# C_2019305EN.01000301.xml

| 9.9.2019 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 305/3 |
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9.9.2019

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 305/3

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Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 4 July 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the hof van beroep te Antwerpen — Belgium) — Criminal proceedings against Freddy Lucien Magdalena Kirschstein, Thierry Frans Adeline Kirschstein

(Case C-393/17) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Directive 2005/29/EC - Unfair commercial practices - Scope - Concept of ‘commercial practices’ - Directive 2006/123/EC - Services in the internal market - Criminal law - Authorisation schemes - Higher education - ‘Master’s’ degree - Prohibition to confer certain degrees without authorisation)

(2019/C 305/03)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Hof van beroep te Antwerpen

Parties in the main proceedings

Freddy Lucien Magdalena Kirschstein, Thierry Frans Adeline Kirschstein

Intervener: Vlaamse Gemeenschap

Operative part of the judgment

| 1. | Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’) must be interpreted as not applying to national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides for criminal penalties to be imposed on persons who, without prior authorisation from the competent authority, confer a ‘master’s’ degree. |
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1.

Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’) must be interpreted as not applying to national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides for criminal penalties to be imposed on persons who, without prior authorisation from the competent authority, confer a ‘master’s’ degree.

| 2. | Article 1(5) of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market, read in conjunction with Articles 9 and 10 thereof, must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides for criminal penalties to be imposed on persons who, without prior authorisation from the competent authority, confer a ‘master’s’ degree, provided that the conditions to which the granting of an authorisation to confer that degree is subject are compatible with Article 10(2) of that directive, which it is for the national court to verify. |
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2.

Article 1(5) of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market, read in conjunction with Articles 9 and 10 thereof, must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides for criminal penalties to be imposed on persons who, without prior authorisation from the competent authority, confer a ‘master’s’ degree, provided that the conditions to which the granting of an authorisation to confer that degree is subject are compatible with Article 10(2) of that directive, which it is for the national court to verify.

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(1)  OJ C 300, 11.9.2017.

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