Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2015:617
Date: 2015-09-17
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Telecommunications
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber), 17 September 2015 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Limits — Examination of the compatibility of national law with Union law — Not included — Providing the national court with full guidance on the interpretation of EU law — Included (Art. 267 TFEU) 2. Approximation of laws — Electronic communications networks and services — Directives 1999/5, 2002/19, 2002/20, 2002/21 and 2002/22 — Subscription for mobile telephony — National legislation making the use of terminal equipment for terrestrial mobile telecommunications subject to authorisation and a charge — Lawfulness (European Parliament and Council Directives 1999/5, Art. 8, 2002/19, 2002/20, as amended by Directive 2009/140; Directives 2002/21, and 2002/22, as amended by Directive 2009/136) 3. Approximation of laws — Electronic communications networks and services — Universal service and users’ rights — Directives 1999/5 and 2002/22 — Subscription contract for a mobile telephony service — Contract equated with general authorisation or radio station licence for the purposes of levying a charge — Lawfulness (European Parliament and Council Directives 1999/5, Article 8, and 2002/22, as amended by Directive 2009/136, Art. 20) 4. Approximation of laws — Electronic communications networks and services –Directives 1999/5, 2002/19, 2002/20, 2002/21 and 2002/22 — Subscription for mobile telephony — National legislation providing for differential treatment of users of terminal equipment for telecommunications who have concluded a subscription contract for mobile telephony services and those who have purchased those services in the form of pay-as-you-go cards — Lawfulness (Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, Art. 20; European Parliament and Council Directives 1999/5, Art. 8, 2002/19, 2002/20, as amended by Directive 2009/140; Directives 2002/21, and 2002/22, as amended by Directive 2009/136) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 27) 2. Directive 1999/5 on radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment and the mutual recognition of their conformity, in particular Article 8 thereof; Directive 2002/19 on access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities; Directive 2002/20 on the authorisation of electronic communications networks and services, as amended by Directive 2009/140; Directive 2002/21 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services; and Directive 2002/22 on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks, as amended by Directive 2009/136, must be interpreted as not precluding national rules on the application of a charge under which the use of terminal equipment for terrestrial mobile radio communication under a subscription contract is subject to a general authorisation or a licence and to the payment of such a charge, provided that the subscription contract itself is equivalent to a licence or general authorisation and, accordingly, no intervention is required in that regard by the public administrative authorities. (see para. 46, operative part 1) 3. Article 20 of Directive 2002/22 on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks, as amended by Directive 2009/136, and Article 8 of Directive 1999/5 on radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment and the mutual recognition of their conformity must be interpreted as not precluding, for the purposes of the application of a charge, a subscription contract for mobile telephony services from being equated with a general authorisation or a radio station licence, which must moreover include details of the type of equipment concerned and the corresponding certification. (see paras 51, operative part 2) 4. EU law, as laid down in Directive 1999/5 on radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment and the mutual recognition of their conformity; Directive 2002/19 on access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities; Directive 2002/20 on the authorisation of electronic communications networks and services, as amended by Directive 2009/140; Directive 2002/21 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services; and Directive 2002/22 on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks, as amended by Directive 2009/136, and in Article 20 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as not precluding differential treatment of users of terminal equipment for terrestrial mobile radio communication, depending on whether they conclude a subscription contract for mobile telephony services or purchase those services in the form of pay-as-you-go or top-up cards, under which only the former are subject to national rules establishing a charge, as the charge is not regulated by those directives and those rules do not implement EU law. (see paras 53, 55, operative part 3)