ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
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1. Approximation of laws - Procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations - Technical regulations within the meaning of Directive 83/189 - Meaning - National provision requiring farms to have containers for disinfecting footwear - Excluded

(Council Directive 83/189, Art. 1, first para.)

2. Approximation of laws - Procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations - Technical regulations within the meaning of Directive 83/189 - Meaning - National provision requiring pigs to be vaccinated against Aujeszky's disease - Excluded

(Council Directive 83/189, Art. 1, fifth para.)

Summary

1. A provision of national law which requires there to be one or more disinfectant containers or appropriate cleaning facilities for disinfecting footwear on pig farms, is not, for the purposes of Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, as amended by Directive 88/182, a technical regulation which ought to have been notified to the Commission before being adopted. Such a provision does not concern production in the strict sense of the agricultural product under consideration and the rule which it lays down is not a technical specification within the meaning of Article 1(1) of Directive 83/189

( see paras 21-23 and operative part 1 )

2. A provision of national law which requires every farmer to have the pigs on his holding vaccinated against Aujeszky's disease is not, for the purposes of Article 1(5) of Directive 83/189 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, as amended by Directive 88/182, a technical regulation which ought to have been notified to the Commission before being adopted, since the rule which it lays down imposes no restrictions on either the marketing or the use of the products concerned in the case of contravention of that rule.

( see paras 33-34 and operative part 2 )
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Preliminary rulings - Jurisdiction of the Court - Assessment of the validity of a directive - Annulment of the directive in an action founded on Article 173 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 230 EC) - No need to adjudicate
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1. Customs union Release for free circulation of goods brought into the customs territory of the Community Failure to comply with the time-limit for making a declaration Goods put up for sale or additional duty imposed where goods overdue for clearance Permissible

(Council Regulation No 2913/92, Arts 6(3), 53 and 243)

2. Tax provisions Harmonisation of laws Turnover taxes Common system of value added tax Sixth Directive Scope Penalty for failure to comply with customs formalities Excluded from value added tax

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 2)

Summary

1. Article 6(3) of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, which obliges the customs authorities to provide reasons for decisions detrimental to the persons to whom they are addressed, Article 53 of the regulation, which specifically requires the customs authorities to take without delay all measures necessary to regularise the situation of the goods in respect of which the formalities have not been initiated within the prescribed periods, and Article 243 of the regulation, which provides for a right of appeal against decisions taken by customs authorities, do not preclude the automatic application, without prior notification, of a procedure, laid down by national legislation, which provides for goods to be put up for sale where the statutory time-limits for making a declaration for release for free circulation or an application for another customs-approved use have expired, when the parties concerned may terminate the procedure by paying all applicable taxes and charges, together with a certain percentage of the value of the goods.

Use of a procedure providing either for such goods to be put up for sale or for an ad valorem surcharge to be levied in order to regularise the situation of the goods is not in itself contrary to the principle of proportionality. It is for the national court to determine whether a duty amounting to 5% of the value of the goods overdue for clearance complies with that principle.

( see paras 11-13, 25, 33 and operative part 1-3 )

2. An ad valorem surcharge imposed by the national customs authorities when goods are cleared through customs following a failure to comply with the time limits for requesting another customs-approved use for the goods have expired cannot be subject to value added tax. Since such a duty seeks to penalise operators who have not complied with the prescribed formalities and time-limits, it constitutes a penalty and not consideration for a supply of goods or services for the purposes of Article 2 of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes.

( see paras 21, 36-38 and operative part 4 )
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Actions for failure to fulfil obligations Pre-litigation procedure Letters of formal notice Detailed opinion delivered under Directive 83/189 No proper formal notice Action inadmissible

(EC Treaty, Art. 169 (now Art. 226 EC); Council Directive 83/189, Art. 9(1))

Summary

1. It follows from the function assigned to the pre-litigation stage of proceedings for failure of a State to fulfil its obligations that the purpose of the letter of formal notice is, first, to delimit the subject-matter of the dispute and to indicate to the Member State, which is invited to submit its observations, the factors enabling it to prepare its defence and, second, to enable the Member State to comply before proceedings are brought before the Court. Also, in order for a letter of formal notice to be issued, a prior failure by the Member State concerned to fulfil an obligation owed by it must be alleged.

However, at the time when a detailed opinion is delivered under Article 9(1) of Directive 83/189 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, the Member State to which it is addressed cannot have infringed Community law, since the measure exists only in draft form. The contrary view would result in the detailed opinion constituting a conditional formal notice whose existence would be dependent on the action taken by the Member State concerned in relation to the opinion. The requirements of legal certainty, which are inherent in any procedure capable of becoming contentious, preclude such incertitude.

Since a detailed opinion of that kind does not constitute a formal notice meeting the requirements of Article 169 of the Treaty (now Article 226 EC), the action for failure to fulfil obligations brought by the Commission is inadmissible.

( see paras 31-35 )
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1. Freedom of movement for persons Freedom of establishment Practitioners of dentistry Access to the profession Residence requirement Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Arts 48 and 52 (now, after amendment, Arts 39 EC and 43 EC))

2. Freedom of movement for persons Freedom of establishment Practitioners of dentistry Restriction to dentists who are Italian nationals of the right to maintain their professional registration in Italy upon their transferring their residence to another Member State Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Arts 48 and 52 (now, after amendment, Arts 39 EC and 43 EC))

3. Member States Obligations Need to ensure that Community law is applied Failure to fulfil obligations Maintenance of national legislation incompatible with Community law Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Art. 169 (now Art. 226 EC))

Summary

1. Where a Member State makes registration with the dental association, and therefore the practice by dentists of their profession, subject to the requirement that the persons concerned reside in the district of the professional association with which they seek registration, that constitutes a restriction on freedom of establishment and freedom of movement for workers in that such a requirement prevents dentists established or resident in another Member State from setting up a second dental surgery in the first State or practising as employees there.

( see para. 20 )

2. National legislation restricting to dentists who are nationals of the Member State concerned the right to request the maintenance of their professional registration in the event of their residence being transferred to another Member State of the European Communities involves discrimination based on nationality, contrary to Articles 48 and 52 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Articles 39 EC and 43 EC).

( see paras 31-32 )

3. The need to ensure that Community law is fully applied requires Member States not only to bring their legislation into conformity with Community law but also to do so by adopting rules of law capable of creating a situation which is sufficiently precise, clear and transparent to allow individuals to know the full extent of their rights and rely on them before the national courts.

That requirement is also applicable where general principles of constitutional law, such as the general principle of equal treatment, are involved, and is of particular importance where the provisions of Community law in question are intended to accord rights to nationals of other Member States, inasmuch as those nationals are not normally aware of such principles.

The maintenance unchanged, in the legislation of a Member State, of a provision which is incompatible with a provision of the Treaty gives rise to an ambiguous state of affairs by maintaining, as regards those subject to the law who are concerned, a state of uncertainty as to the possibilities for them of relying on Community law, and therefore constitutes a failure on the part of that State to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty.

( see paras 22-23, 33 )
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Social policy Information and consultation of employees in Community-scale undertakings Directive 94/45 Requirement that an undertaking forming part of a group of undertakings should supply information to internal workers' representative bodies Requirement imposed even before the existence of a controlling undertaking within the group of undertakings has been established Scope

(Council Directive 94/45, Art. 11(1) and (2))

Summary

$$On a proper construction of Article 11(1) and (2) of Directive 94/45 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees, an undertaking which is part of a group of undertakings is required to supply information to the internal workers' representative bodies, even where it has not yet been established that the management to which the workers' request is addressed is the management of a controlling undertaking within a group of undertakings.

Where information relating to the structure or organisation of a group of undertakings forms part of the information which is essential to the opening of negotiations for the setting-up of a European Works Council or for the transnational information and consultation of employees, an undertaking within the group is required to supply the information which it possesses or is able to obtain to the internal workers' representative bodies requesting it. Communication of documents clarifying and explaining the information which is indispensable for that purpose may also be required, in so far as that communication is necessary in order that the employees concerned or their representatives may gain access to information enabling them to determine whether or not they are entitled to request the opening of negotiations.

( see paras 36, 41 and operative part 1-2 )
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Tax provisions Harmonisation of laws Turnover taxes Common system of value added tax Exemptions provided for by the Sixth Directive Exemption for insurance and reinsurance transactions Definition Carrying out by an insurance company of the business activity of another insurance company in return for remuneration at market rates but without assuming the related liabilities Excluded

(Council Directive 77/388, Arts 2(1) and 13B(a))

Summary

$$A commitment assumed by an insurance company to carry out, in return for remuneration at market rates, the business activities of another insurance company, which is its 100% subsidiary and which would continue to conclude insurance contracts in its own name, does not constitute an insurance transaction, within the meaning of Article 13B(a) of the Sixth Directive on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, that is exempt from value added tax. Such an activity, remunerated at market rates, constitutes a service effected for consideration within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Sixth Directive, and is accordingly subject to value added tax.

( see paras 43-44 and operative part )
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Acts of the institutions - Directives - Implementation by the Member States - Transposition of a directive into national law without legislative action - Conditions - Existence of a general legal context ensuring full implementation of the directive - National case-law interpreting provisions of national law in accordance with the requirements of the directive insufficient

(EC Treaty, Art. 198(3) (now Art. 249(3) EC); Council Directive 93/13)

Summary

$$Whilst legislative action on the part of each Member State is not necessarily required in order to implement a directive, it is essential for national law to guarantee that the national authorities will effectively apply the directive in full, that the legal position under national law should be sufficiently precise and clear and that individuals are made fully aware of their rights and, where appropriate, may rely on them before the national courts. The last-mentioned condition is of particular importance where the directive in question is intended to accord rights to nationals of other Member States. That is the case of Directive 93/13 on unfair terms in consumer contracts, which aims,in particular, according to the sixth recital in its preamble, to safeguard the citizen in his role as consumer when acquiring goods and services under contracts which are governed by the laws of Member States other than his own.

Even where the settled case-law of a Member State interprets the provisions of national law in a manner deemed to satisfy the requirements of a directive, that cannot achieve the clarity and precision needed to meet the requirement of legal certainty.

( see paras 17-18, 21 )
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1. Appeals - Grounds - Review by the Court of the assessment of items of information - Excluded save where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted

2. Community law - Principles - Rights of the defence - Principle of the right to a hearing - Observance in the case of the adoption and publication of reports of the Court of Auditors

3. Court of Auditors - Reports - Naming of third parties in a report - Conditions - Review by the Community judicature - Scope

Summary

1. The Court of First Instance is the sole judge of any need for the information available to it concerning the cases before it to be supplemented. Whether or not the evidence before it is convincing is a matter to be appraised by it alone and is not subject to review by the Court of Justice on appeal, except where the clear sense of that evidence has been distorted or the substantive inaccuracy of the Court of First Instance's findings is apparent from the documents in the case-file.

( see para. 19 )

2. The principle of the right to a hearing is a general principle of law whose observance is ensured by the Court of Justice. It applies to any procedure which may result in a decision by a Community institution perceptibly affecting a person's interests.

Although the adoption and publication of reports of the Court of Auditors are not decisions directly affecting the rights of persons mentioned therein, they are capable of having consequences for those persons such that those concerned must be enabled to make observations on those points in such reports which refer to them by name, before those reports are definitively drawn up.

( see paras 28-29 )

3. There may be specific circumstances, which may be due to the seriousness of the facts or the risk of confusion liable to harm the interests of third parties, where the Court of Auditors is allowed to mention by name in its reports persons who in principle are not subject to its supervision, subject to the condition that such persons are entitled to a right to a hearing.

It is for the Community judicature in an action brought before it to assess in such a case whether the naming of persons was necessary and proportionate to the objective pursued by publication of the report. The full power of review which it exercises in that connection falls within its untrammelled appraisal of the facts against which no appeal lies except where there is a substantive inaccuracy in the findings of fact or the clear sense of the evidence in the case-file has been distorted.

( see paras 40-41 )
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Tax provisions - Harmonisation of laws - Turnover taxes - Common system of value added tax - Exemptions provided for by the Sixth Directive - Exemption for the letting of immovable property - Meaning - Current lessee making payment to future lessee on assignment of the lease - Excluded

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 13B(b))

Summary

$$The letting of immovable property for the purposes of Article 13B(b) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes essentially involves the landlord of property assigning to the tenant, in return for rent and for an agreed period, the right to occupy his property and to exclude other persons from it. Article 13B(b) applies to the grant of leases of property but not to transactions which are merely based on the leases or are ancillary thereto and which have not been effected by the landlord itself. Therefore, Article 13B(b) does not exempt a supply of services which is made by a person who does not have any interest in the immovable property and which consists in the acceptance, for consideration, of an assignment of a lease of that property from the lessee.

( see paras 21, 24, 34 and operative part )
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1. Approximation of laws - Assessment and management of ambient air quality - Directive 96/62 - Implementation by the Member States - Obligation to designate the competent authorities and bodies within the periods laid down - Certain details to be decided on in the future - No effect

(Council Directive 96/62, Art. 3, first para.)

2. Acts of the institutions - Directives - Implementation by Member States - Existing regional rules not sufficient

(EC Treaty, Art. 189, third para. (now Art. 249, third para., EC))

Summary

1. Directive 96/62, the aim of which is to define the basic principles of a common strategy to assess and manage ambient air quality, provides that Member States are to designate the competent authorities and bodies responsible in particular for controlling the limit values and alert thresholds to be set for the pollutants listed in Annex I to the Directive. The fact that the directive provides for certain details, such as limit values and alert thresholds for the pollutants listed in Annex I, to be decided on in the future cannot, in the absence of express provision to that effect, relieve Member States of their obligation to adopt within the prescribed period the measures necessary to comply with the directive. That obligation to designate, which constitutes a preliminary step in implementing the general objectives of the directive, is of a purely general nature, and remains, whether or not all the conditions for the application of the provisions of Community law have already been fulfilled.

( see paras 30-32 )

2. A directive must be transposed into national law by provisions capable of creating a situation which is sufficiently precise, clear and transparent to enable individuals to ascertain their rights and obligations

( see para. 38 )
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1. Social security for migrant workers - Community rules - Persons covered - Inclusion in Regulation No 1408/71 of stateless persons and refugees residing in the territory of one of the Member States and members of their families - Validity

(EEC Treaty, Art. 51 (later Art. 51 of the EC Treaty and now, after amendment, Art. 42 EC); Council Regulation No 1408/71, Arts 1 and 2(1))

2. Freedom of movement for persons - Workers - Community rules - Not applicable in a situation purely internal to a Member State

(Council Regulation No 1408/71)

Summary

1. The validity of Regulation No 1408/71, as amended and updated by Regulation No 2001/83, is not affected in so far as it includes in its personal scope stateless persons or refugees residing in the territory of one of the Member States and members of their families.

Regulation No 1408/71 is applicable to any worker, within the meaning of Article 1 thereof, who has the nationality of a Member State and finds himself in one of the situations involving international elements as provided for in the said regulation, as to members of his family.

The Council cannot be criticised for having, in the exercise of the powers which have been conferred on it under Article 51 of the EEC Treaty (later Article 51 of the EC Treaty and now, after amendment, Article 42 EC), also included stateless persons and refugees resident on the territory of the Member States in order to take into account the international obligations of those States. Coordination of national social security schemes, excluding stateless persons and refugees, would have meant that the Member States, in order to ensure compliance with their international obligations, had to establish a second coordination regime designed solely for that very restricted category of persons.

( see paras 55-58, operative part 1 )

2. Workers who are stateless persons or refugees residing in the territory of one of the Member States, and members of their families, cannot rely on the rights conferred by Regulation No 1408/71, as amended and updated by Regulation No 2001/83, where they are in a situation which is confined in all respects within that one Member State. Such is in particular the case where the situation of a worker has factors linking it solely with a non-member country and one single Member State.

( see paras 71-72, operative part 2 )
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Member States - Obligations - Implementation of directives - Failure to fulfil obligations not contested (Art. 226 EC)
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Preliminary rulings - Reference to the Court - National court or tribunal within the meaning of Article 234 EC - Definition - Appeal chamber of a regional finance authority in Austria - Excluded

(Art. 234 EC)

Summary

$$In order to determine whether a body making a reference is a court or tribunal for the purposes of Article 234 EC, which is a question governed by Community law alone, it is necessary to take account of a number of factors, such as whether the body is established by law, whether it is permanent, whether its jurisdiction is compulsory, whether its procedure is inter partes, whether it applies rules of law and whether it is independent. The criterion of independence is not fulfilled by an appeal chamber of a regional finance authority (appellate tax authority) in Austria which is competent to hear appeals against decisions of the tax authorities.

The expression court or tribunal within the meaning of Article 234 EC can mean only an authority acting as a third party in relation to the authority which adopted the contested decision, and it is impossible to regard an authority such as the appeal chamber as a third party, since there is an organisational and functional link between it and the regional finance authority which adopts the decisions contested before it.

( see paras 34-38 )