Order — ECLI:EU:C:2016:543
Date: 2016-06-21
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Competition
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary — Order of the Court (Eighth Chamber), 21 June 2016 1. Competition — EU rules — Obligations of the Member States —Prohibition on introducing or maintaining in force measures undermining the effectiveness of those rules (Art. 4(3) TEU; Art. 101 TFEU) 2. Competition — EU rules — Obligations of the Member States — National legislation requiring hauliers to comply with tariffs which cannot be lower than minimum operating costs — Fixing of road-haulage tariffs by public authorities after the trade associations the most representative of hauliers and customers have been heard — Lawfulness — Conditions (Art. 4(3) TEU; Art. 101 TFEU) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 20, 21) 2. Article 101 TFEU, read in conjunction with Article 4(3) TEU, must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation pursuant to which the price of road haulage services for hire or reward may not be lower than minimum operating costs fixed by a national administration in a case where those minimum costs are fixed by that national administration after the trade associations most representative of hauliers and customers have been heard. In doing so, the Member State has not divested its own rules of the character of legislation by delegating to private economic operators responsibility for taking decisions affecting the economic sphere. Similarly, there is nothing in such legislation to suggest the existence of an agreement, decision or concerted practice between undertakings, within the meaning of Article 101 TFEU, that has been required or encouraged by public authorities, or the effects of which have been reinforced by them. (see paras 22, 23, 25, 28, operative part)