Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 5 April 2001 in Case C-100/00: Commission of the European Communities v Italian Republic (Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Undisputed failure — Directive 73/23/EEC — Electric water heaters — Conditions not prescribed by the directive)
Date: 2001-07-14
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, consumer protection, household electrical appliance, safety standard

14.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 200/7

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 5 April 2001

(Third Chamber)

of 5 April 2001

in Case C-100/00: Commission of the European Communi-
ties v Italian Republic (1)

(Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations —
Undisputed failure — Directive 73/23/EEC — Electric water
heaters — Conditions not prescribed by the directive)

in Case C-123/00 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Tribunal de première instance de Bruxelles: criminal
proceedings against Christina Bellamy and English Shop
Wholesale SA (1)

(Free movement of goods — Measures having an effect
equivalent to a quantitative restriction — Marketing of
bread — Advertising of foodstuffs)

(2001/C 200/11)

(2001/C 200/12)

(Language of the case: Italian)

(Language of the case: French)

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

In Case C-100/00: Commission of the European Communities
(Agents: R.B. Wainwright and G. Bisogni) v Italian Republic
(Agent: U. Leanza, assisted by G. Aiello) — application for a
declaration that, by subjecting electric storage water heaters
to safety conditions not prescribed by Council Directive
73/23/EEC of 19 February 1973 on the harmonisation of the
laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed
for use within certain voltage limits (OJ 1973 L 77, p. 29), and
thus not recognising the presumption of compliance with the
safety conditions of products manufactured in accordance
with standard EN 60335-2-21, the Italian Republic has failed
to fulfil its obligations under Community law — the Court
(Second Chamber), composed of: V. Skouris, President of the
Chamber, R. Schintgen and N. Colneric (Rapporteur), Judges;
F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a
judgment on 5 April 2001, in which it:

conditions not

1. Declares that, by subjecting electric storage water heaters to
safety
by Council Directive
prescribed
73/23/EEC of 19 February 1973 on the harmonisation of the
laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed
for use within certain voltage limits, and thus not recognising
the presumption of compliance with the safety conditions of
products manufactured in accordance with standard EN
60335-2-21,
its
obligations under that directive;

the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil

2. Orders the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

In Case C-123/00: reference to the Court under Article 234
EC from the Tribunal de première instance de Bruxelles (Court
of First Instance, Brussels, Belgium), for a preliminary ruling in
the criminal proceedings before that court against Christina
Bellamy and English Shop Wholesale SA — on the interpret-
ation of Articles 28 EC and 30 EC — the Court (Third
Chamber), composed of: C. Gulmann (Rapporteur), President
of the Chamber, F. Macken and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges;
D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar,
has given a judgment on 5 April 2001, in which it has ruled:

1. A rule of a Member State prohibiting the marketing of bread
and other bakery products whose salt content by reference to the
dry matter exceeds the maximum permitted level of 2 %, when
applied to products which have been lawfully manufactured and
marketed in another Member State, constitutes a measure
having equivalent effect to a quantitative restriction within the
meaning of Article 28 EC.

Such a rule is likely to hinder trade between Member States and
cannot be regarded as justified under Article 30 EC on the
ground of protecting public health.

2. Article 28 EC does not preclude a national rule which prohibits
giving the impression that
the branded product possesses
particular qualities when in fact all similar foodstuffs display
the same qualities.

(1) OJ C 149 of 27.5.2000.

(1) OJ C 149 of 27.5.2000.