Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2009:640
Date: 2009-10-20
Language of the case: Italian
Subject matter: Right of establishment;Approximation of laws;Freedom to provide services
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment Approximation of laws – Approximation measures – Common rules for the internal market in natural gas – Directive 2003/55 (European Parliament and Council Directive 2003/55, Arts 3(2) and 23(1)) Articles 3(2) and 23(1) of Directive 2003/55 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas do not preclude national legislation that allows the price level for the supply of natural gas to be determined by the definition of ‘reference prices’ after 1 July 2007, provided that such intervention: – pursues a general economic interest consisting in maintaining the price of the supply of natural gas to final consumers at a reasonable level having regard to the reconciliation that Member States must make, taking account of the situation in the natural gas sector, between the objective of liberalisation and that of the necessary protection of final consumers pursued by Directive 2003/55; – compromises the free determination of prices for the supply of natural gas after 1 July 2007 only in so far as is necessary to achieve such an objective in the general economic interest and, consequently, for a period necessarily limited in time; and – is clearly defined, transparent, non-discriminatory and verifiable, and guarantees equal access for EU gas companies to consumers. (see paras 32, 47, operative part)