ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
10

Article 19 of that directive is in Section 2, entitled ‘Provisions to ensure investor protection’, of Title II, Chapter II. Conduct of business obligations when providing investment services to clients. It is entitled ‘Conduct of business obligations when providing investment services to clients’. Article 19(4), (5) and (9) provides: ‘4. When providing investment advice or portfolio management the investment firm shall obtain the necessary information regarding the client’s or potential client’s knowledge and experience in the investment field relevant to the specific type of product or service, his financial situation and his investment objectives so as to enable the firm to recommend to the client or potential client the investment services and financial instruments that are suitable for him. 5. Member States shall ensure that investment firms, when providing investment services other than those referred to in paragraph 4, ask the client or potential client to provide information regarding his knowledge and experience in the investment field relevant to the specific type of product or service offered or demanded so as to enable the investment firm to assess whether the investment service or product envisaged is appropriate for the client. … 9. In cases where an investment service is offered as part of a financial product which is already subject to other provisions of Community legislation or common European standards related to credit institutions and consumer credits with respect to risk assessment of clients and/or information requirements, this service shall not be additionally subject to the obligations set out in this Article.’
11

Article 6 of that directive provides: ‘1. For special areas of conservation, Member States shall establish the necessary conservation measures involving, if need be, appropriate management plans specifically designed for the sites or integrated into other development plans, and appropriate statutory, administrative or contractual measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II present on the sites. 2. Member States shall take appropriate steps to avoid, in the special areas of conservation, the deterioration of natural habitats and the habitats of species as well as disturbance of the species for which the areas have been designated, in so far as such disturbance could be significant in relation to the objectives of this Directive. 3. Any plan or project not directly connected with or necessary to the management of the site but likely to have a significant effect thereon, either individually or in combination with other plans or projects, shall be subject to appropriate assessment of its implications for the site in view of the site’s conservation objectives. In the light of the conclusions of the assessment of the implications for the site and subject to the provisions of paragraph 4, the competent national authorities shall agree to the plan or project only after having ascertained that it will not adversely affect the integrity of the site concerned and, if appropriate, after having obtained the opinion of the general public. 4. If, in spite of a negative assessment of the implications for the site and in the absence of alternative solutions, a plan or project must nevertheless be carried out for imperative reasons of overriding public interest, including those of a social or economic nature, the Member State shall take all compensatory measures necessary to ensure that the overall coherence of Natura 2000 is protected. It shall inform the Commission of the compensatory measures adopted. Where the site concerned hosts a priority natural habitat type and/or a priority species, the only considerations which may be raised are those relating to human health or public safety, to beneficial consequences of primary importance for the environment or, further to an opinion from the Commission, to other imperative reasons of overriding public interest.’
30

In those circumstances, it is appropriate to consider that, by its question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 3(3) of Regulation No 565/2002 and Article 4(3) of Regulation No 2988/95 must be interpreted as meaning that they preclude a mechanism, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, by which, following an order placed by an operator, a traditional importer within the meaning of the former regulation, having exhausted its licences to import at a preferential rate of duty, with a second operator, also a traditional importer not holding such licences, — goods are, first of all, sold, outside the European Union, by an undertaking connected with the second operator, to a third operator, a new importer within the meaning of the former regulation, holding such licences, — the goods are, then, released for free circulation in the European Union by the third operator at the preferential rate of customs duty, subsequently sold on by the third to the second operator and — the goods are, finally, sold by the second to the first operator, on the ground that such a mechanism, in so far as it allows the first operator to acquire goods imported under the tariff quota set out in the former regulation despite the fact that the first operator does not hold the necessary licences for so doing, amounts to abuse of rights by the first operator.
54

As regards the legal provisions at issue in the main proceedings, according to the case-file submitted to the Court the amount of the tax on gifts of immovable property in Germany is calculated under the ErbStG on the basis both of the value of the property and of the family relationship, if any, between the donor and the beneficiary. Neither of those criteria depends on the place of residence of the donor or the beneficiary. Therefore, as the Advocate General observes in point 62 of his Opinion, as regards the gift tax payable in respect of immovable property in Germany which is the object of a gift, there is no objective difference justifying unequal tax treatment between a situation in which no party to the gift resides in that Member State and one in which at least one of those parties resides in that State. Therefore, the situation of Ms Hünnebeck’s daughters is comparable to that of any beneficiary who acquires immovable property in Germany by way of a gift from a person resident in Germany with whom there is a parent-child relationship, and also to that of any beneficiary residing in Germany who receives such a gift from such a person who does not reside there (see, by analogy, the judgment of 22 April 2010 in Mattner, C‑510/08, EU:C:2010:216, paragraph 36).
28

In those circumstances, the Curtea de Apel Bacău (Appeal Court, Bacău, Romania) decided to stay proceedings and to refer to the Court for a preliminary ruling the following questions, the first of which relates to Case C‑260/14 alone, and the second to fourth of which are, for all essential purposes, the same in Case C‑260/14 and C‑261/14. ‘(1) Does the failure of a contracting authority, the beneficiary of a Structural Fund grant, to comply with rules concerning the award of a public contract of an estimated value lower than the threshold provided for by Article 7(a) of Directive 2004/18 in connection with the award of a contract for the performance of the action eligible for the grant, constitute an “irregularity” within the meaning of Article 1 of Regulation No 2988/95 or an “irregularity” within the meaning of Article 2(7) of Regulation No 1083/2006? (2) Must the second sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 98(2) of Regulation No 1083/2006 be interpreted as meaning that financial corrections by Member States, if applied to co-financed expenditure under Structural Funds for failure to comply with rules concerning public contracts, are administrative measures within the meaning of Article 4 of Regulation No 2988/95 or administrative penalties within the meaning of Article 5(c) of that regulation? (3) If the answer to the second question is to the effect that financial corrections by Member States are administrative penalties, should the principle of retroactive application of the less severe penalty referred to in the second sentence of Article 2(2) of Regulation No 2988/95 be applied? (4) In circumstances in which financial corrections have been applied to co-financed expenditure under Structural Funds for failure to comply with rules on public contracts, does Article 2(2) of Regulation No 2988/95 in conjunction with the second sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 98(2) of Regulation No 1083/2006, having regard also to the principles of legal certainty and protection of legitimate expectations, prevent a Member State from applying financial corrections governed by an internal legislative measure which entered into force after the alleged infringement of the rules on public contracts occurred?’
12

Article 6(1) to (3) of that directive provides: ‘1. For special areas of conservation, Member States shall establish the necessary conservation measures involving, if need be, appropriate management plans specifically designed for the sites or integrated into other development plans, and appropriate statutory, administrative or contractual measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II present on the sites. 2. Member States shall take appropriate steps to avoid, in the special areas of conservation, the deterioration of natural habitats and the habitats of species as well as disturbance of the species for which the areas have been designated, in so far as such disturbance could be significant in relation to the objectives of this Directive. 3. Any plan or project not directly connected with or necessary to the management of the site but likely to have a significant effect thereon, either individually or in combination with other plans or projects, shall be subject to appropriate assessment of its implications for the site in view of the site’s conservation objectives. In the light of the conclusions of the assessment of the implications for the site and subject to the provisions of paragraph 4, the competent national authorities shall agree to the plan or project only after having ascertained that it will not adversely affect the integrity of the site concerned and, if appropriate, after having obtained the opinion of the general public.’
23

As regards Agenda item 5 at the 25th session of the OTIF Revision Committee, concerning the partial revision of Appendix B (CIM), Section 3 of the annex to the contested decision provides: ‘… Competence: shared Exercising voting rights: Union for Articles 6 and 6a. Member States for other Articles. Recommended coordinated position: Amendments to Article 6 and new Article 6a concern Union law because of the use of the consignment note and its accompanying documents for customs and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) procedures. The Union agrees with the intention of OTIF to give priority to the electronic form of consignment notes. However, at present the adoption of these amendments may lead to unintended consequences. The current simplified procedure for customs transit by rail is only possible with paper documents. Therefore, if railways opt for the electronic consignment note, they will have to use the standard transit procedure and the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS). The Commission has started preparations for a working group to discuss the use of electronic transport documents for transit under Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council [of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ 2013 L 269, p. 1)]. That working group will have its kick-off meeting on 4-5 June 2014. The Union agrees also with the intention to provide the accompanying documents in electronic format. However, under current Union law there is no legal basis to provide the documents (e.g. Common Veterinary Entry Document, Common Entry Document) which have to accompany SPS-related goods in electronic format and therefore they need to be provided on paper. The Commission has prepared a draft Regulation, which will cater for electronic certification and the draft is currently under discussion in the European Parliament and the Council. That Regulation (Official Control Regulation) is envisaged to be adopted by end of 2015/beginning of 2016, however, there will be a transitional period for the enforcement. Therefore, the Union suggests that no decision should be taken on these items at the present session of the [Revision Committee] and that OTIF continue cooperation with the Union on this issue in order to have a well‑prepared solution for an upcoming revision of CIM which should ideally be synchronised with the Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 and its implementing provisions which are to be in force from 1 May 2016. Certain electronic procedures may be phased in between 2016 and 2020 in accordance with Article 278 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. …’
3

Recitals 1, 12, 16 and 28 of Directive 2011/7 read as follows: ‘(1) A number of substantive changes are to be made to Directive 2000/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 June 2000 on combating late payment in commercial transactions [OJ 2000 L 200, p. 35]. It is desirable, for reasons of clarity and rationalisation, that the provisions in question should be recast. … (12) Late payment constitutes a breach of contract which has been made financially attractive to debtors in most Member States by low or no interest rates charged on late payments and/or slow procedures for redress. A decisive shift to a culture of prompt payment, including one in which the exclusion of the right to charge interest should always be considered to be a grossly unfair contractual term or practice, is necessary to reverse this trend and to discourage late payment. Such a shift should also include the introduction of specific provisions on payment periods and on the compensation of creditors for the costs incurred, and, inter alia, that the exclusion of the right to compensation for recovery costs should be presumed to be grossly unfair. … (16) This Directive should not oblige a creditor to claim interest for late payment. … … (28) This Directive should prohibit abuse of freedom of contract to the disadvantage of the creditor. As a result, where a term in a contract or a practice relating to the date or period for payment, the rate of interest for late payment or the compensation for recovery costs is not justified on the grounds of the terms granted to the debtor, or it mainly serves the purpose of procuring the debtor additional liquidity at the expense of the creditor, it may be regarded as constituting such an abuse. For that purpose, … any contractual term or practice which grossly deviates from good commercial practice and is contrary to good faith and fair dealing should be regarded as unfair to the creditor. In particular, the outright exclusion of the right to charge interest should always be considered as grossly unfair, whereas the exclusion of the right to compensation for recovery costs should be presumed to be grossly unfair. This Directive should not affect national provisions relating to the way contracts are concluded or regulating the validity of contractual terms which are unfair to the debtor.’
Heading 9025 of the Combined Nomenclature set out in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Regulation No 1549/2006, must be interpreted as covering ambient temperature indicators made of paper, in some circumstances covered with plastic film, such as the goods at issue in the main proceedings, which, by the effect of a change in colour, indicate, irreversibly and without the possibility of subsequent re-use, whether one or more threshold temperatures have been reached.

It is apparent from the wording of that heading that it covers in particular ‘thermometers’.

Although the Combined Nomenclature does not define that concept, it must be noted that, according to the accepted meaning of the word, it refers to temperature measuring instruments, as is moreover shown, in numerous language versions of the Combined Nomenclature, by the combination of the words of Greek origin which make it up.

The goods referred to above are, on the basis of their objective characteristics and properties, designed to be used exclusively as temperature measuring instruments.

The fact that those goods are made of paper and possibly covered with plastic film and that they function more simply than certain other measuring instruments which make use of more sophisticated mechanisms, or the fact that they allow only measurement of certain predetermined threshold temperatures, or, further, the fact that they cannot be used on more than one occasion in the light of the irreversibility of the marking which takes place where such threshold temperatures are reached, do not preclude those goods from being classified under heading 9025 of the Combined Nomenclature.

(see paras. 26, 27, 30, 36, 40, operative part)
1.

Declares that, by levying the full amount of registration tax provided for under its national legislation at the time of registration of a vehicle which is rented or leased by a customer resident in its territory from a supplier established in another Member State, without taking into consideration the duration of the rental contract or lease contract and the duration of use of that vehicle in the national territory of Greece, the Hellenic Republic failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 56 TFEU to 62 TFEU;
EU law must be interpreted as meaning that where, in accordance with the applicable national law, a plea alleging infringement of national law raised for the first time before the national court hearing an appeal on a point of law is admissible only if that plea is based on public policy, a plea alleging infringement of the right to be heard, as guaranteed by EU law, raised for the first time before that same court, must be held to be admissible if that right, as guaranteed by national law, satisfies the conditions required by national law for it to be classified as a plea based on public policy, this being a matter for the referring court to determine.

In the absence of EU rules on the matter, it is for the national legal order of each Member State to establish them in accordance with the principle of procedural autonomy, on condition, however, that those rules comply with the principles of equivalence and effectiveness. Compliance with the principle of equivalence requires that the national rule in question apply without distinction to actions based on infringement of EU law and those based on infringement of national law having a similar purpose and cause of action. Consequently, if a national court hearing an appeal on a point of law considers the plea based on failure to respect the right to be heard to be a plea based on national public policy which may be raised for the first time before it in proceedings governed by national law, the principle of equivalence requires that, in the same proceedings, a similar plea alleging infringement of EU law may also be raised for the first time before that same court at the stage of an appeal on a point of law.

(see paras 24, 29, 31, 35, operative part)
Directive 2000/78 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation must be interpreted as meaning that:

– the fact that the person concerned finds himself or herself in a situation of temporary incapacity for work, as defined in national law, for an indeterminate amount of time, as the result of an accident at work, does not mean, in itself, that the limitation of that person’s capacity can be classified as being ‘long-term’, within the meaning of the definition of ‘disability’ laid down by that directive, read in the light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN Convention);

– the evidence which makes it possible to find that such a limitation is ‘long-term’ includes the fact that, at the time of the allegedly discriminatory act, the incapacity of the person concerned does not display a clearly defined prognosis as regards short-term progress or the fact that that incapacity is likely to be significantly prolonged before that person has recovered; and

– in the context of the verification of that ‘long-term’ nature, the referring court must base its decision on all of the objective evidence in its possession, in particular on documents and certificates relating to that person’s condition, established on the basis of current medical and scientific knowledge and data.

That directive covers, inter alia, disabilities caused by an accident. Therefore, if an accident entails a limitation resulting in particular from long-term physical, mental or psychological impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder the full and effective participation of the person concerned in professional life on an equal basis with other workers, and if that limitation is long-term, it may come within the concept of ‘disability’ within the meaning of Directive 2000/78.

The UN Convention does not define ‘long-term’ as regards a physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment. Directive 2000/78 does not define ‘disability’, nor does it clarify the concept of a ‘long-term’ limitation of a person’s capacity for the purposes of that concept.

In the absence of an express reference to the law of the Member States, the concept of a ‘long-term’ limitation of a person’s capacity, within the meaning of the concept of ‘disability’ referred to by Directive 2000/78, must therefore be given an autonomous and uniform interpretation.

Moreover, the ‘long-term’ nature of the limitation must be assessed in relation to the condition of incapacity, as such, of the person concerned at the time of the alleged discriminatory act adopted against him.

Finally, with regard to the notion of the ‘long-term’ nature of a limitation in the context of Article 1 of Directive 2000/78 and of the objective pursued by that directive, the importance which the EU legislature attaches to measures for adapting the workplace to the disability demonstrates that it envisaged situations in which participation in professional life is hindered over a long period of time.

(see paras 44, 45, 49, 51, 53, 54, 59, operative part)
Directive 2000/60 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides that the price of water services invoiced to the consumer includes not only a variable component calculated according to the volume of water actually consumed by the person concerned, but also a fixed component which is not connected with that volume.

Provided that the Member States fulfil the obligation to recover the costs of services connected with water use, including the environmental and resource costs, as provided for in Article 9 of Directive 2000/60, they may choose between various pricing methods best suited to their own situation as part of the discretion left to them under Directive 2000/60, since that directive does not require them to use any specific pricing method.

(see paras 23, 27, operative part)
3.

State aid — Concept — Selective nature of the measure — Derogation from the general tax system — Justification derived from the nature and general scheme of the system — Scope of review by the General Court (Art. 107(1) TFEU) (see para. 79)