Order of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 21 April 2016 —

Beca Engineering

(Case C‑285/15) ( 1 )

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Article 99 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure — Free movement of goods — Directive 89/106/EEC — Construction products — Chimney linings — National legislation requiring chimneys to be made exclusively with non-combustible materials’

1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Reference to the Court — Determination of the questions to refer — Exclusive jurisdiction of the national courts — Whether possible for the parties to change the wording of the questions — Not possible — Obligation for the Court to restrict itself to the questions in the order for reference (Art. 267 TFEU; Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 23) (see para. 24)

2. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Identification of the relevant aspects of EU law — Reformulation of the questions (Art. 267 TFEU) (see paras 25, 26)

3. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Questions the answer to which may be clearly deduced from the Court’s existing case-law — Application of Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure (Art. 267 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Art. 99) (see paras 29, 30)

4. Approximation of laws — Construction products — Directive 89/106 — Subject matter (Council Directive 89/106, as amended by Regulation No 1882/2003) (see para. 32)

5. Approximation of laws — Construction products — Directive 89/106 — National legislation requiring chimneys to be made exclusively with non-combustible materials — Assessment of the compatibility of that legislation with EU law in the light of Directive 89/106 — Not included (Council Directive 89/106, as amended by Regulation No 1882/2003) (see paras 33-35, 38 and operative part)

6. Approximation of laws — Information procedure in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services — Directive 98/34 — Technical regulation — Meaning — National legislation requiring chimneys to be made exclusively with non-combustible materials — Included — Obligation on Member States to notify the Commission of all draft technical regulations — Scope — Breach of that obligation — Consequences — Inapplicability of the non‑notified rule (European Parliament and Council Directive 98/34, as amended by Directive 98/48, Arts 1(3) and (11) and 8) (see paras 36-38, operative part)

Operative part

1. The compatibility with EU law of national legislation requiring chimneys in civil heating systems to be constructed using incombustible materials, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, is not to be assessed in the light of Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 September 2003.

2. On a proper construction of Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and rules concerning services of the information society, as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998, such national legislation must be treated as a technical rule within the meaning of Article 1(3) and (11) of that directive, and for want of notification to the European Commission by the Member State concerned, in accordance with Article 8 of that directive, as amended, that national legislation is inapplicable, which individuals may rely upon before the national courts.

( 1 ) OJ C 302, 14.9.2015.