ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
Keywords

Summary



Keywords

Approximation of laws – Legal protection of databases – Directive 96/9 – Definition of investment in the obtaining, verification or presentation of the contents of a database – Resources used to draw up a football fixtures list – Not included

(Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 96/9, Art. 7(1))

Summary

The expression ‘investment in … the obtaining … of the contents’ of a database in Article 7(1) of Directive 96/9 on the legal protection of databases must be understood to refer to investment in the creation of that database. It thus refers to the resources used to seek out existing materials and collect them in the database but does not cover the resources used for the creation of materials which make up the contents of a database.

In the context of drawing up a fixture list for the purpose of organising football league fixtures, the resources used to establish the dates, times and the team pairings for the various matches in the league do not constitute such investment. Moreover, finding the data which make up such a list does not require any particular effort on the part of the professional leagues, which participate directly in the creation of those data. Nor should the resources used for the verification or presentation of the data making up the list be considered to represent substantial investment independent of the investment in the creation of those data.

(see paras 33-34, 41-42, 44-46, 49, operative part)
Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations — Proof of failure — Burden of proof on the Commission — Presumptions — Not permissible

(Art. 226 EC)

2. Freedom to provide services — Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services — Directive 96/71 — Conditions of work and employment — Minimum wage — Constituent elements — National legislation which fails to take account of allowances and supplements that do not alter the relationship between the service provided by a worker and the consideration received in return — Not permissible

(European Parliament and Council Directive 96/71, Art. 3)

Summary

1. In an action for failure to fulfil obligations it is for the Commission to prove the allegation that the obligations have not been fulfilled. It is the Commission which must provide the Court with the evidence necessary for the Court to establish that the obligations have not been fulfilled, and it may not rely on any presumption.

(see para. 35)

2. A Member State the legislation of which does not recognise as constituent elements of the minimum wage allowances and supplements which do not alter the relationship between the service provided by a worker and the consideration which that worker receives in return, and which are paid by employers established in other Member States to their employees in the construction industry who are posted to the first Member State, with the exception of a general bonus granted to workers in that industry, is in breach of its obligations under Article 3 of Directive 96/71 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services.

(see para. 43, operative part)
Keywords

Summary



Keywords

Preliminary rulings – Jurisdiction of the Court – Case pending before the national court rendered devoid of purpose – No need to give a ruling

(Art. 234 EC)

Summary

It is clear from both the wording and the scheme of Article 234 EC that a national court or tribunal is not empowered to bring a matter before the Court of Justice by way of a reference for a preliminary ruling unless a case is pending before it, in which it is called upon to give a decision which is capable of taking account of the preliminary ruling.

The justification for a reference for a preliminary ruling is not that it enables advisory opinions on general or hypothetical questions to be delivered but rather that it is necessary for the effective resolution of a dispute.

Where the claims of the claimant in the main proceedings have been met in their entirety, an answer by the Court to the questions put by the national court would be of no use to that court.

(see paras 27-28, 30-31)
Keywords

Summary



Keywords

Approximation of laws – Insider dealing – Directive 89/592 – Prohibition on the disclosure of inside information to a third party – Exception – Disclosure of inside information in the normal course of employment – Definition – Member of the board of directors or member of the liaison committee of a group of undertakings disclosing such information to the general secretary of the organisation which organises the employees who appointed that person – Whether permissible – Conditions – General secretary disclosing such information to colleagues – Whether permissible – Conditions

(Council Directive 89/592, Art. 3(a))

Summary

Article 3(a) of Directive 89/592 coordinating regulations on insider dealing, which prohibits certain persons from disclosing inside information to any third party, unless such disclosure is made in the normal course of his employment, profession or duties, precludes a person who receives inside information in his capacity as an employees’ representative on a company’s board of directors or in his capacity as a member of the liaison committee of a group of undertakings, from disclosing such information to the general secretary of the professional organisation which organises those employees and which appointed that person as a member of the liaison committee, unless there is a close link between the disclosure and the exercise of his employment, profession or duties and that disclosure is strictly necessary for the exercise of that employment, profession or duties.

As part of its examination, the national court must, in the light of the applicable national rules, take particular account of the fact that that exception to the prohibition of disclosure of inside information must be interpreted strictly, the fact that each additional disclosure is liable to increase the risk of that information being exploited for a purpose contrary to Directive 89/592, and the sensitivity of the inside information.

Article 3(a) precludes disclosure of inside information by the general secretary of a professional organisation to colleagues, such as the deputy general secretaries of that organisation and the senior administrative manager of its secretariat, except under those same conditions. As part of its examination, the national court must, in the light of the applicable national rules, take particular account of those criteria.

(see paras 48, 54, operative part 1-2)
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Fifth Chamber)

19 June 2003

((Social security – Old-age pensions – Recalculation – Recovery of sums paid though not due – Limitation – Law applicable – Detailed procedural rules – Concept))

and

THE COURT (Fifth Chamber),,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

─

─

─

─

─

─

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Mr Pasquini, represented by M. Rossi, of the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS), represented by A. Riccio, of the Italian Government, represented by A. Cingolo, Avvocato dello Stato, and of the Commission, represented by A. Aresu, at the hearing on 16 January 2003,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 6 March 2003,
Case C-6/02





Commission of the European Communities

v

French Republic





«(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Free movement of goods – Measures having equivalent effect – Indication of provenance – Regional labels)»

Opinion of Advocate General Mischo delivered on 5 December 2002 I - 0000

Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 6 March 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment

1.. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations – Examination of merits by the Court – Situation to be taken into consideration – Situation at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion

(Art. 226 EC)
Case C-423/02





Commission of the European Communities

v

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland





«(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Environment – Landfill of waste – Directive 1999/31/EC)»

Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 16 October 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment
Case C-325/02





Commission of the European Communities

v

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg





«(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Failure to transpose Directive 98/81/EC)»

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber), 16 October 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Fifth Chamber)

7 January 2004

((Directive 89/104/EEC – Limitation of the effects of a trade mark in relation to indications concerning geographical origin – Use of a geographical indication as a trade mark as an element of use in accordance with honest practices in industrial or commercial matters))

and

THE COURT (Fifth Chamber),,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

─

─

─

─

─

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Gerolsteiner Brunnen GmbH & Co., represented by A. Ebert-Weidenfeller; Putsch GmbH, represented by P. Neuwald; the Greek Government, represented by G. Skiani and G. Alexaki; the United Kingdom Government, represented by K. Manji, acting as Agent, and D. Alexander, and the Commission, represented by R. Raith, at the hearing on 20 May 2003,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 10 July 2003,
Case C-109/02





Commission of the European Communities

v

Federal Republic of Germany





«(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Sixth VAT Directive – National legislation providing for a reduced rate for musical ensembles and soloists provided the latter organise the concert themselves)»

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 23 October 2003 I - 0000

Summary of the Judgment
Case C-118/02

Industrias de Deshidratación Agrícola SA

v

Administración del Estado

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Supremo)

(Regulations (EC) No 603/95 and No 785/95 – Dried fodder – Aid scheme – Conditions to be met by processing undertakings – Additional requirements imposed under national rules)

Summary of the Judgment

Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Dried fodder – Aid scheme – National rules imposing specific requirements with respect to green or fresh fodder for processing – Compatibility with the common organisation of the markets

(Council Regulation No 603/95; Commission Regulation No 785/95)

Regulation No 603/95 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder, which establishes a system of flat-rate aid for certain products made from the processing of dried fodder, and Regulation No 785/95, laying down detailed rules for the application of that regulation, must be interpreted as meaning that they do not preclude national provisions which lay down specific requirements with respect to green or fresh fodder, linked to the method of delivery, the moisture content, the time within which processing must take place and the growth of such fodder within a specified area.

(see para. 26, operative part)
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber)

12 February 2004

((Milk and milk products – Direct sales – Reference quantity – Overruns – Additional levy on milk – Obligation on producer to keep stock accounts – Contents – Interpretation of Article 7(1)(f)of Regulation (EEC) No 536/93))

and

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

─

─

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of J. Slob, represented by G. van der Wal, advocaat, of the Netherlands Government, represented by N.A.J. Bel, acting as Agent, and of the Commission of the European Communities, represented by T. van Rijn, at the hearing on 26 June 2003,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 18 September 2003,
Case C-111/02 P

European Parliament

v

Patrick Reynolds

(Appeal – Officials – Secondment to a political group of the Parliament – Decision to terminate the secondment – Rights of the defence)

Summary of the Judgment

Officials – Secondment in the interests of the service – Secondment to a political group of the Parliament – Decision to terminate the secondment – Discretion of the political group and circumscribed power of the appointing authority – No overriding need to hear the party concerned before the decision adopted

(Staff Regulations, Art. 37, point (a), first para., second indent, and Art. 90)

Under the second indent of the first paragraph (a) of Article 37, an official may, in the interests of the service, be seconded temporarily to a post in one of the political groups in the Parliament. Although it is for the appointing authority to take the decision to second an official to a political group and to terminate that secondment, it is bound to respect the decision made by the political group which requests such a measure. The political group concerned has discretion to choose the staff it wishes to engage to serve temporarily in posts in that group as well as to terminate the latter’s engagement. That discretion is justified, in particular, by the specific nature of the functions carried out by a political group and by the need to maintain, in such a political environment, relations of mutual confidence between the officials on secondment and the group. By agreeing to carry out such temporary functions in a political group, the officials concerned must be aware of the fact that the group may wish to terminate their engagement before the end of the period initially envisaged for the secondment.

Where there is no longer any mutual confidence, for whatever reason, the official in question is no longer in a position to carry out his functions. In such circumstances sound administration therefore requires that the institution concerned take, with respect to that official, as soon as possible, a decision to terminate the secondment. Such a decision constitutes, from a procedural point of view, an act adversely affecting the official who, therefore, has a personal interest in seeking its annulment. It cannot be concluded automatically, however, without regard to the nature of the procedure brought against the official that the appointing authority was under an obligation to give the official concerned a proper hearing before adopting such a decision.

Where the appointing authority receives a formal request from a political group of the Parliament for the secondment of an official to that group to be terminated, it is generally obliged to take the appropriate steps as soon as possible after checking that the request has come from the person or department competent to submit it.

(see paras 48-52, 56-57, 59-60)
Case C-144/02

Commission of the European Communities

v

Federal Republic of Germany

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 77/388/EEC – VAT – Article 11(A)(1)(a) – Basis of assessment – Subsidy directly linked to the price – Regulation (EC) No 603/95 – Aid granted in the dried fodder sector)

Summary of the Judgment

Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Basis of assessment – Supply of goods and services – Subsidies directly linked to the price – Meaning – Aid granted in the dried fodder sector – Exclusion – National scheme failing to levy value added tax on that aid – Whether permissible

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 11(A)(1)(a))

Article 11(A)(1)(a) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, is intended to subject the full value of goods or services to VAT by providing that the basis of assessment comprises subsidies directly linked to the price of the transaction in question, paid to taxable persons. A Member State which does not levy the tax on aid paid under Regulation No 603/95 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder does not fail to fulfil its obligations under that provision.

‘Subsidies linked directly to the price’ include only subsidies which constitute the whole or part of the consideration for a supply of goods or services and which are paid by a third party to the seller or supplier.

The conditions for the aid at issue to be subject to VAT are not met in respect of the sale by a processing undertaking, after drying, of fodder purchased from producers of green fodder, since, in such a case, the aid is not paid specifically to a processing undertaking to enable it to supply dried fodder to a purchaser at a price which is lower than on the world market. Nor are those conditions met as regards the special-order contracts concluded by such an undertaking with a producer of green fodder, as the aid which the processing undertaking receives is not paid for its benefit in such a case and that undertaking merely functions as an intermediary between the body which distributes the aid and the fodder producer.

(see paras 26-27, 31-32, 36, 38, 42, 45)
Case C-220/02

Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten

v

Wirtschaftskammer Österreich

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof (Austria))

(Principle of equal pay for men and women – Concept of pay – Taking into account, for calculation of termination payments, of periods of military service – Possibility of comparing workers performing military service with women workers who, after their maternity leave, take parental leave the duration of which is not taken into account for calculating a termination payment)

Summary of the Judgment

1. Social policy – Male and female workers – Equal pay – Concept of pay – Benefit consisting in the taking into account for calculation of a termination payment of the duration of military service or compulsory civilian service – Included

(Art. 141 EC)

2. Social policy – Male and female workers – Equal pay – Article 141 EC and Directive 75/117 – Taking into account for calculation of a termination payment of the duration of periods of military service or the civilian equivalent performed mainly by men but not of parental leave taken generally by women – Whether permissible

(Art. 141 EC; Council Directive 75/117)

1. The benefit, for persons performing military service or, as an alternative, compulsory civilian service which may be extended voluntarily, consisting in the taking into account, for calculation of a termination payment they might subsequently be entitled to claim, of the duration of that service is to be regarded as part of their pay within the meaning of Article 141 EC.

(see para. 39, operative part 1)

2. Article 141 EC and Directive 75/117 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women do not preclude the calculation of a termination payment from taking into account, as length of service, the duration of periods of military service or the civilian equivalent performed mainly by men but not of parental leave taken most often by women.

(see para. 65, operative part 2)
Case C-346/02

Commission of the European Communities

v

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

(Insurance – Third non-life insurance directive – Bonus-malus system)

Summary of the Judgment

Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Freedom to provide services – Direct insurance other than life assurance – Directive 92/49 – Freedom to set rates – Bonus-malus system not resulting in the direct setting of premium rates by the State – Permissible

(Council Directive 92/49)

A bonus-malus system applicable to motor insurance contracts which, while having effects on changes in the amount of premiums, does not, however, result in the direct setting of premium rates by the State since insurance undertakings remain free to set the amount of the basic premium cannot be equated with a system of approving premium rates that is contrary to the principle of freedom to set rates laid down by Directive 92/49 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance and amending Directives 73/239 and 88/357.

Full harmonisation in the field of non-life insurance rates precluding any national measure liable to have effects on rates cannot be presumed in the absence of a clearly expressed intention to this effect on the part of the Community legislature.

(see paras 23-24)
Case C-285/02

Edeltraud Elsner-Lakeberg

v

Land Nordrhein-Westfalen

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Minden)

(Article 141 EC – Directive 75/117/EEC – National measure providing that full-time and part-time teachers are obliged to work the same number of additional hours before being entitled to remuneration – Indirect discrimination against women employed part-time)

Summary of the Judgment

Social policy – Male and female workers – Equal pay – National legislation providing that full-time and part-time teachers are entitled to overtime remuneration only when they have worked the same number of additional hours – Not permissible – Conditions – Indirect discrimination against women employed part-time

(Art. 141 EC; Council Directive 75/117, Art. 1)

Article 141 EC and Article 1 of Directive 75/117 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which provides that teachers, part-time as well as full-time, do not receive any remuneration for additional hours worked when the additional work does not exceed three hours per calendar month, if that different treatment affects considerably more women than men and if there is no objective unrelated to sex which justifies that different treatment or it is not necessary to achieve the objective pursued.

(see para. 19, operative part)
Case C-386/02

Josef Baldinger

v

Pensionsversicherungsanstalt der Arbeiter

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Arbeits- und Sozialgericht Wien)

(Freedom of movement for persons – Compensation for ex-prisoners of war – Requirement to hold the nationality of the Member State concerned at the time of submission of the request for compensation)

Summary of the Judgment

Freedom of movement for persons – Social security for migrant workers – Community rules – Material scope – Compensation for ex-prisoners of war – Excluded

(Art. 39(2) EC; Council Regulation No 1612/68, Art. 7(2), and Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art. 4(4))

Article 39(2) EC, Article 4(4) of Regulation No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the Community, as amended and updated by Regulation No 118/97, and Article 7(2) of Regulation No 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community, must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation which refuses to grant an allowance in favour of former prisoners of war on the ground that the applicant did not hold the nationality of the Member State involved when the application was made, but that of another Member State.

Having regard to its aim and the conditions for its grant, such an allowance is covered by Article 4(4) of Regulation No 1408/71, which provides that it does not apply to ‘benefit schemes for victims of war or its consequences’, so that it is excluded from the material scope of that regulation.

Furthermore, such an allowance does not fall within the category of advantages granted to national workers principally because of their status as workers or national residents and, as a result, does not fulfil the essential characteristics of the ‘social advantages’ referred to in Article 7(2) of Regulation No 1612/68.

The same conclusion must be reached in the light of Article 39(2) EC, which covers conditions of employment, remuneration and other working conditions, which cannot cover compensatory allowances which are linked to service rendered in wartime by citizens to their own country and whose essential aim is to provide those citizens with a benefit because of the hardships they endured for that country.

(see paras 16, 18-21, operative part)