Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2007:531
Date: 2007-09-20
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: First Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Free movement of goods
Concepts: General;Definition
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful;Action for failure to fulfil obligations - unfounded
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Judgment 1. Free movement of goods – Quantitative restrictions – Measures having equivalent effect – Definition (Art. 28 EC; Council Directive 1999/37, Arts 2(b) and 4) 2. Free movement of goods – Quantitative restrictions – Measures having equivalent effect (Arts 28 EC and 30 EC) 1. Intra-Community trade is not capable of being hindered, directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, by national legislation which: (1) requires a vehicle to be identified before it is registered; (2) requires, pursuant to Articles 2(b) and 4 of Directive 1999/37, that such identification be carried out, where a vehicle previously registered in another Member State is imported, by means of the registration certificate issued by that other Member State; and (3) includes the obligation to present the vehicle to a control body, thereby allowing verification as to whether the vehicle is actually present in the territory of the Member State of importation and corresponds to the data in the registration certificate issued by the other Member State. Since that is a simple administrative formality, which does not introduce any additional check, but which is integral to the actual processing of the registration application and also to the conduct of the associated procedure, the manner in which the tests are carried out is not capable of having any deterrent effect whatsoever on the import of a vehicle into that Member State or of making such importation less attractive. (see paras 53-55, 58, 63) 2. A Member State which, generally and systematically, submits all vehicles which are more than three years old and have previously been registered in other Member States for testing as to their physical condition prior to registration in that State, without taking any account whatsoever of tests that may have already been carried out in other Member States, fails to fulfil its obligations under Articles 28 EC and 30 EC. Such a control procedure, which may deter some persons concerned from importing into the Member State in question vehicles which are more than three years old and which have previously been registered in other Member States, cannot be justified on the ground that it safeguards road safety and the protection of the environment where the Member State in question does not specifically show that the restriction on the free movement of goods at issue is proportionate to the objective pursued. (see paras 73-74, 77-78, 80, operative part)