Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2002:428
Date: 2002-07-09
Language of the case: Greek
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Freedom to provide services;Transport
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Transport — Maritime transport — Freedom to provide services — Regulation 
No 4055/86 — National legislation providing for different harbour dues for domestic 
and intra-Community routes and routes to or from third countries — Not permissible 
where there is no correlation between the harbour dues and the cost of the services 
(Council Regulation No 4055/86, Art. 1) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-435/00 
2. Transport — Maritime transport — Freedom to provide services — Regulation 
No 4055/86 — National legislation providing for harbour dues, for journeys to ports 
outside the Community, that vary according to the distance or geographical location of 
the port of destination — Not permissible where there is no difference in the way 
passengers are treated on account of their destination or the place from which they 
have come 
(Council Regulation No 4055/86, Art. 1) 
1. Article 1 of Regulation No 4055/86 
applying the principle of freedom to 
provide services to maritime transport 
between Member States and between 
Member States and third countries 
precludes the application in a Member 
State of different harbour dues for 
domestic or intra-Community traffic 
and traffic between a Member State 
and a third country if that difference is 
not objectively justified. 
It follows that the imposition by a 
Member State on passengers of vessels 
that call at or whose final destination is 
a port in a third country of different 
harbour dues from those imposed on 
passengers of vessels whose destination 
is domestic or in another Member 
State, without there being any cor­
relation between that difference and 
the cost of the harbour services enjoyed 
by those categories of passengers, 
amounts to a restriction on the freedom 
to provide services contrary to 
Article 1 of that regulation. 
(see paras 24, 26, operative part 1-2) 
2. Article 1 of Regulation No 4055/86 
applying the principle of freedom to 
provide services to maritime transport 
between Member States and between 
Member States and third countries 
does not permit the imposition, for 
journeys to ports in third countries, of 
harbour dues that vary according to 
criteria relating to the distance of those 
ports or their geographical location if 
the difference in the dues is not objec­
tively justified by differences in the way 
passengers are treated on account of 
their destination or the place from 
which they have come. 
(see para. 29, operative part 3) 
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