# C_2006100EN.01000301.xml

| 27.4.2006 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 100/3 |
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27.4.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 100/3

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JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

of 17 January 2006

in Case E-4/05: HOB-vín and The Icelandic State and Áfengis- og tóbaksverslun ríkisins (the State Alcohol and Tobacco Company of Iceland)

(Free movement of goods — State monopolies of a commercial character — requirements to supply goods on pallets and to include the pallet price in the price of the goods — discrimination against importers of alcoholic beverages — abuse of a dominant position)

(Free movement of goods — State monopolies of a commercial character — requirements to supply goods on pallets and to include the pallet price in the price of the goods — discrimination against importers of alcoholic beverages — abuse of a dominant position)

(2006/C 100/03)

In Case E-4/05 between HOV-vín and Áfengis- og tóbaksverslun ríkisins — REQUEST to the Court by Héraðsdómur Reykjavíkur (Reykjavík District Court), on the interpretation of Articles 11, 16, 57 and 59 EEA, the Court, composed of Carl Baudenbacher, President and Judge-Rapporteur, Henrik Bull and Thorgeir Örlygsson, Judges, gave judgment on 17 January 2006, the operative part of which is as follows:

| 1. | Article 16 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area does not prevent a State enterprise, which holds the exclusive right to the retail sale of alcoholic beverages, from demanding that its suppliers deliver to the enterprise alcoholic beverages for retail sale on a specific type of pallet (EUR pallet), and furthermore that the price of the pallet be included in the product price, unless the national court finds, based on the facts before it, that as part of the policy of the monopoly or of its outlets or as a consequence of failure to enforce the monopoly's rules, importers are in fact treated differently from domestic producers. |
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1.

Article 16 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area does not prevent a State enterprise, which holds the exclusive right to the retail sale of alcoholic beverages, from demanding that its suppliers deliver to the enterprise alcoholic beverages for retail sale on a specific type of pallet (EUR pallet), and furthermore that the price of the pallet be included in the product price, unless the national court finds, based on the facts before it, that as part of the policy of the monopoly or of its outlets or as a consequence of failure to enforce the monopoly's rules, importers are in fact treated differently from domestic producers.

| 2. | Articles 59(1) and 54 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area do not prohibit a State enterprise, which holds the exclusive right to the retail sale of alcoholic beverages, from requiring that its suppliers deliver to the enterprise alcoholic beverages for retail sale on a specific type of pallet (EUR pallet), and that the price of the pallet be included in the product price, unless the national court finds that such requirements negatively affect competition. |
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2.

Articles 59(1) and 54 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area do not prohibit a State enterprise, which holds the exclusive right to the retail sale of alcoholic beverages, from requiring that its suppliers deliver to the enterprise alcoholic beverages for retail sale on a specific type of pallet (EUR pallet), and that the price of the pallet be included in the product price, unless the national court finds that such requirements negatively affect competition.

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