Judgment of the Court of 15 December 1971. - International Fruit Company NV and others v Produktschap voor groenten en fruit. - References for a preliminary ruling: College van Beroep voor het Bedrijfsleven - Netherlands. - Quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect. - Joined cases 51 to 54-71.



European Court reports 1971 Page 01107

Danish special edition Page 00331

Greek special edition Page 01091

Portuguese special edition Page 00439

Spanish special edition Page 00329



Summary

Parties

Subject of the case

Grounds

Decision on costs

Operative part



Keywords

++++

1 . MEMBER STATES - POWERS - EXERCISE - TRANSFER OF NATIONAL AUTHORITIES - MEANS - POWERS OF THE MEMBER STATES

( EEC TREATY, ARTICLE 5 )

2 . QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS - PROHIBITION - INTRA-COMMUNITY RELATIONS - EXTERNAL RELATIONS

3 . QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS - INTRA-COMMUNITY RELATIONS - ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION

( EEC TREATY, ARTICLES 30 AND 34 )

4 . QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS - TRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES - PROHIBITION NOT ABSOLUTE - AGRICULTURE - COMMON ORGANIZATION OF THE MARKET - FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

( EEC TREATY, ARTICLES 113 AND 40 ( 3 ))

5 . AGRICULTURE - COMMON ORGANIZATIONS OF THE MARKET - FRUIT AND VEGETABLES - QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS - TRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES - PROHIBITION OF IMPORTS WITHOUT THE GRANT OF LICENCES IN CONJUNCTION WITH A GENERAL EXEMPTION - " ALL LICENCES GRANTED " SYSTEM

Summary

1 . WHEN PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY OR OF REGULATIONS CONFER POWERS OR IMPOSE OBLIGATIONS ON THE MEMBER STATES FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNITY LAW THE QUESTION OF HOW SUCH POWERS ARE TO BE EXERCISED AND WHETHER THE STATES MAY ENTRUST THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUCH OBLIGATIONS TO SPECIFIC NATIONAL AUTHORITIES IS SOLELY A MATTER FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF EACH STATE .

2 . IT IS CLEAR FROM THE SCHEME OF THE TREATY THAT THE SYSTEM OF QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS ON INTRA-COMMUNITY TRADE MUST BE DISTINGUISHED FROM THE SYSTEM OF QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES .

3 . APART FROM THE EXCEPTIONS FOR WHICH PROVISION IS MADE BY COMMUNITY LAW ITSELF ARTICLES 30 AND 34 PRECLUDE THE APPLICATION TO INTRA-COMMUNITY TRADE OF A NATIONAL PROVISION WHICH REQUIRES, EVEN AS A PURE FORMALITY, IMPORT OR EXPORT LICENCES OR ANY OTHER SIMILAR PROCEDURE .

4 . IN TRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES THE APPLICATION OF QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS AND OF MEASURES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT FORMS PART OF THE COMMON COMMERCIAL POLICY BOTH UNDER ARTICLE 113 OF THE TREATY AND THE PROVISIONS ON THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY, IN PARTICULAR, ARTICLE 40 ( 3 ) WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF " COMMON MACHINERY FOR STABILIZING IMPORTS OR EXPORTS ".

THE PROHIBITION BASED ON ARTICLE 1 OF REGULATION NO 2513/69 IS NOT ABSOLUTE .

5 . THE APPLICATION OF A BODY OF RULES LAID DOWN BY LEGISLATION AND BASED ON A GENERAL PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS WITHOUT A LICENCE, IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SYSTEM OF GENERAL EXEMPTIONS, IS THUS IN THE PRESENT STATE OF THE LAW COMPATIBLE WITH THE GENERAL SCHEME OF REGULATION NO 2513/69 .

THE " ALL LICENCES GRANTED " SYSTEM IS NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE GENERAL SCHEME OF THIS REGULATION IF THE LICENCE IS DELIVERED AUTOMATICALLY TO EVERY APPLICANT FREE OF CHARGE AND WITHOUT DELAY .

Parties

IN JOINED CASES 51 TO 54/71

REFERENCE TO THE COURT UNDER ARTICLE 177 OF THE EEC TREATY BY THE COLLEGE VAN BEROEP VOOR HET BEDRIJFSLEVEN FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING IN THE ACTION PENDING BEFORE THAT COURT BETWEEN

INTERNATIONAL FRUIT COMPANY NV, ROTTERDAM, ( CASE 51/71 )

KOOY ROTTERDAM NV, ROTTERDAM, ( CASE 52/71 )

VELLEMAN EN TAS NV, ROTTERDAM, ( CASE 53/71 )

JAN VAN DEN BRING' S IM - EN EXPORTHANDEL NV, ROTTERDAM, ( CASE 54/71 )

AND

PRODUKTSCHAP VOOR GROENTEN EN FRUIT, THE HAGUE,

Subject of the case

ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE EEC TREATY AND OF THE IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS ISSUED THEREUNDER WHICH CONFER POWERS AND IMPOSE OBLIGATIONS ON THE MEMBER STATES TOGETHER WITH THE CONCEPTS OF " QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS " AND " MEASURES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT " REFERRED TO BY THE TREATY AND CERTAIN REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL .

Grounds

1 BY A JUDGMENT OF 30 JULY 1971 WHICH WAS RECEIVED AT THE COURT REGISTRY ON 2 AUGUST 1971, THE " COLLEGE VAN BEROEP VOOR HET BEDRIJFSLEVEN " REQUESTED THE COURT TO GIVE A PRELIMINARY RULING ON THE INTERPRETATION OF VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY AND OF RULES OF SECONDARY LAW TOGETHER WITH THE CONTENT OF VARIOUS CONCEPTS ADOPTED BY THE TREATY AND THOSE RULES .

THE FIRST QUESTION

2 THE COURT IS FIRST OF ALL ASKED WHETHER THE FACT THAT VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY AND OF REGULATIONS CONFER POWERS OR IMPOSE OBLIGATIONS UPON THE MEMBER STATES IMPLIES THAT THE LATTER MAY ONLY TRANSFER THOSE POWERS OR OBLIGATIONS TO NATIONAL AUTHORITIES BY EXPRESS PROVISION .

3 ALTHOUGH UNDER ARTICLE 5 OF THE TREATY THE MEMBER STATES ARE OBLIGED TO TAKE ALL APPROPRIATE MEASURES, WHETHER GENERAL OR PARTICULAR, TO ENSURE FULFILMENT OF THE OBLIGATIONS ARISING OUT OF THE TREATY, IT IS FOR THEM TO DETERMINE WHICH INSTITUTIONS WITHIN THE NATIONAL SYSTEM SHALL BE EMPOWERED TO ADOPT THE SAID MEASURES .

4 THE ANSWER TO THE FIRST QUESTION MUST THEREFORE BE THAT WHEN PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY OR OF REGULATIONS CONFER POWER OR IMPOSE OBLIGATIONS UPON THE STATES FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNITY LAW THE QUESTION OF HOW THE EXERCISE OF SUCH POWERS AND THE FULFILMENT OF SUCH OBLIGATIONS MAY BE ENTRUSTED BY MEMBER STATES TO SPECIFIC NATIONAL BODIES IS SOLELY A MATTER FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF EACH STATE .

SECOND QUESTION

5 THE SECOND QUESTION ASKS WHETHER THE CONCEPTS OF " QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS AND MEASURES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT " OR OF " QUOTAS " REFERRED TO BY ARTICLES 30 TO 32 AND 34 OF THE TREATY AND BY REGULATIONS NOS 159/66 ( OJ 1966, NO 192 ) AND 2513/69 ( OJ 1969, L 318 ) ALSO APPLY TO NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS PROHIBITING IMPORTS AND EXPORTS WITHOUT A LICENCE BUT WHICH IN FACT ARE NOT APPLIED BECAUSE EXEMPTIONS ARE GRANTED FROM THE PROHIBITION AND, WHERE THIS IS NOT SO, BECAUSE THE LICENCE IS ALWAYS ISSUED ON REQUEST .

6 THE QUESTION PUT REFERS BOTH TO THE SYSTEM OF QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS ON INTRA-COMMUNITY TRADE AND THE SYSTEM OF SUCH RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES .

7 IT IS HOWEVER CLEAR FROM THE SCHEME OF THE TREATY THAT THOSE TWO SYSTEMS MUST BE DISTINGUISHED .

8 UNDER ARTICLES 30 AND 34 ( 1 ) OF THE TREATY QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS AND MEASURES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT ARE PROHIBITED BETWEEN MEMBER STATES BOTH WITH REGARD TO IMPORTS AND EXPORTS .

9 CONSEQUENTLY, APART FROM THE EXCEPTIONS FOR WHICH PROVISION IS MADE BY COMMUNITY LAW ITSELF THOSE PROVISIONS PRECLUDE THE APPLICATION TO INTRA-COMMUNITY TRADE OF A NATIONAL PROVISION WHICH REQUIRES, EVEN PURELY AS A FORMALITY, IMPORT OR EXPORT LICENCES OR ANY OTHER SIMILAR PROCEDURE .

10 ON THE OTHER HAND IN TRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES THE APPLICATION OF QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS AND OF MEASURES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT FORMS PART OF THE COMMON COMMERCIAL POLICY UNDER ARTICLE 113 OF THE TREATY AND THE PROVISIONS ON THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY, IN PARTICULAR ARTICLE 40 ( 3 ), WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF " COMMON MACHINERY FOR STABILIZING IMPORTS OR EXPORTS ".

11 IT EMERGES FROM THE FILE SUBMITTED TO THE COURT THAT THE DISPUTE BROUGHT BEFORE THE COLLEGE VAN BEROEP VOOR HET BEDRIJFSLEVEN AROSE IN THE CONTEXT NOT OF INTRA-COMMUNITY TRADE BUT OF THE APPLICATION OF REGULATION NO 2513/69 WHICH IS CONCERNED SOLELY WITH THE SYSTEMS OF IMPORTING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES PRODUCED IN THIRD COUNTRIES .

12 CONSEQUENTLY, THE QUESTION PUT BY THE NATIONAL COURT MUST BE CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE SYSTEM OF EXTERNAL TRADE SO DEFINED .

13 ARTICLE 1 ( 1 ) OF REGULATION NO 2513/69 PROVIDES THAT " UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED IN COMMUNITY PROVISIONS OR DEROGATIONS ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL " THERE SHALL BE PROHIBITED " THE APPLICATION OF ANY QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS " ON IMPORTS FROM THIRD COUNTRIES " AND ALL MEASURES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT ".

14 ARTICLE 2 OF THIS REGULATION PROVIDES THAT DEROGATIONS MAY BE MADE FROM THIS PRINCIPLE IF THE COMMUNITY MARKET IN ONE OR MORE OF THE SAID PRODUCTS IS IN DANGER OF UNDERGOING " OWING TO IMPORTS OR EXPORTS, SERIOUS DISTURBANCES CAPABLE OF JEOPARDIZING THE OBJECTIVES OF ARTICLE 39 OF THE TREATY ".

15 THE QUESTION PUT TO THE COURT THUS INVOLVES AN EXAMINATION OF WHETHER REGULATION NO 2513/69 CAN BE IMPLEMENTED IN A MEMBER STATE BY MEANS OF LEGISLATION BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF A GENERAL PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS UNLESS A LICENCE IS GRANTED, WITH APPROPRIATE EXEMPTIONS, OR APPLIED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SYSTEM OF " ALL LICENCES GRANTED " IN SO FAR AS COMMUNITY LAW PROVIDES FOR FREEDOM OF TRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES .

16 THE PROHIBITION ARISING FROM ARTICLE 1 OF REGULATION NO 2513/69 IS NOT ABSOLUTE SINCE, AS IS CLEAR FROM RECITALS 5 AND 6 OF THE PREAMBLE AND FROM THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLES 1 AND 2 THEMSELVES, THE MEMBER STATES MAY BE EMPOWERED TO TAKE CERTAIN PROTECTIVE MEASURES IN PARTICULAR IN THE CASE OF A THREAT OF DISTURBANCE OF THE MARKETS THROUGH IMPORTS FROM THIRD COUNTRIES .

17 THE APPLICATION OF A BODY OF RULES LAID DOWN BY LEGISLATION AND BASED ON A GENERAL PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS WITHOUT A LICENCE, IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SYSTEM OF GENERAL EXEMPTIONS, IS THUS, IN THE PRESENT STATE OF THE LAW, COMPATIBLE WITH THE GENERAL SCHEME OF REGULATION NO 2513/69 .

18 IN THE PRESENT STATE OF THE LAW THE " ALL LICENCES GRANTED " SYSTEM IS NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE GENERAL SCHEME OF THIS REGULATION IF LICENCES ARE AUTOMATICALLY ISSUED TO EVERY APPLICANT FREE OF CHARGE AND WITHOUT DELAY .

Decision on costs

19 THE COSTS INCURRED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS AND BY THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES WHICH SUBMITTED OBSERVATIONS TO THE COURT ARE NOT RECOVERABLE . AS THOSE PROCEEDINGS ARE, IN SO FAR AS THE PARTIES TO THE MAIN ACTION ARE CONCERNED, IN THE NATURE OF A STEP IN THE ACTION PENDING BEFORE THE NATIONAL COURT, THE DECISION ON COSTS IS A MATTER FOR THAT COURT .

Operative part

THE COURT

IN ANSWER TO THE QUESTIONS REFERRED TO IT BY THE COLLEGE VAN BEROEP VOOR HET BEDRIJFSLEVEN, BY THE DECISION OF THAT COURT OF 30 JULY 1971, HEREBY RULES :

1 . WHEN PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY OR OF REGULATIONS CONFER POWERS OR IMPOSE OBLIGATIONS ON MEMBER STATES FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNITY LAW THE QUESTION OF HOW SUCH POWERS ARE TO BE EXERCISED AND WHETHER THE STATES MAY ENTRUST THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUCH OBLIGATIONS TO SPECIFIC NATIONAL AUTHORITIES IS SOLELY A MATTER FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF EACH STATE .

2 . THE APPLICATION OF A BODY OF RULES LAID DOWN BY LEGISLATION AND BASED ON A GENERAL PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS WITHOUT A LICENCE, IN CONJUNCTION WITH A SYSTEM OF GENERAL EXEMPTIONS, IS, IN THE CASE OF IMPORTS FROM THIRD COUNTRIES WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO REGULATION NO 2513/69, COMPATIBLE WITH THE GENERAL SCHEME OF THAT REGULATION .

THE " ALL LICENCES GRANTED " SYSTEM IS NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE GENERAL SCHEME OF THE SAID REGULATION IF SUCH LICENCES ARE AUTOMATICALLY ISSUED TO EVERY APPLICANT FREE OF CHARGE AND WITHOUT DELAY .