Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2000:658
Date: 2000-11-30
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Freedom to provide services;Transport
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Spain

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Transport — Maritime transport — Freedom to provide services — Regular mari­
time cabotage services — Subjection to prior administrative authorisation — Inclu­
sion in the conditions for granting and maintaining that authorisation of a condition 
enabling the shipowner's solvency to be assessed — Permissible — Conditions 
(Council Regulation No 3577/92, Arts 1 and 4) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-205/99 
2. Transport — Maritime transport — Freedom to provide services — Regular mari­
time cabotage services — Public service obligations and public service contracts — 
Concurrent application of those two methods — Permissible — Conditions 
(Council Regulation No 3577/92, Arts 2(3) and 4(1)) 
1. The combined provisions of Article 1 
and Ar t ic le 4 of R e g u l a t i o n 
No 3577/92 applying the principle of 
freedom to provide services to mari­
time transport within Member States 
(maritime cabotage) permit the provi­
sion of regular maritime cabotage ser­
vices to, from and between islands to 
be made subject to prior administrative 
authorisation only if: 
— a real public service need arising 
from the inadequacy of the regular 
transport services under conditions 
of free competition can be demon­
strated; 
— it is also demonstrated that that 
prior administrative authorisation 
scheme is necessary and propor­
tionate to the aim pursued; 
— such a scheme is based on objec­
tive, non-discriminatory criteria 
which are known in advance to 
the undertakings concerned. 
Moreover, Community law permits a 
Member State to include in the condi­
tions for granting and maintaining 
prior administrative authorisation as a 
means of imposing public service obli­
gations on a Community shipowner a 
condition enabling account to be taken 
of his solvency, such as the requirement 
that he have no outstanding tax or 
social security debts, thus giving the 
Member State the opportunity to check 
the shipowner's 'capacity to provide 
the service', provided that such a 
condition is applied on a non-discrimi­
natory basis. 
(see paras 40, 51, operative part 1-2) 
2. Article 4(1) of Regulation No 3577/92 
applying the principle of freedom to 
provide services to maritime transport 
within Member States (maritime cabo­
tage) is to be interpreted as permitting 
a Member State to impose public 
service obligations on some shipping 
companies and, at the same time, to 
conclude public service contracts 
within the meaning of Article 2(3) of 
the regulation with others for the same 
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ANALIR AND OTHERS 
line or route in order to ensure the 
same regular traffic to, from or 
between islands, provided that a real 
public service need can be demonstra­
ted and in so far as that application of 
the two methods concurrently is on a 
non-discriminatory basis and is justi­
fied in relation to the public-interest 
objective pursued. 
(see para. 71, operative part 3) 
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