Judgment of the Court of 20 September 2001 in Case C-453/99 [reference for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal (England & Wales) (Civil Division)]: Courage Ltd v Bernard Crehan and Bernard Crehan v Courage Ltd and Others (Article 85 of the EC Treaty (now Article 81 EC) — Beer tie — Leasing of public houses — Restrictive agreement — Right to damages of a party to the contract)
Date: 2001-11-10
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: beverage industry, contract, fraud, interpretation of the law

C 317/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

10.11.2001

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Fifth Chamber)

of 4 October 2001

of 20 September 2001

in Case C-453/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Court of Appeal (England & Wales) (Civil Division)):
Courage Ltd v Bernard Crehan and Bernard Crehan v
Courage Ltd and Others (1)

in Case C-403/99: Italian Republic v Commission of the
European Communities (1)

(Article 85 of the EC Treaty (now Article 81 EC) — Beer tie
— Leasing of public houses — Restrictive agreement —
Right to damages of a party to the contract)

(Common agricultural policy — Agrimonetary system for
the euro — Transitional measures for the introduction of the
euro)

(2001/C 317/07)

(Language of the case: English)

(2001/C 317/06)

(Language of the case: Italian)

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

In Case C-403/99: Italian Republic (Agent: U. Leanza assisted
by D. Del Gaizo) v Commission of the European Communities
(Agent: F. Ruggeri Laderchi) — application for the annulment
of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1639/1999 of 26 July
1999 fixing the maximum compensatory aid resulting from
the rates for the conversion of the euro into national currency
units and the exchange rates applicable on 1 July 1999 (OJ
1999 L 194, p. 33) — the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed
of: A. La Pergola, President of the Chamber, D.A.O. Edward,
P. Jann (Rapporteur), S. von Bahr and C.W.A. Timmermans,
Judges; D. Ruı´z-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; H.A. Rühl,
Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment
on 4 October 2001, in which it:

In Case C-453/99: reference to the Court under Article 177 of
the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the Court of Appeal
(England and Wales) (Civil Division), (United Kingdom) for a
preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
court between Courage Ltd and Bernard Crehan and between
Bernard Crehan and Courage Ltd and Others — on the
interpretation of Article 85 of the EC Treaty (now Article 81
EC) and other provisions of Community law — the Court,
composed of: G.C. Rodrı´guez Iglesias, President, C. Gulmann,
M. Wathelet (Rapporteur) and V. Skouris (Presidents of Cham-
bers), D.A.O. Edward; P.
Jann, L. Sevo´ n, F. Macken and
N. Colneric, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues and C.W.A. Timmermans,
Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Administrator,
for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 20 September
2001, in which it has ruled:

1. A party to a contract liable to restrict or distort competition
within the meaning of Article 85 of the EC Treaty (now
Article 81 EC) can rely on the breach of that provision to
obtain relief from the other contracting party.

2. Article 85 of the Treaty precludes a rule of national law under
which a party to a contract
liable to restrict or distort
competition within the meaning of that provision is barred from
claiming damages for loss caused by performance of that
contract on the sole ground that the claimant is a party to that
contract.

1. Dismisses the application;

2. Orders the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

3.

Community law does not preclude a rule of national law barring
a party to a contract liable to restrict or distort competition
from relying on his own unlawful actions to obtain damages
where it
significant
responsibility for the distortion of competition.

is established that

that party bears

(1) OJ C 366 of 18.12.1999.

(1) OJ C 47 of 19.2.2000.