Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 22 February 2022 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Rotterdam — Netherlands) — Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd and Others v Staatssecretaris van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport

(Case C-160/20) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Directive 2014/40/EU - Manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products - Products not complying with the maximum emission levels - Prohibition on placing on the market - Measurement method - Filter cigarettes with small ventilation holes - Measurement of the emissions on the basis of ISO standards - Standards not published in the Official Journal of the European Union - Compliance with the publication requirements laid down in Article 297(1) TFEU read in the light of the principle of legal certainty - Compliance with the principle of transparency)

(2022/C 165/03)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Rechtbank Rotterdam

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd, Stichting Inspire2live, Rode Kruis Ziekenhuis BV, Stichting ClaudicatioNet, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Kindergeneeskunde, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Verzekeringsgeneeskunde, Accare, Stichting Universitaire en Algemene Kinder- en Jeugdpsychiatrie Noord-Nederland, Vereniging Praktijkhoudende Huisartsen, Nederlandse Vereniging van Artsen voor Longziekten en Tuberculose, Nederlandse Federatie van Kankerpatiëntenorganisaties, Nederlandse Vereniging Arbeids- en Bedrijfsgeneeskunde, Nederlandse Vereniging voor Cardiologie, Koepel van Artsen Maatschappij en Gezondheid, Koninklijke Nederlandse Maatschappij tot bevordering der Tandheelkunde, College van Burgemeester en Wethouders van Amsterdam

Defendant: Staatssecretaris van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport

Intervener: Vereniging Nederlandse Sigaretten- en Kerftabakfabrikanten (VSK)

Operative part of the judgment

1. Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products and repealing Directive 2001/37/EC is to be interpreted as providing that the maximum emission levels for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide from cigarettes intended to be placed on the market or manufactured in the Member States, prescribed in Article 3(1) of that directive, must be measured in accordance with the measurement methods arising from ISO standards 4387, 10315, 8454 and 8243, to which Article 4(1) refers.

2. Consideration of Question 1 has disclosed no factor of such a kind as to affect the validity of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/40 having regard to the principle of transparency, to Council Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 of 7 March 2013 on the electronic publication of the Official Journal of the European Union, and to Article 297(1) TFEU read in the light of the principle of legal certainty.

3. Consideration of Question 3(a) has disclosed no factor of such a kind as to affect the validity of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/40 having regard to Article 5(3) of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

4. Consideration of Question 3(b) has disclosed no factor of such a kind as to affect the validity of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/40 having regard to Article 114(3) TFEU, the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and Articles 24 and 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

5. Should Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/40 not be binding on individuals, the method used for the purpose of applying Article 3(1) of that directive must be appropriate, in the light of scientific and technical developments or internationally agreed standards, for measuring the levels of emissions released when a cigarette is consumed as intended, and must take as a base a high level of protection of human health, especially for young people, while the accuracy of the measurements obtained by means of that method must be verified by laboratories approved and monitored by the competent authorities of the Member States as referred to in Article 4(2) of that directive.

(1) OJ C 222, 6.7.2020.