Case C-207/01: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Corte di Appello di Firenze by order of that court of 23 January 2001 in the case of Altair Chimica SpA against ENEL Distribuzione SpA
Date: 2001-07-14
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU law - national law, Italy, excise duty, free movement of goods, interpretation of the law

C 200/54

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.7.2001

which there is no unequivocal correlation has the effect
of increasing the risk of confusion and classification
errors. A Member State may not plead the mere concept
of ‘national management’ in order to be authorised to
derogate from the applicable Community legislation,
inasmuch as there is no way of telling how the manage-
ment of waste in Luxembourg relates to ‘specific needs’
which are not covered by the relevant Community rules.

(1) OJ L 194 of 25.7.1975, p. 39.
(2) OJ L 78 of 26.3.1991.
(3) OJ L 5 of 7.1.1994, p. 15.

Justice (England & Wales), Queen’s Bench Division (Commer-
cial Court) of 13 November 2000, which was received at the
Court Registry on 30 May 2001, for a preliminary ruling in
the case of Joseph Lennox (trading as R. Lennox & Son) against
Industria Lavorazione Carni Ovine, on the following questions:

1.

(a) Where a consignment of sheep is exported from one
Member State to another Member State and the
sheep are for slaughter on arrival, is the requirement
under Article 9 of Directive 91/68/EEC (1) complied
with where the accompanying health certificate is
not a Model I certificate, as in Annex E thereof, but
is a Model II certificate?

Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Corte di Appello
di Firenze by order of that court of 23 January 2001 in
the case of Altair Chimica SpA against ENEL Distribuzione
SpA

(Case C-207/01)

(2001/C 200/96)

the Court Registry on 18 May 2001,

Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by order of the Corte di Appello
(Court of Appeal), Florence, by order of 23 January 2001,
received at
for a
preliminary ruling in the case of Altair Chimica SpA v ENEL
Distribuzione SpA on the exact interpretation of Articles 81,
82 and 85 of the Treaty establishing the European Community,
of Directive 92/12/EEC (1) and Council Recommendation
81/924/EEC of 27 October 1981, in order to ascertain whether
the provisions of national law laid down in Legislative Decrees
No 347/44 and No 896/47, Presidential Decree No 373/94,
Legislative Decree No 98/48 and Law No 9/91 are incompat-
ible with those provisions of Community law.

(1) Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general
arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the
holding, movement and monitoring of such products (OJ 1992
L 76, of 23 March 1992, p. 1).

Reference for a preliminary ruling by the High Court
of Justice (England & Wales), Queen’s Bench Division
(Commercial Court), by order of that court of 13 Novem-
ber 2000,
in the case of Joseph Lennox (trading as
R. Lennox & Son) against Industria Lavorazione Carni
Ovine

(Case C-220/01)

(2001/C 200/97)

Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by an order of the High Court of

(b)

If the answer to Question 1(a) is No, so that the
consignment must be accompanied only by a Mo-
del I certificate, does the responsibility for identifying
the correct certificate prior to export rest on the
exporter or on the recipient of the sheep, or is it for
the applicable national
to
the contract
determine which party bears this responsibility?

law of

(c) Where a consignment of sheep is exported from one
Member State to another Member State and the
sheep are for slaughter on arrival and where the
accompanying health certificate is a Model II certifi-
cate, is the national law of the State of destination
entitled to make the importation unlawful on the
ground that the certificate is not a Model I certificate?

2.

(a)

In July 1997, was it compatible with Community
law, in particular Articles 28-30 EC (ex Articles 30-
36) and/or Article 152 EC (ex 129 of the EC Treaty)
and/or Articles 6 and 174 EC (from ex 130r of the
EC Treaty) and Council Directives 89/662/EEC (2),
90/425/EEC (3) and 91/68/EEC, for a Member State
to require that the health certificates required pursu-
ant to Article 9 of Directive 91/68/EEC include the
following declaration:
‘The animals referred to in
this certificate were born and raised on farms
in which no case of Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathy (TSE) has been registered in the last
6 years.’?

(b)

If the answer to Question 2(a) is No, where the
exporter has otherwise fulfilled its obligations under
the applicable law of the contract to deliver the
sheep to the recipient’s place of business,
is a
national court required, in civil proceedings between
the exporter and the recipient concerning their
contractual rights and obligations regarding the
importation of the sheep, to ignore any obligations
law of the Member State of
under the national