# C_2014202EN.01001501.xml

| 30.6.2014 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 202/15 |
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Request for a preliminary ruling from the Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije (Slovenia) lodged on 25 April 2014 — Hotel Sava Rogaška, gostinstvo, turizem in storitve, d.o.o. v The Republic of Slovenia — Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo in okolje

(Case C-207/14)

2014/C 202/17

Language of the case: Slovenian

Referring court

Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Hotel Sava Rogaška, gostinstvo, turizem in storitve, d.o.o.

Defendant: The Republic of Slovenia — Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo in okolje

Questions referred

| 1. | Is Article 8(2) of Directive 2009/54/EC( 1 ) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters to be interpreted in such as way that ‘natural mineral water from one and the same spring’ means:
a)
water from one and the same point of exit, but not water that is drawn from different exits even when such water originates in the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC( 2 ), or b)
water from one and the same point of exit, but not water that is drawn from different exits even when such water originates in the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC, although, in interpreting the expression, account should be taken of factors such as the distance between exits, the depth of the exits, the specific qualities of the water drawn from individual exits (such as its chemical and microbiological composition), hydraulic connectivity between exits and the confinement of the water held by the aquifer, or c)
water springing from the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC irrespective of whether it reaches the surface at a number of different exits, or; d)
water springing from the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC irrespective of whether it reaches the surface at a number of different exits, although, in interpreting the expression, account should be taken of factors such as the distance between exits, the depth of the exits, the specific qualities of the water drawn from individual exits (such as its chemical and microbiological composition), hydraulic connectivity between exits and the confinement of the water held by the aquifer? | a) | water from one and the same point of exit, but not water that is drawn from different exits even when such water originates in the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC( 2 ), or | b) | water from one and the same point of exit, but not water that is drawn from different exits even when such water originates in the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC, although, in interpreting the expression, account should be taken of factors such as the distance between exits, the depth of the exits, the specific qualities of the water drawn from individual exits (such as its chemical and microbiological composition), hydraulic connectivity between exits and the confinement of the water held by the aquifer, or | c) | water springing from the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC irrespective of whether it reaches the surface at a number of different exits, or; | d) | water springing from the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC irrespective of whether it reaches the surface at a number of different exits, although, in interpreting the expression, account should be taken of factors such as the distance between exits, the depth of the exits, the specific qualities of the water drawn from individual exits (such as its chemical and microbiological composition), hydraulic connectivity between exits and the confinement of the water held by the aquifer? |
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| a) | water from one and the same point of exit, but not water that is drawn from different exits even when such water originates in the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC( 2 ), or | | | | | | | | |
| b) | water from one and the same point of exit, but not water that is drawn from different exits even when such water originates in the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC, although, in interpreting the expression, account should be taken of factors such as the distance between exits, the depth of the exits, the specific qualities of the water drawn from individual exits (such as its chemical and microbiological composition), hydraulic connectivity between exits and the confinement of the water held by the aquifer, or | | | | | | | | |
| c) | water springing from the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC irrespective of whether it reaches the surface at a number of different exits, or; | | | | | | | | |
| d) | water springing from the same aquifer or body of groundwater within the meaning of the definitions of ‘aquifer’ and ‘body of groundwater’ given in Directive 2000/60/EC irrespective of whether it reaches the surface at a number of different exits, although, in interpreting the expression, account should be taken of factors such as the distance between exits, the depth of the exits, the specific qualities of the water drawn from individual exits (such as its chemical and microbiological composition), hydraulic connectivity between exits and the confinement of the water held by the aquifer? | | | | | | | | |

| 2. | If none of the suggested answers to question 1 should be correct, must the interpretation of the notion of ‘natural mineral water from one and the same spring’ take into account factors such as the distance between exits, the depth of the exits, the specific qualities of the water drawn from individual exits, hydraulic connectivity between exits and the confinement of the water held by the aquifer? |
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( 1 )  OJ 2009 L 164, p. 45.

( 2 )  OJ 2000 L 327, p. 1.

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