ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Social security for migrant workers - Benefits - National rules against overlapping - Restriction of the ceiling fixed for the overlapping of a retirement and a survivor's pension where a survivor's pension is payable under the regime of another Member State - Legislation constituting a provision on reduction within the meaning of Regulation No 1408/71

(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Arts 46a and 46b)

2. Social security for migrant workers - Benefits - National rules against overlapping - Applicability - Limits - Community legislation, including its rules against overlapping, more favourable to the worker

(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Arts 12(2) and 46)

Summary

1. The legislation of a Member State governing the calculation of a survivor's pension and establishing a restriction of the ceiling fixed for the overlapping of a retirement and a survivor's pension where the surviving spouse can claim a survivor's pension payable by another Member State is a provision on reduction within the meaning of Articles 46a and 46b of Regulation No 1408/71 as amended by Regulation No 1248/92.

A national rule must be regarded as a provision on reduction of benefit, within the meaning of Regulation No 1408/71, if the calculation which it requires to be made has the effect of reducing the amount of the pension which the person concerned may claim, because he receives a benefit from another Member State.

( see paras 16, 20, operative part 1 )

2. Articles 46a and 46b of Regulation No 1408/71, as amended by Regulation No 1248/92, preclude the application of the legislation of a Member State containing a provision against overlapping under which a survivor's pension received in that Member State must be reduced because of a survivor's pension acquired in another Member State, where the benefits payable in application of the legislation of the first Member State are less favourable than those determined in application of Article 46 of that regulation.

The competent institution of a Member State must compare the benefits which would be payable in application of the national legislation alone, including its rules against overlapping, with those which would be payable in application of Community law, and award to the migrant worker the benefit which yields the higher amount.

( see paras 29-30, operative part 2 )
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Common Customs Tariff - Tariff headings - Immunoglobulin concentrates from colostrum - Classification in Chapter 30 of the Combined Nomenclature

Summary

$$On a proper construction of Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Regulation No 2086/97, immunoglobulin concentrates from dried, defatted and decaseinated colostrum, standardised by means of lactose, are to be classified as pharmaceutical products in Chapter 30 of the Combined Nomenclature. Products based on colostrum, a gland secretion for organo-therapeutic uses, supplemented by immunoglobulins, have a therapeutic purpose within the meaning of heading 3001 of the Combined Nomenclature.

( see paras 26-27, operative part )
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Agriculture - Common agricultural policy - Integrated administration and control system for certain aid schemes - Livestock aid - Discrepancy between the number of animals declared and the number of animals found during checks - Reduction of the amount of aid - Conditions

(Commission Regulation No 3887/92, Art. 10(2), first subpara.)

Summary

$$On a proper construction of the first and second sentences of the first subparagraph of Article 10(2) of Regulation No 3887/92, the unit amount of the aid must be reduced even where the discrepancy between the number of animals declared and the number of animals found during checks is not attributable to incorrect information given by the applicant but to the fact that the necessary conditions for the grant of the premiums are not satisfied in regard to certain animals.

( see para 42, operative part )
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Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Tax legislation — Tax on company profits — Taxation as disguised dividends of interest paid by a company in return for capital loaned to a major shareholder not in receipt of a tax credit — Provision affecting mainly company shareholders that are foreign parent companies — Not permissible — Whether justifiable — No justification — (Art. 43 EC)

Summary

Article 43 EC is to be interpreted as precluding tax legislation of a Member State, which provides that repayments in respect of loan capital which a company has obtained from a shareholder, such as its parent company, with a substantial holding in its capital must, in certain cases, be regarded as a covert distribution of profits, and which applies only to repayments in respect of capital obtained from a shareholder not entitled to tax credit, where, in the large majority of cases, resident parent companies received a tax credit, whereas, as a general rule, non-resident parent companies do not.

Such a difference in treatment between resident subsidiary companies according to the seat of their parent company makes it less attractive for companies established in other Member States to exercise freedom of establishment and they may, in consequence, refrain from acquiring, creating or maintaining a subsidiary in the State which adopts that measure and constitutes an obstacle to freedom of establishment which is, in principle, prohibited by Article 43 EC.

That legislation cannot be justified by reasons linked to the risk of tax evasion, where it does not have the specific purpose of preventing wholly artificial arrangements, designed to circumvent national tax legislation, but applies generally to any situation in which the parent company has its seat, for whatever reason, outside the Member State, since such a situation does not, of itself, entail a risk of tax evasion; nor can it be justified by the need to ensure the coherence of a tax system, there being no direct link between the less favourable tax treatment suffered by the subsidiary of a non-resident parent company and any tax advantage to offset such treatment.

see paras 27-28, 32, 36-37, 40, 42, 45, operative part
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Environment — Conservation of wild birds — Directive 79/409 — Classification of special protection areas — Obligation of the Member States — Obligation to make a definitive and full classification — (Council Directive 79/409, Art. 4)

Summary

Article 4(1) and (2) of Directive 79/409 on the conservation of wild birds requires Member States to classify as special protection areas the most suitable territories in number and size for the conservation of the species mentioned in Annex I as well as the breeding, moulting and wintering areas and staging posts along the migration routes of migratory species not listed in that annex.

A contingent classification of the special protection area sites resulting from a decision of the competent authority in the Member State concerned, which may be amended in accordance with the judgments in the actions brought against it, cannot be held to constitute proper fulfilment of the obligation to classify sites which is incumbent on Member States and moreover, the lack of a full and definitive classification prevents the Commission from taking the appropriate initiatives referred to in Article 4(3) of the directive for the purpose of the coordination necessary to ensure that the special protection areas form a coherent whole.

see paras 16-17, 19-20, 32-33
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1. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations — Subject-matter of the dispute — Determination during the course of the pre-litigation procedure — Subject-matter adjusted because of an amendment to Community law — Whether permissible — Conditions — (Art. 226 EC)

2. Own resources of the European Communities — Establishment and making available by Member States — Crediting the Commission's account — Delays in crediting — Obligation to pay default interest — Error by the national authorities in crediting the Commission's account — Not relevant — (Council Regulation No 1150/2000, Art. 11)

Summary

1. In the context of an action for failure to fulfil obligations, although the claims as stated in the application cannot in principle be extended beyond the infringements alleged in the operative part of the reasoned opinion and in the letter of formal notice, it is none the less true that, where Community law is amended during the course of the pre-litigation procedure, the Commission has standing to seek a declaration that a Member State has failed to fulfil obligations which were created in the initial version of a Community measure, subsequently amended or repealed, and which were maintained in force under the new provisions. Conversely, the subject-matter of the dispute cannot be extended to obligations arising under new provisions which do not correspond to those arising under the initial version of the measure concerned, as otherwise it would constitute a breach of the essential procedural requirements of infringement proceedings.

see para. 22

2. There is an inseparable link between the obligation to establish the Communities' own resources, the obligation to credit them to the Commission's account within the prescribed time-limit and the obligation to pay default interest. The default interest provided for by Article 11 of Regulation No 1150/2000 implementing Decision 94/728 on the system of the Communities' own resources is payable in respect of any delay, regardless of the reason for the delay in making the entry in the Commission's account.

It follows, on the one hand, that no distinction may be made between where delay is due to a clerical error and where it is due to an error in law and, on the other, that the unintentional nature of the delay in making the entry cannot eliminate the obligation to pay default interest.

see paras 43-45
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Actions for annulment — Natural and legal persons — Measures of direct and individual concern to them — Regulations introducing specific measures in respect of imports of rice originating in the overseas countries and territories — Action brought by the Netherlands Antilles — Inadmissible — (EC Treaty, Art. 173, fourth para., (now, after amendment, Art. 230, fourth para. EC; Commission Regulations Nos 2352/97 and 2494/97)

Summary

A measure of general application such as a regulation can be of individual concern to natural and legal persons only if it affects them by reason of certain attributes peculiar to them, or by reason of a factual situation which differentiates them from all other persons and distinguishes them individually in the same way as the addressee.

The Netherlands Antilles are not individually concerned by Regulation No 2352/97 introducing specific measures in respect of imports of rice originating in the overseas countries and territories (OCT) and Regulation No 2494/97 on the issuing of import licences for rice falling within CN code 1006 and originating in the overseas countries and territories under the specific measures introduced by Regulation No 2352/97.

First, the general interest which an OCT, as an entity responsible for economic and social affairs within its jurisdiction, may have in obtaining a result that is favourable for its economic prosperity is not sufficient on its own to enable it to be regarded as being concerned, or ─ a fortiori ─ individually concerned, for the purposes of the fourth paragraph of Article 173 of the Treaty, (now, after amendment, the fourth paragraph of Article 230 EC) by Regulations Nos 2352/97 and 2494/97.

Second, the finding that the Commission was required, in so far as the circumstances of the case so permitted, to take account, at the time when Regulations Nos 2352/97 and 2494/97 were adopted, of the negative effects which those regulations might have on the economy of the OCTs concerned and on the undertakings concerned does not discharge the Netherlands Antilles from the burden of proving that they were affected by those regulations by reason of a factual situation which differentiates them from all other persons. The fact that the Netherlands Antilles exported by far the most rice originating in the OCTs to the Community is not such as to distinguish them from all other OCTs. Even if the assertion that the safeguard measures laid down by Regulations Nos 2352/97 and 2494/97 were liable to have significant socio-economic consequences for the Netherlands Antilles proved to be well founded, the fact nevertheless remains that those measures will have similar consequences for the other OCTs. The economic activity of the processing of rice from third countries in the OCTs, is a commercial activity that may be carried out at any time by any economic operator in any OCT. Such economic activity is not therefore such as to differentiate the Netherlands Antilles from all other OCTs.

see paras 65, 69, 76-78, 80
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Approximation of laws — Trade marks — Directive 89/104 — Refusal of registration or invalidity — Marks consisting exclusively of signs or indications which may serve to designate the characteristics of the goods — Definition — Neologism consisting of elements descriptive of characteristics of the goods or services concerned — Included where the nature of the combination is not unusual — Existence of synonyms to designate the same characteristics — No effect — (Council Directive 89/104, Art. 3(1)(c))

Summary

Article 3(1)(c) First Directive 89/104 on trade marks must be interpreted as meaning that a trade mark consisting of a neologism composed of elements each of which is descriptive of characteristics of the goods or services in respect of which registration is sought is itself descriptive of the characteristics of those goods or services for the purposes of that provision, unless there is a perceptible difference between the neologism and the mere sum of its parts: that assumes that, because of the unusual nature of the combination in relation to the goods or services, the word creates an impression which is sufficiently far removed from that produced by the mere combination of meanings lent by the elements of which it is composed, with the result that the word is more than the sum of its parts.

For the purposes of determining whether the ground for refusal set out in Article 3(1)(c) of Directive 89/104 applies to such a mark, it is irrelevant whether or not there are synonyms capable of designating the same characteristics of the goods or services referred to in the application for registration.

see para. 45, operative part
Case C-76/00 P





Petrotub SA and Republica SA

v

Council of the European Union





«(Appeal – Protection against dumping – Determination of the dumping margin – Choice of the asymmetrical calculation method – Article 2.4.2 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT – Statement of reasons – Determination of normal value – Taking into account of sales made using compensation – Statement of reasons)»

Opinion of Advocate General Jacobs delivered on 25 April 2002 I - 0000

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 9 January 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment

1.. Appeals – Pleas in law – Admissibility – Conditions – Submission of arguments also raised before the Court of First Instance – No effect

(Art. 225 EC; EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 51, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Art. 112(1)(c))

2.. Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Dumping margin – Comparison between the normal value and the export price – Use of the asymmetrical method – Conditions

(Council Regulation No 384/96, Art. 2(11))

3.. International agreements – Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation – GATT 1994 – Direct effect – None – Not possible to rely on the WTO agreements to contest the lawfulness of a Community act – Exceptions – Community measure intended to implement a GATT or WTO rule or expressly and specifically referring thereto

(Art. 230 EC; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994)

4.. Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Dumping margin – Rules relating to the calculation of the dumping margin, contained in the GATT 1994 Anti-dumping Code – Transposition into Community law by the basic anti-dumping regulation – Effect – Obligation to state reasons for the choice of recourse to the asymmetrical method

(EC Treaty, Art. 190 (now Art. 253 EC); Council Regulation No 384/96, Art. 2(11); Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994 Anti-dumping Code, Art. 2.4.2)

5.. Community law – Interpretation – Methods – Interpretation in the light of international agreements concluded by the Community

6.. Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope

(EC Treaty, Art. 190 (now Art. 253 EC))

7.. Common commercial policy – Protection against dumping – Dumping margin – Determination of the normal value – Taking into account, by way of exception, of the prices charged between parties which have a compensatory arrangement with each other – Need to justify recourse to the exception

(EC Treaty, Art. 190 (now Art. 253 EC); Council Regulation No 384/96, Art. 2(1), first and third subparas)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

10 December 2002

((Freedom to provide services – Banking activities – Employee of a credit institution established in a Member State and canvassing for clients in another Member State – National legislation on banking secrecy – Refusal to answer questions and to give evidence in a judicial investigation))

THE COURT,,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

─

─

─

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Mr der Weduwe, represented by B. Poelemans, advocaat; of the Belgian Government, represented by M. van der Woude and T. Chellingsworth; of the Luxembourg Government, represented by N. Mackel, acting as Agent, and by P. Kinsch, avocat, and of the Commission, represented by C. Tufvesson and T. van Rijn, at the hearing on 29 January 2002,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 23 April 2002,
Case C-466/00





Arben Kaba

v

Secretary of State for the Home Department





(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Immigration Adjudicator)

«(Free movement of workers – Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 – Social advantage – Right of the spouse of a migrant worker to obtain leave to remain indefinitely in the territory of a Member State)»

Opinion of Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer delivered on 11 July 2002 I - 0000

Judgment of the Court, 6 March 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment

1.. Preliminary rulings – Judgment of the Court – Authority of a ruling – Option for the national court to make a further reference to the Court – Scope

(Art. 234 EC)

2.. Preliminary rulings – Reference to the Court – Determination of the questions to be referred – Exclusive competence of the national court – Possibility for the parties to alter the wording of the questions – None – Suppositions raised by the parties and reproduced in the decision making the reference – Not to be taken into consideration

(Art. 234 EC)

3.. Freedom of movement for persons – Workers – Right of residence of family members – Indefinite leave to remain for a worker's spouse – National rules requiring a shorter period of residence for the spouses of persons present and settled in the national territory than for nationals of another Member State and members of their families not fulfilling that condition – No comparability of the respective situations of those two categories of persons under Community law – Discrimination contrary to Article 7(2) of Regulation No 1612/68 – None

(Council Regulation No 1612/68, Art. 7(2))

1.

2.

3.
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

21 January 2003

((Reference for a preliminary ruling – Freedom to provide services – Refusal to display advertisements for alcoholic drinks at a sporting event taking place in a Member State whose law allows television advertising for alcoholic drinks but being broadcast on television in another Member State whose law prohibits such advertising – Relevance of the questions for the outcome of the main proceedings))

and

THE COURT,,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

─

─

─

─

having regard to the national court's reply to a request for clarification pursuant to Article 104(5) of the Rules of Procedure, received at the Court on 26 February 2002,having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Bacardi-Martini SAS and Cellier des Dauphins, represented by N. Green and M. Hoskins; the United Kingdom Government, represented by G. Amodeo and K. Beal; the French Government, represented by R. Loosli-Surrans; and the Commission, represented by H. van Lier, acting as Agent, at the hearing on 14 May 2002,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 26 September 2002,
Case C-363/00





Commission of the European Communities

v

Italian Republic





«(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Communities' own resources – Error in crediting the account opened in the name of the Commission – Default interest)»

Opinion of Advocate General Geelhoed delivered on 9 July 2002 I - 0000

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 12 June 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment

1.. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations – Subject-matter of the dispute – Determination during the course of the pre-litigation procedure – Subject-matter adjusted because of an amendment to Community law – Whether permissible – Conditions

(Art. 226 EC)

2.. Own resources of the European Communities – Establishment and making available by Member States – Crediting the Commission's account – Delays in crediting – Obligation to pay default interest – Error by the national authorities in crediting the Commission's account – Not relevant

(Council Regulation No 1150/2000, Art. 11)

1.

2.
Case C-142/00 P





Commission of the European Communities

v

Nederlandse Antillen





«(Appeal – Arrangements for association of the overseas countries and territories – Imports of rice originating in the overseas countries and territories – Safeguard measures – Regulations (EC) Nos 2352/97 and 2494/97 – Action for annulment – Inadmissibility of the action)»

Opinion of Advocate General Léger delivered on 12 September 2002 I - 0000

Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 10 April 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment
Case C-283/00





Commission of the European Communities

v

Kingdom of Spain





«(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Public procurement – Directive 93/37/EEC – Procedure for the award of public works contracts – State commercial company governed by private law – Company's object consisting of the implementation of a plan for repaying the costs of and establishing prisons – Concept of contracting authority)»

Opinion of Advocate General Alber delivered on 7 November 2002 I - 0000

Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 16 October 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment