Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2015:491
Date: 2015-07-16
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Environment;Approximation of laws
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 16 July 2015 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Admissibility — Conditions — Questions connected with the actual facts of the main action or its purpose (Art. 267 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directives 2002/96 and 2012/19) 2. Environment — Waste — Waste electrical and electronic equipment — Directive 2002/96 — Directive 2012/19 — Scope — Conditions — Cumulative in nature — Garage-door operating devices — Included (European Parliament and Council Directives 2002/96, Arts 2(1) and (3)(a), Annexes IA, point 6, and I B, point 6, and 2012/19, Arts 2(1)(a) and 2(3)(b), and 3(1)(a) and (b), Annexes I, point 6, and II, point 6) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 31-34) 2. Articles 2(1) and 3(a) of Directive 2002/96 on waste electrical and electronic equipment, and Annexes I A, point 6, and I B, point 6, thereto, and Article 2(1)(a) and 2(3)(b), and Article 3(1)(a) and (b), of Directive 2012/19 on waste electrical and electronic equipment and Annexes I, point 6, and II, point 6, thereto, must be interpreted as meaning that garage-door operating devices which are dependent on an electric current of approximately 220 to 240 volts to work properly, designed to be incorporated into the building structure together with the relevant garage door and can at any time be dismantled, re-installed and/or added to that structure, fall within the scope of Directive 2002/96 and, during the transitional period fixed in Article 2(1)(a) of Directive 2012/19, that of the latter directive. It follows from Article 2 of Directive 2002/96 that products must fulfil three cumulative conditions to fall within its scope: (i) they must constitute electrical and electronic equipment (EEE); (ii) they must fall under the categories set out in Annex I A to that directive, and (iii) they must neither be part of another type of equipment falling outside the scope of that directive nor constitute such equipment. So far as the first condition is concerned, those operating devices may constitute EEE within the meaning of Directive 2002/96 and are EEE within the meaning of Directive 2012/19 inasmuch they are dependent on electric currents of a voltage rating of lower than the limits set in those directives. So far as the second condition is concerned, the operating devices at issue constitute electrical and electronic tools within the meaning of those directives inasmuch as, once supplied with electricity, they enable garage-doors to be moved and controlled. Moreover, those operating devices may be described neither as ‘industrial tools’ within the meaning of Directive 2002/96, since they are not used in the manufacture or industrial processing of products, nor as ‘large-scale stationary industrial tools’ within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of Directive 2012/19. As regards the third condition concerning the exceptions, to be interpreted restrictively, to the application of those directives, inasmuch as the operating devices at issue can be dismantled, re-installed and/or added to the building structure at any time and are therefore not designed to function exclusively with certain doors, they may not be considered to be ‘specifically designed and installed’ as part of that structure, and therefore do not fall within the scope of the exceptions set out in Article 2(1) of Directive 2002/96 and Article 2(3)(b) of Directive 2012/19. (see paras 37, 39, 47, 49, 53, 55-59, operative part)