Order — ECLI:EU:C:2004:85
Date: 2004-02-11
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Competition;Principles, objectives and tasks of the Treaties
Concepts: Jurisdiction of the Court of Justice
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling - inadmissible
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Order 
Preliminary rulings — Admissibility — Questions raised without sufficient information 
regarding the factual and legislative context — Questions containing a mere reference to 
the facts found in judgments and decisions of other national authorities 
(Art. 234 EC; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 23) 
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES C-438/03, C-439/03, C-509/03 AND C-2/04 
The need to provide an interpretation of 
Community law which will be of use to the 
national court makes it necessary that the 
national court define the factual and legal 
context of the questions it is asking or, at 
the very least, explain the factual circum­
stances on which those questions are based. 
That requirement is of particular import­
ance in the area of competition, where the 
factual and legal situations are complex. 
Moreover, it is essential that the national 
court should give at the very least some 
explanation of the reasons for the choice of 
the Community provisions of which it 
requests an interpretation and on the link 
it establishes between those provisions and 
the national legislation applicable to the 
dispute. 
All that information must not only be such 
as to enable the Court usefully to reply but 
must also make it possible for the govern­
ments of the Member States and other 
interested parties to submit observations 
pursuant to Article 23 of the Statute of the 
Court of Justice. 
Accordingly, a reference for a preliminary 
ruling containing a mere reference to the 
facts found in other judgments or in a 
decision of the competent competition 
authority is manifestly inadmissible in so 
far as it does not enable the Court usefully 
to reply or put the governments of the 
Member States in a position to submit 
observations. 
(see paras 6-8, 12) 
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