Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:140
Date: 1998-03-26
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: State aids;Competition;Transport
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Finland

Summary of the Judgmen t 
1. Preliminary rulings — Reference to the Court — Determination of the questions to be put — 
Exclusive competence of the national court — Additional questions raised during the proceed­
ings by the parties to the main action — Obligation of the Court to abide by the questions as 
stated in the order for reference 
(EC Treaty, Art. 177) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-412/96 
2. Transport — Action by the Member States concerning public service obligations — Regulation 
No 1191/69 — Request for termination of a public service obligation where there are econ­
omic disadvantages — Entitlement of the Member States to reject such a request — Con­
dition — Need to ensure adequate transport services — Concept 
(Council Regulation No 1191/69, as amended by Regulation No 1893/91, Arts 1(3), 3 and 4) 
1. Since under Article 177 of the Treaty it is 
for the national court, not the parties to 
the main action, to bring a matter before 
the Court of Justice, the right to deter­
mine the questions to be put to the Court 
devolves upon the national court alone and 
the parties may not change their tenor. To 
answer any additional questions mentioned 
by the parties to the main proceedings in 
their observations would moreover be 
incompatible with the Court's function 
under that article and with its duty to 
ensure that the Governments of the 
Member States and the parties concerned 
are given the opportunity to submit obser­
vations under Article 20 of the Statute of 
the Court of Justice, bearing in mind that 
under that provision only the order of the 
referring court is notified to the interested 
parties. 
2. Regulation N o 1191/69 on action by 
Member States concerning the obligations 
inherent in the concept of a public service 
in transport by rail, road and inland 
waterway, as amended by Regulation N o 
1893/91, in particular Articles 1(3) and 4 
thereof, must be construed as not obliging 
the Member States to grant an application 
by a transport undertaking for partial ter­
mination of its public service obligation, 
even if that undertaking shows that main­
taining the obligation involves economic 
disadvantages for it. 
However, the only ground for refusing 
such an application is the need to ensure 
adequate transport services. That concept 
is to be assessed, in accordance with Article 
3 of Regulation N o 1191/69, by reference 
to the public interest, the possibility of 
having recourse to other forms of trans­
port and the ability of such forms to meet 
the transport needs under consideration, 
and the transport rates and conditions 
which can be quoted to users. Where there 
are several ways of ensuring, while satis­
fying similar conditions, the provision of 
adequate transport services, the competent 
authorities are to select the way least costly 
to the community. 
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