Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2018:996
Date: 2018-12-06
Language of the case: French

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État (France) lodged on 16 October 2017 — Japan Tobacco International SA, Japan Tobacco International France SAS v Premier ministre, Ministre de l’Action et des Comptes publics, Ministre des Solidarités et de la Santé (Case C-596/17) Language of the case: French Referring court Conseil d’État Parties to the main proceedings Applicants: Japan Tobacco International SA, Japan Tobacco International France SAS Defendants: Premier ministre, Ministre de l’Action et des Comptes publics, Ministre des Solidarités et de la Santé Questions referred Must Directive [2011]/64/EU of 21 June 2011 1 be interpreted, as regards the definitions of tobacco products set out in Articles 2, 3 and 4 thereof, as also governing the price of packaged tobacco products? If the answer to Question 1 is in the affirmative, must Article 15 of Directive 2011/64/EU, in laying down the principle that the price of tobacco products must be determined freely, be interpreted as prohibiting a rule setting the price of those products per 1 000 items or 1 000 grams which, in effect, prohibits manufacturers of tobacco products from adjusting their prices on the basis of potential differences in the cost of packaging those products? ____________ 1 Council Directive 2011/64/EU of 21 June 2011 on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco (OJ 2011 L 176, p. 24).