5.

In the context of the disputes set out above, by similar orders of 18 July 1993, 28 October 1993, 11 November 1993, 2 December 1993 and 16 December 1993, ( 5 ) the Pretura Circondariale di Roma, Sezione Distaccata di Castelnuovo di Porto, asked the Court of Justice to give a preliminary ruling on the following questions: ‘1. Does a provision of national law which (save for certain products) requires retail shops to close on Sundays and public holidays, but does not prohibit working in such shops on those days (and imposes the penalty of forced closure on shops in breach of that requirement), thus significantly reducing their sales, including sales of goods produced in other Member States of the Community, with a consequent reduction in the volume of imports from such States, constitute: (a) a measure having an effect equivalent to a restriction on imports within the meaning of Article 30 of the Treaty of Rome and secondary rules of Community law adopted in pursuance of the principles laid down therein; or (b) a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between Member States; or (c) a measure which is disproportionate and inappropriate to the socio-ethical aim pursued by the provision of national law; given that: — large-scale distributors and organized distribution centres (the category to which the applicants belong) on average sell a greater quantity of products imported from other Member States than that sold by small and medium-sized traders; — the turnover achieved by large-scale distributors and organized distribution centres on Sundays cannot be compensated for by substitute purchases by customers on other days of the week, such purchases being made within a commercial network which in general obtains its supplies from domestic producers? 2. If the answer to Question 1 is in the affirmative, does the national measure in question fall within the derogations from Article 30 provided for in Article 36 of the Treaty of Rome, or other derogations provided for by Community law?’ In addition, by order of 10 October 1994 ( 6 ) (Case C-332/94) the Pretura referred the following questions which are in part similar to the preceding questions: ‘Whereas — large-scale distributors and organized distribution centres, which are mostly located on the periphery of, or outside, large towns, offer for sale and sell on average a greater quantity of products imported from other Member States than is offered for sale and sold by small and medium-sized traders, who unlike the former are widely scattered throughout Italy, in both town and country; — sales by large-scale distributors and organized distribution centres on Sundays alone, in the brief periods in which they are allowed to sell on that day, are greater than sales made by those businesses during the working week; — sales which large-scale distributors and organized distribution centres cannot make on public holidays are not compensated for by those which they make during the working week, and therefore unsatisfied customer demand is directed towards other trade outlets (made up of small and medium-sized businesses closer to consumers and easy to reach even on public holidays) which, however, in general obtain their supplies only from domestic producers; Question 1 Does a provision of national law which (save for certain products) requires retail shops to close on Sundays and public holidays, but does not prohibit working in such shops even on those days (and penalizes breach of that requirement by forced closure and withdrawal of licences), constitute: (a) a measure having an effect equivalent to a restriction on imports within the meaning of Article 30 of the Treaty of Rome and secondary rules of Community law adopted in pursuance of the principles laid down therein; or (b) a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between Member States; or (c) a measure which is disproportionate and inappropriate in relation to the socio-ethical aim pursued by the provision of national law; or (d) an infringement of Article 52 of the EEC Treaty concerning freedom of establishment and of subsequent Community legislation enacted in implementation of that principle; or (e) an infringement of Article 2(2) of Directive 64/223/EEC concerning the attainment of freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services in respect of activities in wholesale trade; or (f) an infringement of Directives 83/189 and 88/182 concerning the elimination of technical barriers to trade between the Member States, in view of the fact that the prohibition on Sunday opening of shops is a general prohibition in appearance only, which is in fact subject to exemptions for a series of products which are, except in a very few unavoidable instances, exclusively of domestic origin? Question 2 If the answer to the first question, in each of its parts, is in the affirmative, does the national measure fall within the derogations from Article 30 provided for in Article 36 of the Treaty of Rome, or within other derogations provided for by Community law?’