ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
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1. Common Customs Tariff - Tariff headings - Electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy within the meaning of heading No 8517 of the Combined Nomenclature - Inclusion by the Commission of adapters, link adapters, transceivers and adapter cards under that heading - Not permissible - Invalidity of items 1 to 3 of the annex to Regulation No 1638/94 and item 4 of the annex to Regulation No 1165/95

(Commission Regulations No 1638/94, annex, items 1 to 3, and No 1165/95, annex, item 4)

Summary

1. Regulations No 1638/94 and No 1165/95 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature are invalid inasmuch as they classify under heading No 8517 of the Combined Nomenclature (electrical apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy) the adapters, link adapters and transceivers described in items 1 to 3 of the annex to Regulation No 1638/94 and the adapter cards described in item 4 of the annex to Regulation No 1165/95.

The Commission ought to have realised, in the light of the wording of headings No 8471 and No 8517, read in conjunction with the explanatory notes, as worded when those regulations were adopted, that it was wrong to classify those types of network equipment under heading No 8517. That error is manifest and consequently renders those regulations invalid.

( see paras 22, 27 and operative part, paras 1-2 )

2. Items of computer network equipment which are connectable to the central processing unit either directly or through one or more other units, which are specifically designed as part of a data-processing system, which are able to accept or deliver data in a form which can be used by the system and which have no function that they would be capable of performing without the assistance of an automatic data-processing machine must be classified under heading No 8471 of the Combined Nomenclature.

( see para. 27 and operative part 3 )
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1. Agriculture - Common organisation of the markets - Sugar - Intervention price and derived intervention prices - Limit-date for fixing intervention prices - Limit-date not complied with - Consequences

(Council Regulations Nos 1785/81 and 1188/97)

2. Agriculture - Common organisation of the markets - Sugar - Regionalisation of prices - Deficit areas - Regulation fixing the derived intervention price for white sugar for all areas of Italy for a marketing year - Statement of reasons - Obligation - Scope

(EC Treaty, Art. 190 (now Art. 253 EC); Council Regulation No 1188/97)

3. Agriculture - Common organisation of the markets - Sugar - Regionalisation of prices - Deficit areas - Regulation fixing the derived intervention price for white sugar for all areas of Italy for a marketing year - Forecast of a deficit supply situation - Validity of the Regulation

(Council Regulation No 1188/97, Art. 1(f))
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1. Appeals - Pleas in law - Admissibility - Points of law - Classification of a letter as a complaint within the meaning of Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations - Inclusion

(Staff Regulations, Art. 90(2))

2. Officials - Actions - Prior administrative complaint - Time-limits - Matter of public policy

(Staff Regulations, Arts 90 and 91)

3. Officials - Actions - Prior administrative complaint - Definitions - Classification a matter for the Court

(Staff Regulations, Art. 90(2))

Summary

1. The classification of an act or a measure for legal purposes by the Court of First Instance, such as the question whether a letter is to be regarded as a complaint within the meaning of Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations, is a question of law which may be raised in an appeal.

( see para. 11 )

2. The periods for lodging complaints and bringing actions referred to in Articles 90 and 91 of the Staff Regulations are matters of public policy and cannot be left to the discretion of the parties or the Court, which must ascertain, of its own motion if need be, whether they have been complied with. Those periods meet the requirement of legal certainty and the need to avoid any discrimination or arbitrary treatment in the administration of justice.

( see para. 15 )

3. The precise legal classification of a letter or memorandum is a matter for the Court alone and not for the parties. An act whereby an official or servant specifically challenges an administrative measure which adversely affects him constitutes a complaint for the purposes of Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations. It is necessary, in that regard, to give priority to the content of the document rather than its form or title.

( see paras 16-17 )
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1. Preliminary rulings - Admissibility - Need to provide the Court with sufficient details of the factual and legal context

(EC Treaty, Art.177 (now, after amendment, Art. 234 EC))

2. Agriculture - Common organisation of the markets - Beef and veal - Intervention mechanisms - Early marketing premium for calves - Grant of premium according to average carcase weight of calves slaughtered in each of the Member States during 1995 - Principle of non-discrimination - Breach - None

(EC Treaty, Art.40(3) (now, after amendment, Art. 34(2) EC); Council Regulations No 805/68, Art. 4(i)(2) and No 2222/96; Commission Regulations No 3886/92, Art. 50(1) and No 2311/96)

Summary

1. The need to provide an interpretation of Community law which will be of use to the national court makes it necessary that the national court define the factual and legal context of the questions it is asking or, at the very least, explain the factual circumstances on which those questions are based.

That is the case where the order for reference contains information which is sufficiently precise and complete to enable the Court to give a useful reply on the question posed and where the information contained in that order in fact enables the governments of the Member States effectively to state their views on that question.

( see paras 25, 28-29 )

2. The fact that the adoption of a given measure under a common organisation of the market may affect producers in different ways, depending upon the particular nature of their production or on local conditions, cannot be regarded as discrimination prohibited by Article 40(3) of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 34(2) EC) if that measure is determined on the basis of objective rules, formulated to meet the needs of the general common organisation of the market.

The differentiation of entitlement to early-marketing premium for calves according to the average carcase weight of calves slaughtered in each of the Member States during 1995 and the uniform application of a 15% reduction on the average weights thus determined do not entail discrimination between Community producers prohibited under Article 40(3) of the Treaty.

( see paras 44, 48 )
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Agriculture - Common organisation of the markets - Milk and milk products - Producer price for milk - Price fixed unilaterally by a Member State - Incompatible with Community legislation

(Regulation No 804/68 of the Council, Art. 3)

Summary

$$National legislation designed to promote and encourage, by whatever method, the establishment of a uniform producer price for milk, by agreement or by authority, at national or regional level falls, by its nature, outside the bounds of the powers reserved to Member States and conflicts with the principle established by Regulation No 804/68 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products, and in particular Article 3 thereof, of attainment of a target producer price for the milk sold by Community producers.

( see para. 17 and operative part )
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1. Freedom of movement for persons - Freedom of establishment - Freedom to provide services - Doctors - Recognition of diplomas and evidence of formal qualifications - Directive 93/16 - Diploma in specialised medicine obtained in a Member State other than the host Member State - Right to use the corresponding professional title in the host State - Condition - Inclusion of the diploma on the list of specialist training courses in Article 7 of the directive

(Council Directive 93/16, Arts 7 and 19)

2. Freedom of movement for persons - Freedom of establishment - Freedom to provide services - Doctors - Recognition of diplomas and evidence of formal qualifications - Directive 93/16 - Right to use in the host Member State the academic title in the language of the Member State of origin or from which the person concerned comes - Right of the host Member State to authorise the use of the title in another language

(Council Directive 93/16, Art. 10)

Summary

1. A doctor who holds a diploma in specialised medicine obtained in another Member State which does not appear on the list of specialist training courses in Article 7 of Directive 93/16 to facilitate the free movement of doctors and the mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications may not rely on Article 19 of that directive to use the corresponding professional title of specialist in the host State.

While the right to use the title of doctor or specialist doctor in the host Member State, in the language of that State and in accordance with its nomenclature, is a necessary corollary of the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications established by the directive, that applies only if the title of doctor or specialist doctor satisfies the minimum conditions required for this automatic and compulsory mutual recognition.

( see paras 25 to 27 and operative part 1 )

2. The first sentence of Article 10(1) of Directive 93/16 to facilitate the free movement of doctors and the mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications must be interpreted as concerning only the right of beneficiaries of the system of mutual recognition of diplomas established by the directive to use their academic title, and if appropriate its abbreviation, in the language of the Member State of origin or Member State from which they come, but without affecting the right of the host Member State to authorise the use in its territory of the academic title or an equivalent title in a language other than that of the Member State of origin or Member State from which the person concerned comes.

( see para 33 and operative part 2 )
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Member States - Obligations - Implementation of directives - Failure to fulfil obligations - Justification- Not permissible

(Art. 226 EC)

Summary

$$A Member State may not plead provisions, practices or circumstances existing in its internal legal system in order to justify a failure to comply with the obligations and time-limits laid down in a directive

( see para. 10 )
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Tax provisions - Harmonisation of laws - Turnover taxes - Common system of value added tax - Deduction of input tax - Undertaking subject to tax on only one part of its operations - Deductible proportion - Calculation - Receipt by holding company involved in the management of its subsidiaries of share dividends from those subsidiaries - Excluded from denominator - Receipt of loan interest - Excluded from denominator - Condition

(Council Directive 77/388, Arts 4(2) and 19)

Summary

$$Under Article 19 of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, an undertaking which is not subject to value added tax in respect of all its operations may deduct from the tax for which it is liable the tax which it has paid not exceeding a deductible proportion, which is made up of a fraction having as denominator the total amount of turnover attributable to transactions in respect of which value added tax is deductible and to transactions in respect of which it is not deductible. That provision must be interpreted as meaning that the following must be excluded from the denominator: first, share dividends paid by its subsidiaries to a holding company which is a taxable person in respect of other activities and which supplies management services to those subsidiaries, since, as the receipt of dividends is not the consideration for any economic activity, it does not fall within the scope of value added tax; second, interest paid by the subsidiaries to the holding company on loans it has made to them, where the loan transactions do not constitute, for the purposes of Article 4(2) of the Sixth Directive, an economic activity of the holding company.

( see paras 21, 32 and operative part )
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Approximation of laws Procedures for the award of public service contracts Directive 92/50 Principle of equal treatment of tenderers Participation of tenderers receiving subsidies from contracting authorities enabling them to submit tenders at prices lower than those of their competitors Not covert discrimination

(EC Treaty, Art. 59 (now, after amendment, Art. 49 EC); Council Directive 92/50)

Summary

$$The mere fact that the contracting authority allows bodies receiving subsidies of any kind, whether from that contracting authority or from other authorities, which enable them to submit tenders at prices appreciably lower than those of the other, unsubsidised, tenderers, to take part in a procedure for the award of a public service contract does not amount to a breach of the principle of equal treatment laid down in Directive 92/50 relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts.

The mere fact that a contracting authority allows such bodies to take part in a procedure for the award of a public service contract does not constitute either covert discrimination or a restriction contrary to Article 59 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 49 EC).

( see paras 32, 38, and operative parts 1-2 )
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1. Agriculture - Common agricultural policy - Agrimonetary system for the euro - Transitional measures for the introduction of the euro in the common agricultural policy - Evaluation of a complex economic situation - Council's freedom of discretion - Lawfulness - Judicial review - Limits

(Council Regulation No 2800/98, Art. 2)

2. Acts of the institutions - Statement of reasons - Obligation - Scope

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

Summary

1. Where evaluation of a complex economic situation is required, as is the case in the context of the agrimonetary system for the euro, the Community legislature enjoys significant freedom of discretion and the Community judicature, in reviewing the lawfulness of the exercise of such freedom, cannot substitute its evaluation of the matter for that of the competent authority, but must confine itself to examining whether there has been a manifest error or misuse of power or whether that authority has clearly exceeded the bounds of its discretion.

( see para. 36 )

2. While it is true that the statement of reasons required by Article 190 of the Treaty (now Article 253 EC) must show clearly and unequivocally the reasoning of the Community authority which adopted the contested measure so as to enable the persons concerned to ascertain the reasons for it and to enable the Court to exercise judicial review, the authority is not required to go into every relevant point of fact and law. More particularly, it is not possible to require that the statement of reasons should set out the various facts, often very numerous and complex, on the basis of which a regulation was adopted, or a fortiori that it should provide a more or less complete evaluation of those facts.

Furthermore, the question whether a statement of reasons satisfies the requirements must be assessed with reference not only to the wording of the impugned measure but also to its context and to the whole body of legal rules governing the matter in question. Consequently, if the contested measure clearly discloses the essential objective pursued by the institution, it would be excessive to require a specific statement of reasons for each of the technical choices made by the institution.

( see paras 63-64 )
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1. Community law - Interpretation - Effectiveness - Interpretation of a provision, as far as possible, in such a way as not to detract from its validity

2. Agriculture - Common agricultural policy - Agrimonetary system for the euro - Transitional measures for the introduction of the euro in the common agricultural policy - Compensatory aid

(Commission Regulation No 2813/98, Art. 6)

3. Acts of the institutions - Statement of reasons - Obligation - Scope - Account taken of context and whole body of legal rules

(Art. 253 EC)

Summary

1. Where a provision of Community law is open to several interpretations, preference must be given to that interpretation which ensures that the provision retains its effectiveness.

According to a general principle of interpretation, a provision must be interpreted, as far as possible, in such a way as not to detract from its validity.

( see paras 28, 37 )

2. Article 6 of Regulation No 2813/98 laying down detailed rules for applying the transitional measures for the introduction of the euro to the common agricultural policy, according to which the maximum amount of the compensatory aid to farmers resulting from the conversion rates for the euro into national currency units or the applicable conversion rates resulting from a reduction in the agricultural conversion rate frozen until 1 January 1999 was increased by the inverse of the relation between, first, the rate irrevocably fixed by the Council or the exchange rate at the date of the operative event and, second, the frozen agricultural conversion rate, constitutes an exceptional rule applicable only to direct aid for which the operative event occurred on 1 January 1999.

( see paras 30-31 )

3. The question whether the obligation to provide a statement of reasons has been satisfied must be assessed with reference not only to the wording of the contested measure but also to its context and the whole body of legal rules governing the matter in question.

( see para. 41 )
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Procedure - Proceedings brought before the Court of Justice on the basis of an arbitration clause - Contract granting Community financial support in connection with a project concerning the promotion of energy technology in Europe - Unilateral termination of the contract pursuant to the contractual provisions - Demand for reimbursement of the advance payment made together with contractual interest - Obligors jointly and severally liable for the principal sum - Interest payable by the obligor responsible for non-performance of the obligation

(EC Treaty, Art. 181 (now Art. 238 EC))
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Actions for failure to fulfil obligations - Examination of the merits by the Court - Situation to be taken into account - Situation at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion

(Article 226 EC)

Summary

$$For the purposes of an action under Article 226 EC, whether a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations must be determined by reference to the situation in the Member State as it stood at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion, and the Court cannot take account of any subsequent changes.

( see para. 31 )
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Social policy - Men and women - Access to employment and working conditions - Equal treatment - Derogations - Measures to promote equality of opportunity between men and women - Scheme set up by a Minister giving subsidised nursery places only to female officials - Whether permissible - Conditions

(Council Directive 76/207, Arts 2(1) and 4)

Summary

$$Article 2(1) and (4) of Council Directive 76/207 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions does not preclude a scheme set up by a Minister to tackle extensive under-representation of women within his Ministry under which, in a context characterised by a proven insufficiency of proper, affordable care facilities, a limited number of subsidised nursery places made available by the Ministry to its staff is reserved for female officials alone whilst male officials may have access to them only in cases of emergency, to be determined by the employer. That is so, however, only in so far, in particular, as the said exception in favour of male officials is construed as allowing those of them who take care of their children by themselves to have access to that nursery places scheme on the same conditions as female officials.

( see para. 50, operative part )
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Tax provisions — Harmonisation of laws — Turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax — Taxable amount — Sales promotion scheme involving, after purchase by the final consumer, reimbursement from the manufacturer on presentation of a voucher issued by the manufacturer — Taxable basis at the retail level constituted by the price paid by the final consumer plus the amount reimbursed — (Council Directive 77/388, Arts 11(A)(1)(a) and 11(C)(1))

Summary

On a proper construction of Articles 11(A)(1)(a) and 11(C)(1) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, when, on the sale of a product, the retailer allows the final consumer to settle the sale price partly in cash and partly by means of a reduction coupon issued by the manufacturer of that product, and the manufacturer reimburses to the retailer the amount indicated on that coupon, the nominal value of that coupon must be included in the taxable amount in the hands of that retailer.

The coupons substantiate the retailer's right to receive from the manufacturer a reimbursement in the amount of the reduction granted to the final consumer. It follows that the sum represented by the nominal value of those coupons constitutes for the retailer an asset item realised on their reimbursement and that they must be treated, to the extent of that value, as a means of payment.

see paras 20, 23, operative part
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ECSC — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Prohibited — Decision imposing a fine on a company which was not the addressee of the statement of objections following a procedure conducted exclusively against one of its subsidiaries — Infringement of the rights of the defence — Annulment — ( ECSC Treaty, Arts 36 and 65(1) and (5))

Summary

The principle of the rights of the defence, applicable in the context of an administrative procedure, requires, in particular, the inclusion in the statement of objections addressed by the Commission to an undertaking on which it intends to impose a penalty for infringement of competition rules of the essential factors taken into consideration against that undertaking, such as the facts alleged, the classification of those facts and the evidence on which the Commission relies, so that the undertaking may submit its arguments effectively during the administrative procedure brought against it.

Given its importance, the statement of objections must specify unequivocally the legal person on whom fines may be imposed and be addressed to that person.

A decision imposing a fine on a company must therefore be annulled for infringement of the rights of the defence where it is established that the statement of objections was addressed not to the company, but to one of its subsidiaries, that the statement of objections did not state that a fine might be imposed on the company, that the company was denied access to the file on the ground that it was not the addressee of that statement and that ambiguity persisted up to the end of the procedure as to the legal person on whom the fines would be imposed, despite the fact that that company was aware of the statement of objections and of the procedure which had been initiated against that subsidiary.

see paras 19-23