1. | Must the provisions of Directive 97/67/EC (1) of [15] December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service, as amended by Directive 2002/39/EC, (2) and in particular, but not exclusively, Article 19 thereof, in view of the amendments introduced by Directive 2008/6/EC (3) and which must be transposed into national law by 31 December 2010 at the latest, be understood and interpreted as precluding Member States from imposing a mandatory external complaints scheme on providers of non-universal postal services on the ground that:






  (i) | as regards the applicable complaints procedures for the protection of the users of postal services, the Directive provides for full harmonisation; or on the ground that: |
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1.

Must the provisions of Directive 97/67/EC (1) of [15] December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service, as amended by Directive 2002/39/EC, (2) and in particular, but not exclusively, Article 19 thereof, in view of the amendments introduced by Directive 2008/6/EC (3) and which must be transposed into national law by 31 December 2010 at the latest, be understood and interpreted as precluding Member States from imposing a mandatory external complaints scheme on providers of non-universal postal services on the ground that:

(i)

as regards the applicable complaints procedures for the protection of the users of postal services, the Directive provides for full harmonisation; or on the ground that:

| (ii) | that obligation was imposed by Directive 2002/39/EC only on the universal service provider and, since Directive 2008/6/EC, on all universal service providers, even though, according to the wording of the [third] subparagraph of Article 19(1) of [Directive 97/67/EC, as amended by] Directive 2008/6/EC, Member States may only encourage, but may not impose, the development of independent schemes for the resolution of disputes between the providers of postal services, other than universal postal services, and end-users? |
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(ii)

that obligation was imposed by Directive 2002/39/EC only on the universal service provider and, since Directive 2008/6/EC, on all universal service providers, even though, according to the wording of the [third] subparagraph of Article 19(1) of [Directive 97/67/EC, as amended by] Directive 2008/6/EC, Member States may only encourage, but may not impose, the development of independent schemes for the resolution of disputes between the providers of postal services, other than universal postal services, and end-users?

| 2. | If the answer to the first question is that the Postal Directive does not, as such, preclude Member States from imposing on the providers of non-universal postal services a mandatory external complaints scheme as envisaged by the first subparagraph of Article 19(2) for the providers of universal postal services, must the principles relating to the free movement of services (Article 49 et seq. EC; now Article 56 et seq. TFEU) be interpreted in such a way that restrictions on the free movement of services, introduced by a Member State on grounds of compelling reasons in the general interest relating to consumer protection, whereby the providers of non-universal postal services are made subject to a mandatory external complaints scheme as envisaged by the first subparagraph of Article 19(2) for the providers of universal postal services, can be considered compatible with the TFEU even if, in the application of the complaints scheme concerned, no distinction is made between the complaints of consumers and those of other end-users, although the vast majority of the users of those services (in the present case, express and courier services) are professional users? |
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2.

If the answer to the first question is that the Postal Directive does not, as such, preclude Member States from imposing on the providers of non-universal postal services a mandatory external complaints scheme as envisaged by the first subparagraph of Article 19(2) for the providers of universal postal services, must the principles relating to the free movement of services (Article 49 et seq. EC; now Article 56 et seq. TFEU) be interpreted in such a way that restrictions on the free movement of services, introduced by a Member State on grounds of compelling reasons in the general interest relating to consumer protection, whereby the providers of non-universal postal services are made subject to a mandatory external complaints scheme as envisaged by the first subparagraph of Article 19(2) for the providers of universal postal services, can be considered compatible with the TFEU even if, in the application of the complaints scheme concerned, no distinction is made between the complaints of consumers and those of other end-users, although the vast majority of the users of those services (in the present case, express and courier services) are professional users?

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(1)  Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service (OJ 1998 L 15, p. 14).

(2)  Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 amending Directive 97/67/EC with regard to the further opening to competition of Community postal services (OJ 2002 L 176, p. 21).

(3)  Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 amending Directive 97/67/EC with regard to the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services (OJ 2008 L 52, p. 3).

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