ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
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1. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations – Subject-matter of the dispute – Determined during the pre-litigation procedure – Alteration of the objections after the issue of the reasoned opinion, on account of an amendment to the national legislation – Whether permissible

(Art. 226 EC)

2. Social policy – Men and women – Access to employment and working conditions – Equal treatment – Derogations – Protection of women – Scope – Prohibition of the employment of women in the underground mining industry, in work to be carried out in a high-pressure atmosphere and in diving work – Not permissible

(Council Directive 76/207, Art. 2(3))

Summary

1. While it is true that the subject-matter of proceedings brought under Article 226 EC is circumscribed by the pre-litigation procedure provided for by that provision and that, consequently, the Commission’s reasoned opinion and the application must be based on the same objections, that requirement cannot, however, go so far as to mean that in every case the operative part of the reasoned opinion and the form of order sought in the application must be exactly the same, provided that the subject-matter of the proceedings has not been extended or altered but simply limited.

Thus, where legislation is altered during the pre-litigation procedure, the action may relate to provisions of national law which are not the same as those referred to in the reasoned opinion. In so far as it is sufficient that the system established by the legislation contested in the pre-litigation procedure has, on the whole, been maintained by the new measures which were adopted by the Member State after the issue of the reasoned opinion and have been challenged in the application, it is not inconceivable that it should also be sufficient that the new measures should introduce some exceptions into the system forming the subject-matter of the reasoned opinion, thus redressing in part the ground for complaint.

(see paras 28-30)

2. Article 2(3) of 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, while allowing some differences in treatment with a view to protecting women in connection with pregnancy and maternity, nevertheless does not allow women to be excluded from a certain type of employment solely on the ground that they ought to be given greater protection than men against risks which affect men and women in the same way and which are distinct from women’s specific needs of protection, such as those expressly mentioned.

Consequently, neither the general prohibition of the employment of women in the underground mining industry and in work in a high-pressure atmosphere, although qualified by exceptions, nor the absolute prohibition of the employment of women in diving work constitutes a difference in treatment permitted under that provision.

(see paras 43, 45, 50, 69, 74)
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1. Fisheries – Common structural policy – Conservation of the resources of the sea – Access for fishing vessels to the coastal bands of the Member States – Transitional arrangements introduced by Article 160 of the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal – Power of the Council to adopt rules having a content analogous to that article after those arrangements have expired – Permissible

(Art. 37 EC; Council Regulation No 2371/2002, Annex I, point 6)

2. Fisheries – Common structural policy – Conservation of the resources of the sea – Access for fishing vessels to the coastal bands of the Member States – Specific arrangements restricting that access to the vessels of one Member State and having as their purpose the protection of the most sensitive Community waters – Purpose not entailing the application of criteria of reciprocity – Principle of non-discrimination – No breach

(Council Regulation No 2371/2002)

Summary

1. Article 160 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties, appearing in Part Four of that act relating to transitional measures and providing for restrictions on fishing, has not been applicable since the date fixed by Article 166 of that Act, viz., 31 December 2002.

None the less, the Community legislature may, exercising the competence conferred on it by Article 37 EC, adopt new rules with content analogous to the rule in Article 160 of the Act of Accession, such as those in point 6 of Annex I to Regulation No 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy, which defines the conditions of access for Spanish fishing vessels to French coastal bands.

(see paras 27-29)

2. The purpose of Regulation No 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy is, according to recital 14 in the preamble thereto, to protect the most sensitive Community waters while taking account of the need to preserve traditional fishing activities. The arrangements applicable to Spanish fishing vessels for access to French coastal bands, laid down in point 6 of Annex I to that regulation, do not breach the principle of non-discrimination because such a purpose does not of itself entail the application of criteria of reciprocity between Member States and because those arrangements do no more than extend the arrangements that have been in force since the Kingdom of Spain acceded to the Community.

(see paras 45, 50-51, 54-55)
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Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Economic activities within the meaning of Article 4 of the Sixth Directive – Taxable person – Meaning – Person having ceased an economic activity but continuing to pay rent and charges relating to premises previously used for that activity owing to the impossibility of surrendering the lease – Included – Benefit of a right to a deduction – Conditions

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 4 (1) to (3))

Summary

Article 4(1) to (3) of Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes is to be interpreted as meaning that a person who has ceased an economic activity but who, because the lease contains a non-termination clause, continues to pay the rent and the charges on the premises used for that activity, is to be regarded as a taxable person within the meaning of that article and is entitled to deduct the value added tax on the amounts thus paid, provided that there is a direct and immediate link between the payments made and the economic activity and that the absence of any fraudulent or abusive intent has been established.

Transactions such as the payments which a person continues to make during the period over which their business was wound up must be regarded as forming part of the economic activity within the meaning of Article 4 of the Sixth Directive. Moreover, there is a direct and immediate link between the obligation to continue to pay the rent and other charges after the economic activity has ceased and the carrying on of that activity, since the lease was entered into in order to have the premises available which were necessary for carrying on that activity, which was actually carried on there. The duration of the obligation to pay the rent and the charges on those premises has, in that respect, no bearing, provided that that period of time is strictly necessary to complete the winding-up of the business.

(see paras. 24, 26, 28-29, 35, operative part)
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Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Export refunds – Declaration based on wrong information – Sanction – Application for payment of the refund altering that information – No effect

(Commission Regulation No 3665/87, Arts 3(5), 11(1), first and second subparas, and 47)

Summary

The first and second subparagraphs of Article 11(1) of Regulation No 3665/87 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products, as amended by Regulation No 2945/94, are to be interpreted as meaning that wrong information contained in a document referred to in Article 3(5) of that regulation, that is, the export declaration or another document used for export, and capable of leading to a refund in excess of the refund applicable, gives rise to the imposition of the sanction prescribed by Article 11. That rule applies even if, in connection with the application for payment referred to in Article 47 of that regulation, it is expressly stated that payment of the export refund is not sought for certain products covered by that document.

(see para. 36, operative part)
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1. Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Taxable transactions — Supplies of goods or services effected for consideration — Meaning — New share issue — Not included

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 2(1))

2. Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Deduction of input tax — Tax charged on expenditure incurred for supplies acquired in the context of a share issue — Right to deduct — Condition

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 17(1) and (2))

Summary

1. A new share issue, whether or not carried out in connection with admission of the company concerned to a stock exchange, does not constitute a transaction falling within the scope of Article 2(1) of Sixth Council Directive (77/388/EEC) on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, as amended by Directive 95/7.

That transaction does not constitute a supply of goods or of services for consideration within the meaning of that provision.

(see paras 27-28, operative part 1)

2. Article 17(1) and (2) of Sixth Directive 77/388, as amended by Directive 95/7, confer the right to deduct in its entirety the VAT charged on the expenses incurred by a taxable person for the various supplies acquired by him in connection with a share issue, provided that all the transactions undertaken by the taxable person in the context of his economic activity constitute taxed transactions.

The costs of those supplies form part of the overheads of the company concerned and are, as such, component parts of the price of its products, as those supplies have a direct and immediate link with the whole economic activity of the taxable person.

(see paras 36, 38, operative part 2)
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1. Environment — Air pollution — Industrial plants — Directive 84/360 — Concept of air pollution — Obligation on Member States to reduce emissions of certain substances not dependent on the general environmental situation of the region

(Council Directive 84/360, Arts 1 and 2)

2. Environment — Air pollution — Industrial plants — Directive 84/360 — Obligation on Member States to take measures providing for adaptation of those plants in line with the best available technology — Lack of policies or strategies — Failure to fulfil obligations

(Council Directive 84/360, Art. 13)

Summary

1. Article 1 of Directive 84/360 on the combating of air pollution from industrial plants seeks to prevent or reduce air pollution from industrial plants within the Community. For the purposes of Article 2(1) of the directive, ‘air pollution’ is constituted by the introduction into the atmosphere by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy having a harmful effect such as to imperil human health and to damage biological resources and ecosystems. Accordingly, inasmuch as it is undisputed that emissions of certain substances have harmful effects on human health and on biological resources and ecosystems, the obligation on Member States to adopt the measures necessary to reduce the emissions of those substances is not dependent on the general environmental situation of the region in which the industrial plant in question is located.

(see paras 33-34)

2. A Member State which does not define the policies or strategies for progressively adapting in line with the best available technology the steam turbine units and the gas turbine units of an electricity power station fails to fulfil its obligations under Article 13 of Directive 84/360 on the combating of air pollution from industrial plants.

Although Article 13 of Directive 84/360 does not expressly oblige Member States to adopt limit values for emissions from industrial plants, the adoption of limit values for emissions from such plants would none the less constitute an extremely useful measure in the context of the implementation of a policy or strategy for the purposes of Article 13.

The reduction in the maximum amount of harmful substances contained in fuel may be regarded as a measure for adapting an industrial plant such as an electricity power station to the best available technology since such a reduction is capable of bringing about an appreciable lowering in the level of air pollution originating from such a plant. This however presupposes that the amount of harmful substances in the fuel concerned corresponds to the lowest content available on the market.

The progressive replacement of the burners and the adoption of supervisory measures and monitoring of emissions are also capable of constituting measures for adapting a power station to the best available technology, provided however (in the case of the latter) that they go hand in hand with other actions having a direct impact on the emissions of the power station concerned.

(see paras 35-36, 39, 47-48, operative part)
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Approximation of laws – Procurement procedures in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors – Directive 93/38 – Scope – Contracting entities exercising one of the activities mentioned in the directive and awarding a contract or organising a design contest for the purposes of the pursuit of that activity

(Council Directive 93/38, Arts 2(2), 4(1) and 6(1))

Summary

The applicability of Council Directive 93/38/EEC of 14 June 1993 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors depends on the activity exercised by the contracting entity concerned and on the links between that activity and the contract planned by that entity. If the latter carries on one of the activities listed in Article 2(2) of that directive, and in so doing contemplates, which it is a matter for the national court to verify, the award of a supply, works or service contract or the organisation of a design contest, the provisions of this directive will apply to that contract or contest. If the contracting entity does not carry on one of those activities, the contract or contest will be governed by the rules laid down in the directives concerning the award of public supply, works or service contracts as the case may be.

In accordance with Article 6(1) of Directive 93/38, the directive is not to apply, in particular, to contracts or design contests which the contracting entities award or organise for purposes other than the pursuit of their activities as described in Article 2(2) of that directive. In addition, the latter is not to extend to activities of those entities which either fall outside the water, energy, transport or telecommunications sectors or which fall within those sectors but are nevertheless directly exposed to competitive forces on markets to which entry is unrestricted.

(see paras 37-39, operative part)
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Environment — Protection — Community competence — Criminal penalties — Framework Decision 2003/80 on the protection of the environment through criminal law — Appropriate legal basis — Article 175 EC – Decision based on Title VI of the Treaty on European Union — Infringement of Article 47 EU

(Arts 135 EC, 175 EC and 280(4) EC; Art. 47 EU; Council Framework Decision 2003/80, Arts 1 to 7)

Summary

Framework Decision 2003/80 on the protection of the environment through criminal law, being based on Title VI of the Treaty on European Union, encroaches upon the powers which Article 175 EC confers on the Community, and, accordingly, the entire framework decision being indivisible, infringes Article 47 EU. Articles 1 to 7 of that framework decision, which entail partial harmonisation of the criminal laws of the Member States, in particular as regards the constituent elements of various criminal offences committed to the detriment of the environment, could have been properly adopted on the basis of Article 175 EC in so far as, on account of both their aim and their content, their principal objective is the protection of the environment, which constitutes one of the essential objectives of the Community.

In this regard, while it is true that, as a general rule, neither criminal law nor the rules of criminal procedure fall within the Community’s competence, this does not, however, prevent the Community legislature, when the application of effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal penalties by the competent national authorities is an essential measure for combating serious environmental offences, from taking measures which relate to the criminal law of the Member States which it considers necessary in order to ensure that the rules which it lays down on environmental protection are fully effective. That competence of the Community legislature in relation to the implementation of environmental policy cannot be called into question by the fact that Articles 135 EC and 280(4) EC reserve to the Member States, in the spheres of customs cooperation and the protection of the Community’s financial interests respectively, the application of national criminal law and the administration of justice.

(see paras 41-42, 47-48, 51-53)
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Approximation of laws – Mutual assistance by the authorities of the Member States in the field of direct and indirect taxation — Directive 77/799 — Fields of value added tax and excise duties — Application to the territory of Gibraltar — Failure to fulfil obligations

(Act of Accession of 1972, Arts 28 and 29; Council Directive 77/799)

Summary

Under Article 28 of the Act of Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the acts of the institutions of the Community on the harmonisation of legislation of Member States concerning turnover taxes are not to apply to Gibraltar, unless the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, provides otherwise. Provisions which merely require cooperation between the Member States, leaving each of them to use their own methods of enquiry and communication of information, cannot be regarded as such acts.

That is true of Directive 77/799 concerning mutual assistance by the competent authorities of the Member States in the field of direct and indirect taxation, as amended by Directive 79/1070 and by Directive 92/12 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products. That directive, in so far as it concerns value added tax, is not therefore one of the ‘acts on the harmonisation of legislation of Member States concerning turnover taxes’ within the meaning of Article 28 of the Act of Accession and does therefore apply to Gibraltar.

In so far as it concerns excise duties, Directive 77/799 as amended also applies to Gibraltar. Any non-application to that territory of provisions requiring harmonisation of those duties as such, under Article 29 of the Act of Accession in conjunction with Annex I, Section I, point 4, thereto, which provides that Gibraltar does not form part of the Community customs territory, does not mean, in any event, that Gibraltar falls outside the requirement of mutual assistance by the competent authorities of the Member States provided for by Directive 77/799 as amended in the field of excise duties.

It follows that, by failing to implement in the territory of Gibraltar, in the fields of value added tax and excise duties, Directive 77/799 as amended, the United Kingdom has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty.

(see paras 42, 44-46, 50-51, 53-54, 56, operative part)
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Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Deduction of input tax – Limitations on the right to deduct – Subsidies – National legislation providing for a deductible proportion of tax for taxable persons who carry out only taxable transactions, and limiting the right to deduct tax on the purchase of goods and services which are subsidised – Not permissible

(Council Directive 77/388, Arts 17(2) and (5), and 19)

Summary

A Member State which, in the context of subsidised activities, provides for a deductible proportion of value added tax for taxable persons who carry out only taxable transactions, and which lays down a special rule which limits the right to deduct value added tax on the purchase of goods and services which are subsidised, fails to fulfil its obligations under Community law, and, in particular, Articles 17(2) and (5) and 19 of Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes.

(see para. 31, operative part)