Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2010:367
Date: 2010-06-24
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Italy

Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 24 June 2010 - European Commission v Italian Republic (Case C-571/08) 1 (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Directive 95/59/EC - Taxes other than turnover taxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco - Article 9(1) - Free determination, by manufacturers and importers, of the maximum retail selling prices of their products - National legislation imposing a minimum retail selling price for cigarettes - Justification - Protection of public health) Language of the case: Italian Parties Applicant: European Commission (represented by: W. Mölls and L. Pignataro, acting as Agents) Defendant: Italian Republic (represented by: I. Bruni, then by G. Palmieri, acting as Agents and F. Arena, avvocato dello Stato) Re: Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Infringement of Article 9 of Council Directive 95/59/EC of 27 November 1995 on taxes other than turnover taxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco (OJ 1995 L 291, p. 40) - Fixing minimum prices - Approval of prices. Operative part of the judgment The Court: 1. Declares that, by providing for a minimum price for cigarettes, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 9(1) of Council Directive 95/59/EC of 27 November 1995 on taxes other than turnover taxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco, as amended by Council Directive 2002/10/EC of 12 February 2002; 2. Orders the Italian Republic to pay the costs. ____________ 1 - OJ C 55, 7.3.2009.