Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2014:2186
Date: 2014-09-10
Language of the case: Lithuanian
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Measures having equivalent effect;Approximation of laws;Quantitative restrictions
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Lithuania

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber), 10 September 2014 1. Approximation of laws — Measuring instruments — Directive 2004/22 — National legislation and practice prohibiting the use of a hot water meter satisfying all the requirements of that directive and connected to a remote data-transmission device without a prior meteorological verification of the system — Not permissible (European Parliament and Council Directive 2004/22, recital 10 and Arts 1 and 8(3) and (4)) 2. Free movement of goods — Quantitative restrictions — Measures having equivalent effect — National legislation and practice prohibiting the use of a hot water meter satisfying all the requirements of that directive and connected to a remote data-transmission device without a prior meteorological verification of the system — Not permissible — Justification — Consumer protection — Breach of principle of proportionality (Art. 34 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directive 2004/22) 1. A hot-water meter which satisfies all the requirements laid down by Directive 2004/22 on measuring instruments and which is connected to a remote (telemetric) data-transmission device falls within the scope of Directive 2004/22. Once a matter has been harmonised at EU level, any national measures relating thereto must be assessed in the light of the provisions of that harmonising measure and not those of primary law. Such is the case with regard to Directive 2004/22, which seeks to establish the same requirements as to performance in all Member States which the devices and systems referred to in Article 1 thereof must satisfy in order to be placed on the market and/or put into use. That directive must be interpreted as precluding national legislation and practice according to which such a hot-water meter is to be regarded as a measuring system and, as a result, cannot be used for its intended purpose so long as it has not been subject, together with that device, to a metrological verification as a measuring system. (see paras 34, 35, 39, 40, 56, operative part) 2. Article 34 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding national legislation and practice according to which a hot-water meter which satisfies all the requirements of Directive 2004/22 on measuring instruments connected to a remote (telemetric) data-transmission device is to be regarded as a measuring system and, as a result, cannot be used for its intended purpose so long as it has not been subject, together with that device, to a metrological verification as a measuring system. Such national legislation and practice subject remote (telemetric) data-transmission devices lawfully manufactured in other Member States, which do not fall within the scope of Directive 2004/22, to a metrological verification. They thereby restrict access to the market of the importing Member State and must therefore be regarded as amounting to a measure having an effect equivalent to a quantitative restriction on imports within the meaning of Article 34 TFEU. Inasmuch as metrological verification makes it possible to avoid distortions and falsifications during the transmission of data, national legislation and practice such as those at issue in the main proceedings are appropriate for guaranteeing protection of consumers. However, that national legislation and practice go beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective. (see paras 47, 48, 51, 52, 56, operative part)