# C_2005045EN.01000301.xml

| 19.2.2005 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 45/3 |
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19.2.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 45/3

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JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Grand Chamber)

of 14 December 2004

in Case C-309/02 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Stuttgart): Radlberger Getränkegesellschaft mbH & Co., and S. Spitz KG v Land Baden-Württemberg
   (1)

Radlberger Getränkegesellschaft mbH & Co.,

S. Spitz KG

Land Baden-Württemberg

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(Environment - Free movement of goods - Packaging and packaging waste - Directive 94/62/EC - Deposit and return obligations for non-reusable packaging that depend on the overall percentage of reusable packaging)

(2005/C 45/05)

Language of the case: German

In Case C-309/02: reference for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the Verwaltungsgericht Stuttgart (Germany), made by order of 21 August 2002, received at the Court on 29 August 2002, in the proceedings between Radlberger Getränkegesellschaft mbH & Co., and S. Spitz KG and Land Baden-Württemberg – the Court (Grand Chamber), composed of V. Skouris, President, P. Jann and K. Lenaerts (Rapporteur), Presidents of Chambers, C. Gulmann, J.-P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen, N. Colneric, S. von Bahr and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; M.-F. Contet, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 14 December 2004, in which it has ruled:

Radlberger Getränkegesellschaft mbH & Co., and S. Spitz KG

Land Baden-Württemberg

| 1. | Article 1(2) of European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste does not preclude the Member States from introducing measures designed to promote systems for the reuse of packaging. |
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1.

Article 1(2) of European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste does not preclude the Member States from introducing measures designed to promote systems for the reuse of packaging.

| 2. | While Article 7 of Directive 94/62 does not confer on the producers and distributors concerned any right to continue to participate in a given packaging-waste management system, it precludes the replacement of a global system for the collection of packaging waste with a deposit and return system where the new system is not equally appropriate for the purpose of attaining the objectives of that directive or where the changeover to the new system does not take place without a break and without jeopardising the ability of economic operators in the sectors concerned actually to participate in the new system as soon as it enters into force. |
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2.

While Article 7 of Directive 94/62 does not confer on the producers and distributors concerned any right to continue to participate in a given packaging-waste management system, it precludes the replacement of a global system for the collection of packaging waste with a deposit and return system where the new system is not equally appropriate for the purpose of attaining the objectives of that directive or where the changeover to the new system does not take place without a break and without jeopardising the ability of economic operators in the sectors concerned actually to participate in the new system as soon as it enters into force.

| 3. | Article 28 EC precludes national rules, such as those laid down in Paragraphs 8(1) and 9(2) of the Verordnung über die Vermeidung und Verwertung von Verpackungsabfällen (Regulation on the Avoidance and Recovery of Packaging Waste), when they announce that a global packaging-waste collection system is to be replaced by a deposit and return system without the producers and distributors concerned having a reasonable transitional period to adapt thereto and being assured that, at the time when the packaging-waste management system changes, they can actually participate in an operational system. |
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3.

Article 28 EC precludes national rules, such as those laid down in Paragraphs 8(1) and 9(2) of the Verordnung über die Vermeidung und Verwertung von Verpackungsabfällen (Regulation on the Avoidance and Recovery of Packaging Waste), when they announce that a global packaging-waste collection system is to be replaced by a deposit and return system without the producers and distributors concerned having a reasonable transitional period to adapt thereto and being assured that, at the time when the packaging-waste management system changes, they can actually participate in an operational system.

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(1)  OJ C 274 of 9.11.2002.

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