ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
9

Article 1 of Government Decree No 80/2000, concerning the homologation or approval of products and consumable materials used in road vehicles, and also the conditions of placing on the market and the marketing of the same, as amended (‘Government Decree No 80/2000’), provides, in paragraphs 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8 thereof: ‘1. New products and consumable materials, intended for use in road vehicles, may be placed on the market and/or marketed only if they comply with the conditions laid down in this decree. 2. New products and consumable materials, included in the category of those relating to the safety of road traffic, environmental protection, energy efficiency … may be placed on the market and/or marketed only where they are approved or homologated, as the case may be. … 4. The homologation of the products referred to in paragraph (2) shall be carried out by the [RAR], a specialised technical body attached to Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure …, on the basis of the results of tests conducted by the RAR or by the technicians authorised by the RAR. 5. The approval of the products and consumable materials referred to in paragraph (2) shall be carried out by the RAR on the basis of the results of tests conducted by the RAR or by the technicians authorised by the RAR. … 8. The provisions referred to in paragraphs (4) and (5) shall not apply: (a) to products homologated by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties under the Geneva Accord; (b) to products approved or homologated by the competent authorities of the Member States in accordance with the directives/regulations of the European Union; (c) to original products or to original spare parts; (d) to new products and consumable materials manufactured exclusively for the purposes of using vehicles for sporting competitions, not intended for use on public roads. This exception shall not apply in cases where the products and consumable materials in question have a dual use, for vehicles intended for sporting competitions and for vehicles intended for use on the road as well.’
57

In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the fourth question referred is that Article 50(1) of Regulation No 1013/2006, according to which the penalties applied by the Member States for infringement of the provisions of that regulation must be proportionate, must be interpreted as meaning that the imposition of a fine penalising the illegal shipment of waste, such as that referred to in Annex IV to that regulation, in the country of transit at a border crossing point which differs from that provided in the notification document which had been consented to by the competent authorities, of which the basic amount is the same as the fine imposed for a breach of the requirement to obtain consent and to give prior notification in writing, is to be considered to be proportionate only if the circumstances of the infringement make it possible to find that they involve equally serious infringements. It is for the national court to determine, by taking into account all the factual and legal circumstances of the case before it, and, in particular, the risks which may be created by that infringement in the field of the protection of the environment and human health, whether the amount of the penalty does not go beyond what is necessary to attain the objectives of ensuring a high level of protection of the environment and human health.
3

Recitals 17, 70 and 72 of Directive 2006/123 are worded as follows: ‘(17) This Directive covers only services which are performed for an economic consideration. Services of general interest are not covered by the definition in Article [57 TFEU] and therefore do not fall within the scope of this Directive. Services of general economic interest are services that are performed for an economic consideration and therefore do fall within the scope of this Directive. However, certain services of general economic interest, such as those that may exist in the field of transport, are excluded from the scope of this Directive and certain other services of general economic interest, for example, those that may exist in the area of postal services, are the subject of a derogation from the provision on the freedom to provide services set out in this Directive. This Directive does not deal with the funding of services of general economic interest and does not apply to systems of aids granted by Member States, in particular in the social field, in accordance with Community rules on competition. This Directive does not deal with the follow-up to the Commission White Paper on Services of General Interest. ... (70) For the purposes of this Directive, and without prejudice to Article 16 of the Treaty, services may be considered to be services of general economic interest only if they are provided in application of a special task in the public interest entrusted to the provider by the Member State concerned. This assignment should be made by way of one or more acts, the form of which is determined by the Member State concerned, and should specify the precise nature of the special task. ... (72) Services of a general economic interest are entrusted with important tasks relating to social and territorial cohesion. The performance of these tasks should not be obstructed as a result of the evaluation process provided for in this Directive. Requirements which are necessary for the fulfilment of such tasks should not be affected by this process while, at the same time, unjustified restrictions on the freedom of establishment should be addressed.’
11

Temporary and occasional assistance in tax matters is governed by Paragraph 3a of the Law on Tax Consultancy, which seeks to implement Directive 2005/36 so far as concerns professional assistance in tax matters in Germany by persons and associations of another Member State. That paragraph is worded as follows: ‘1. Persons who are professionally established in another Member State of the European Union or in another State Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area [of 2 May 1992 (OJ 1994 L 1, p. 3)] or in Switzerland and who are authorised there to provide professional assistance in tax matters in accordance with the law of the State of establishment shall be authorised to provide, on a temporary and occasional basis, professional assistance in tax matters in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. The scope of the authorisation to provide assistance in tax matters in Germany shall be determined by the scope of that authorisation in the State of establishment. In their activities in Germany those persons shall be subject to the same professional rules as the persons specified in Paragraph 3. If neither the profession nor the training for the profession is regulated in the State of establishment, the authorisation to provide professional assistance in tax matters in Germany shall be valid only if the person has practised the profession in the State of establishment for at least 2 years during the preceding 10 years. … 2. Professional assistance in tax matters under subparagraph (1) shall be permitted only if the person gives written notification to the competent authority before the first provision of a service in Germany. … The notification must contain the following: … (5) a certificate attesting that the person is legally established for the purposes of providing professional assistance in tax matters in a Member State of the European Union or in a State Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in Switzerland and that, at the time of submission of the certificate, he is not prohibited, even temporarily, from carrying out that activity, (6) evidence of professional qualifications, (7) evidence showing that the person has pursued the profession in the State of establishment for at least 2 years during the previous 10 years, where neither the profession nor the training required for that profession are regulated in the State of establishment, …’
14

Royal Decree 557/2011 of 20 April 2011 approved the Regulation implementing Organic Law 4/2000, as recast by Organic Law 2/2009 (Boletín Oficial del Estado No 103 of 30 April 2011). Article 54 of that regulation, entitled ‘Resources of which a foreign national must provide evidence in order to obtain a residence permit for members of his family on grounds of reunification’, states: ‘1. A foreign national applying for a residence permit for members of his family on grounds of reunification shall, when submitting the application for such a permit, enclose documentary evidence that he has resources sufficient to maintain his family, including health care if this is not covered by social security, and equal to the amount indicated below, which, representing a minimum value, shall be expressed at the time of the application for the permit, in EUR or its legal equivalent in foreign currency, by reference to the number of persons he is seeking to have join him and taking into account also the number of family members who are already living with him as dependants in Spain: (a) In the case of family units which, including the sponsor and, on arrival in Spain, the person joining him, comprise two members, the amount required shall be 150% of the monthly [Multiple-Purpose Public Income Index (Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples) (IPREM)]. ... 2. Residence permits shall not be granted if it is determined beyond doubt that there is no likelihood of the resources in question being retained in the year following the date of submission of the application. In this determination, the forecast as to whether a source of income will be retained in that year shall be made by reference to the pattern of the sponsor’s resources in the six months preceding the date of submission of the application. ...’
18

That court notes, first, that heading 2206 of the CN also includes mixtures of fermented beverages and non-alcoholic beverages and that, by virtue of the HS explanatory note relating to heading 22.06 of the HS, such beverages remain classified under that heading even when fortified with added alcohol or when their alcohol content has been increased by further fermentation, provided that they retain the character of products classified under that heading. Second, heading 2208 of the CN covers liqueurs, which generally have an alcoholic strength by volume of more than 13.4%. The addition of distilled alcohol to a beverage falling under heading 2206 of the CN does not automatically mean that that beverage will be excluded from that heading. Nevertheless, if the quantities of fermented alcohol and distilled alcohol in a product such as Petrikov Creamy Green are not decisive for the classification of that product and if the beverage to which the distilled alcohol has been added has the properties and characteristics of products falling under heading 2208 of the CN, that product should, according to that court, be classified under that second heading.
3

Recitals 4, 9, 31, 35 and 38 of Directive 2001/29 state: ‘(4) A harmonised legal framework on copyright and related rights, through increased legal certainty and while providing for a high level of protection of intellectual property, will foster substantial investment in creativity and innovation, including network infrastructure, and lead in turn to growth and increased competitiveness of European industry, both in the area of content provision and information technology and more generally across a wide range of industrial and cultural sectors. This will safeguard employment and encourage new job creation. … (9) Any harmonisation of copyright and related rights must take as a basis a high level of protection, since such rights are crucial to intellectual creation. Their protection helps to ensure the maintenance and development of creativity in the interests of authors, performers, producers, consumers, culture, industry and the public at large. Intellectual property has therefore been recognised as an integral part of property. … (31) A fair balance of rights and interests between the different categories of rightholders, as well as between the different categories of rightholders and users of protected subject matter must be safeguarded. The existing exceptions and limitations to the rights as set out by the Member States have to be reassessed in the light of the new electronic environment. Existing differences in the exceptions and limitations to certain restricted acts have direct negative effects on the functioning of the internal market of copyright and related rights. Such differences could well become more pronounced in view of the further development of transborder exploitation of works and cross-border activities. In order to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market, such exceptions and limitations should be defined more harmoniously. The degree of their harmonisation should be based on their impact on the smooth functioning of the internal market. … (35) In certain cases of exceptions or limitations, rightholders should receive fair compensation to compensate them adequately for the use made of their protected works or other subject matter. When determining the form, detailed arrangements and possible level of such fair compensation, account should be taken of the particular circumstances of each case. … … (38) Member States should be allowed to provide for an exception or limitation to the reproduction right for certain types of reproduction of audio, visual and audio-visual material for private use, accompanied by fair compensation. This may include the introduction or continuation of remuneration schemes to compensate for the prejudice to rightholders. …’
29

In those circumstances the Sofiyski gradski sad (Sofia City Court) decided to stay the proceedings and refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling: ‘(1) Do the provisions of Framework Decision 2008/909 preclude the executing State, in the course of the transfer procedure, from reducing the duration of the custodial sentence imposed by the issuing State, on account of work undertaken while that sentence was being served in the issuing State, as follows: (a) the sentence is reduced by the application, in accordance with Article 17(1) of [Framework Decision 2008/909], of the law of the executing State to the enforcement of the sentence. Does that provision permit the laws of the executing State on the enforcement of the sentence to be applied even at the stage of the transfer procedure in respect of matters (work undertaken in prison in the issuing State) which occurred while the sentenced person was under the jurisdiction of the issuing State? (b) the sentence is reduced by the application of a deduction in accordance with Article 17(2) of [Framework Decision 2008/909]. Does that provision permit the deduction of a period that is longer than the period of deprivation of liberty determined in accordance with the law of the issuing State, where the law of the executing State is applied and, as a result, a fresh legal assessment is made of matters which occurred in the issuing State (work undertaken in prison in the issuing State)? (2) In the event that these or other provisions of [Framework Decision 2008/909] are applicable to the reduction in sentence at issue, must the issuing State be notified if it has made a specific request to that effect and is the transfer procedure to be discontinued if the issuing State objects? If there is a notification requirement, what should the nature of that notification be: should it be in general and abstract terms as regards the applicable law, or should it relate to the specific reduction in sentence which the court will impose on a particular sentenced person? (3) In the event that the Court rules that the provisions of Article 17(1) and (2) of [Framework Decision 2008/909] preclude the executing State from reducing the sentence on the basis of its domestic law (on account of work undertaken in the issuing State), is a decision by the national court nevertheless to apply its national law — because it is more lenient than Article 17 of [Framework Decision 2008/909] — compatible with EU law?’
19

Article 3 of that directive, entitled ‘Public service obligations and customer protection’, provided: ‘1. Member States shall ensure, on the basis of their institutional organisation and with due regard to the principle of subsidiarity, that, without prejudice to paragraph 2, electricity undertakings are operated in accordance with the principles of this Directive with a view to achieving a competitive, secure and environmentally sustainable market in electricity, and shall not discriminate between these undertakings as regards either rights or obligations. 2. Having full regard to the relevant provisions of the Treaty, in particular Article 86 thereof, Member States may impose on undertakings operating in the electricity sector, in the general economic interest, public service obligations which may relate to security, including security of supply, regularity, quality and price of supplies and environmental protection, including energy efficiency and climate protection. Such obligations shall be clearly defined, transparent, non-discriminatory, verifiable and shall guarantee equality of access for EU electricity companies to national consumers. … … 4. When financial compensation, other forms of compensation and exclusive rights which a Member State grants for the fulfilment of the obligations set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 are provided, this shall be done in a non-discriminatory and transparent way. … 8. Member States may decide not to apply the provisions of Articles 6, 7, 20 and 22 insofar as their application would obstruct the performance, in law or in fact, of the obligations imposed on electricity undertakings in the general economic interest and insofar as the development of trade would not be affected to such an extent as would be contrary to the interests of the Community. The interests of the Community include, amongst others, competition with regard to eligible customers in accordance with this Directive and Article 86 of the Treaty. …’
67

It follows from all of the foregoing considerations that the answer to the fourth and fifth questions referred is that Article 3(1) and Article 4 of Directive 93/13 must be interpreted as meaning that: — the examination of the potential unfairness of a term of a contract concluded between a seller or supplier and a consumer requires it to be determined whether that term causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under a contract to the detriment of the consumer. That examination must be carried out in the light of national rules which, in the absence of an agreement between the parties, are applicable, the means which the consumer has at his disposal under national law to bring an end to the use of that type of term, the nature of the goods or services covered by the contract at issue and all the circumstances surrounding the conclusion of the contract; — where the national court considers that a contractual term relating to the calculation of ordinary interest, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, is not in plain intelligible language, within the meaning of Article 4(2) of that directive, it is required to examine whether that term is unfair within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the directive. In the context of that examination, it is the duty of the referring court, inter alia, to compare the method of calculation of the rate of ordinary interest laid down in that term and the actual sum resulting from that rate with the methods of calculation generally used, the statutory interest rate and the interest rates applied on the market at the date of conclusion of the agreement at issue in the main proceedings for a loan of a comparable sum and term to those of the loan agreement under consideration; and — as regards the assessment by a national court of the potential unfairness of the term relating to accelerated repayment resulting from a failure on the part of the debtor to comply with his obligations during a limited specific period, it is for the referring court to examine whether the right of the seller or supplier to call in the totality of the loan is conditional upon the non-compliance by the consumer with an obligation which is of essential importance in the context of the contractual relationship in question, whether that right is provided for in cases in which such non-compliance is sufficiently serious in the light of the term and amount of the loan, whether that right derogates from the applicable common law rules, where specific contractual provisions are lacking, and whether national law provides for adequate and effective means enabling the consumer subject to such a term to remedy the effects of the loan being called in.
Articles 23(5) and 24 of Regulation No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters must be interpreted as meaning that, in a dispute concerning the non-performance of a contractual obligation, in which the applicant has brought proceedings before the courts of the Member State in which the defendant has its seat, the jurisdiction of those courts may stem from Article 24 of that regulation, where the defendant does not dispute their jurisdiction, even though the contract between the two parties contains a clause conferring jurisdiction on the courts of a third country.

The second sentence of Article 24 of Regulation No 44/2001 determines that there is no tacit prorogation of jurisdiction of the court seised where the defendant contests the jurisdiction, thereby expressing his intention not to accept that court’s jurisdiction, or where the dispute is one in respect of which Article 22 of that regulation provides for rules on exclusive jurisdiction. Since the prorogation of jurisdiction by an agreement on jurisdiction for the purposes of Article 23 of Regulation No 44/2001 is not included amongst the exceptions laid down in the second sentence of Article 24, neither the general scheme nor the objectives of that regulation provide grounds for the view that the parties are prevented from submitting their dispute to a court other than that stipulated in the agreement. This reasoning applies both to agreements conferring jurisdiction on the courts of a Member State and to those in favour of the courts of a third country, since the tacit prorogation of jurisdiction by virtue of the first sentence of Article 24 of Regulation No 44/2001 is based on a deliberate choice made by the parties to the dispute regarding jurisdiction.

(see paras 22-25, operative part 1)