# C_2019383EN.01000901.xml

| 11.11.2019 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 383/9 |
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11.11.2019

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 383/9

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Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 11 September 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Corte dei Conti, Italy) — Federazione Italiana Golf (FIG) v Istituto Nazionale di Statistica — ISTAT, Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze (C-612/17), Federazione Italiana Sport Equestri (FISE) v Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) (C-613/17)

(Joined Cases C-613/17 and C-613/17) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 - European System of national and regional accounts in the European Union - Annex A, paragraph 20.15 - Control exercised by a National Olympic Committee over national sporting federations constituted in the form of non-profit institutions (NPIs) - Annex A, Paragraph 20.15, second sentence - Concept of ‘public intervention in the form of general regulations applicable to all units working in the same activity’ - Scope - Annex A, paragraph 20.15, first sentence - Concept of ‘ability to determine the general policy or programme’ of an NPI - Scope - Annex A, paragraph 2.39(d), paragraph 20.15(d), and paragraph 20.309(i), last sentence - Taking into account of contributions paid by members to the NPI)

(2019/C 383/08)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Corte dei Conti

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: Federazione Italiana Golf (FIG) (C-612/17), Federazione Italiana Sport Equestri (FISE) (C-613/17)

Defendants: Istituto Nazionale di Statistica — ISTAT, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze (C-612/17), Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) (C-613/17)

Operative part of the judgment

| 1. | The concept of ‘public intervention in the form of general regulations applicable to all units working in the same activity’ referred to in the second sentence of paragraph 20.15 of Annex A to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union, must be understood as covering any intervention by a public sector unit which lays down or applies regulations designed to make all units in the field of activity concerned indiscriminately and uniformly subject to global, broad and abstract rules or general guidelines, and such regulations are not likely, by their nature or character, to be ‘excessive’ within the meaning of Annex A, paragraph 20.309(h) of Regulation No 549/2013, to dictate, in practice, the general policy or programme of the units in the field of activity concerned. |
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1.

The concept of ‘public intervention in the form of general regulations applicable to all units working in the same activity’ referred to in the second sentence of paragraph 20.15 of Annex A to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union, must be understood as covering any intervention by a public sector unit which lays down or applies regulations designed to make all units in the field of activity concerned indiscriminately and uniformly subject to global, broad and abstract rules or general guidelines, and such regulations are not likely, by their nature or character, to be ‘excessive’ within the meaning of Annex A, paragraph 20.309(h) of Regulation No 549/2013, to dictate, in practice, the general policy or programme of the units in the field of activity concerned.

| 2. | The concept of ‘ability to determine the general policy or programme’ of a non-profit institution (NPI), within the meaning of the first sentence of Paragraph 20.15 of Annex A to Regulation No 549/2013, must be understood as the ability of a public administration to exercise a real and substantial influence, on a lasting and permanent basis, on the very definition and achievement of the NPI’s objectives, activities and operational aspects, as well as the strategic orientations and guidelines that the NPI intends to pursue in the exercise of those activities. In cases such as those at issue in the main proceedings, it is for the national court, in the light of the indicators of control referred to in paragraphs 2.39(a) to (e) and 20.15(a) to (e) of Annex A to Regulation No 549/2013 and the corresponding indicators of control applicable to NPIs, referred to in paragraph 20 309 of Annex A to that regulation, to verify whether a public administration, such as the National Olympic Committee at issue in the main proceedings, exercises public control over national sports federations constituted in the form of NPIs, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, by carrying out, for that purpose, an overall assessment involving, by its nature, some judgment, in accordance with the last sentence of paragraph 2.39, the fifth to eighth sentences of paragraph 20.15 and paragraph 20 310 of Annex A to that regulation. |
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2.

The concept of ‘ability to determine the general policy or programme’ of a non-profit institution (NPI), within the meaning of the first sentence of Paragraph 20.15 of Annex A to Regulation No 549/2013, must be understood as the ability of a public administration to exercise a real and substantial influence, on a lasting and permanent basis, on the very definition and achievement of the NPI’s objectives, activities and operational aspects, as well as the strategic orientations and guidelines that the NPI intends to pursue in the exercise of those activities. In cases such as those at issue in the main proceedings, it is for the national court, in the light of the indicators of control referred to in paragraphs 2.39(a) to (e) and 20.15(a) to (e) of Annex A to Regulation No 549/2013 and the corresponding indicators of control applicable to NPIs, referred to in paragraph 20 309 of Annex A to that regulation, to verify whether a public administration, such as the National Olympic Committee at issue in the main proceedings, exercises public control over national sports federations constituted in the form of NPIs, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, by carrying out, for that purpose, an overall assessment involving, by its nature, some judgment, in accordance with the last sentence of paragraph 2.39, the fifth to eighth sentences of paragraph 20.15 and paragraph 20 310 of Annex A to that regulation.

| 3. | Paragraph 2.39(d), paragraph 20.15(d) and the last sentence of paragraph 20.309(i) of Annex A to Regulation No 549/2013 must be interpreted as meaning that the contributions paid by members to a private law NPI, such as the national sports federations at issue in the main proceedings, must be taken into account for the purposes of verifying whether or not there is public control. Such contributions may, notwithstanding the private status of their debtors and their legal definition under national law, be considered as being, within the framework of the indicator of control relating to the degree of financing, referred to in paragraphs 2.39(d) and 20.15(d) of Annex A to that regulation, as public in nature in the case of compulsory contributions which, without necessarily constituting the consideration for actual use of the services provided, are collected in the public interest for the benefit of national sports federations which hold a monopoly in the sports discipline for which they are responsible, in the sense that the practice of sport in its public dimension is subject to their exclusive authority, unless those federations retain the organisational and budgetary control of those contributions, which it is for the national court to verify. |
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3.

Paragraph 2.39(d), paragraph 20.15(d) and the last sentence of paragraph 20.309(i) of Annex A to Regulation No 549/2013 must be interpreted as meaning that the contributions paid by members to a private law NPI, such as the national sports federations at issue in the main proceedings, must be taken into account for the purposes of verifying whether or not there is public control. Such contributions may, notwithstanding the private status of their debtors and their legal definition under national law, be considered as being, within the framework of the indicator of control relating to the degree of financing, referred to in paragraphs 2.39(d) and 20.15(d) of Annex A to that regulation, as public in nature in the case of compulsory contributions which, without necessarily constituting the consideration for actual use of the services provided, are collected in the public interest for the benefit of national sports federations which hold a monopoly in the sports discipline for which they are responsible, in the sense that the practice of sport in its public dimension is subject to their exclusive authority, unless those federations retain the organisational and budgetary control of those contributions, which it is for the national court to verify.

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(1)  OJ C 22, 22.1.2018.

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