Judgment of the Court of 13 December 2001 in Case C-1/00: Commission of the European Communities v French Republic (Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Refusal to end the ban on British beef and veal)
Date: 2002-02-16
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, France, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, animal disease, cattle, health certificate

C 44/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

16.2.2002

of waste within, into and out of the European Community (OJ
1993 L 30, p. 1), the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodrı´guez
Iglesias, President, N. Colneric (President of Chambers), C. Gul-
mann, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola (Rapporteur), L. Sevo´ n,
M. Wathelet, R. Schintgen, V. Skouris, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues
and C.W.A. Timmermans, Judges, Advocate General: P. Léger,
Registrar: H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator, has given a
judgment on 13 December 2001, in which it has ruled:

1. Where a national measure generally prohibiting exports of
waste for disposal is justified by the principles of proximity,
priority for recovery and self-sufficiency, in accordance with
Article 4(3)(a)(i) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of
1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments
of waste within, into and out of the European Community, it is
not necessary for that national measure to be subject to a further
and separate review of its compatibility with Articles 34 and 36
of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Articles 29 EC and
30 EC).

2. Article 4(3) of Regulation No 259/93 does not authorise a
Member State which has adopted legislation introducing an
obligation to offer waste for disposal to an approved body to
provide that, where the waste is not allocated to a treatment
centre for which that body is responsible,
its shipment to
treatment installations in other Member States is authorised
only on condition that
satisfy the
requirements of the environmental protection legislation of that
Member State.

the intended disposal

3. Articles 3 to 5 of Regulation No 259/93 preclude a Member
State from applying to shipments between Member States of
waste for disposal, before the implementation of the notification
procedure laid down in the regulation, its own procedure in
relation to the offer and allocation of the waste.

(1) OJ C 352 of 4.12.1999.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Sixth Chamber)

of 13 December 2001

in Case C-481/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling
from the Bundesgerichtshof): Georg Heininger and Helga
Heininger v Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG (1)

(Consumer protection — Doorstep selling — Right of
cancellation — Agreement to grant credit secured by charge
on immovable property)

(2002/C 44/03)

(Language of the case: German)

for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
court between Georg Heininger and Helga Heininger and
Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG on the interpretation
of Council Directive 85/577/EEC of 20 December 1985 to
protect the consumer in respect of contracts negotiated away
from business premises (OJ 1985 L 372, p. 31), and Council
Directive 87/102/EEC of 22 December 1986 for the approxi-
mation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions
of the Member States concerning consumer credit (OJ 1987
L 42, p. 48) as amended by Council Directive 90/88/EEC of
22 February 1990 (OJ 1990 L 61, p. 14), the Court (Sixth
Chamber), composed of F. Macken, President of the Chamber,
J.P. Puissochet, V. Skouris and
C. Gulmann (Rapporteur),
J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges, Advocate General: P. Léger,
Registrar: D. Louterman-Hubeau, Head of Division, has given
a judgment on 13 December 2001, in which it has ruled:

1.

Council Directive 85/577/EEC of 20 December 1985 to
protect the consumer in respect of contracts negotiated away
from business premises is to be interpreted as applying to a
secured-credit agreement such as that in point in the main
proceedings, with the result
the right of cancellation
provided for in Article 5 of that directive is available to a
consumer who has entered into a contract of that type in one of
the cases specified in Article 1.

that

2. Directive 85/577 precludes the national

legislature from
imposing a time-limit of one year from the conclusion of the
contract within which the right of cancellation provided for in
Article 5 of that directive may be exercised, where the consumer
has not received the information specified in Article 4.

(1) OJ C 79 of 18.3.2000.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

of 13 December 2001

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

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Refusal
to end the ban on British beef and veal)

(2002/C 44/04)

(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-481/99: reference to the Court under Article 234
EC by the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Republic of Germany)

In Case C-1/00: Commission of the European Communities
(Agents: D. Booss and G. Berscheid), supported by United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
(Agent:
J.E. Collins, assisted by D. Anderson QC and M. Hoskins) v
French Republic (Agents:
initially K. Rispal-Bellanger and
J.-F. Dobelle, subsequently R. Loosli-Surrans and J.-F. Dobelle,

16.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 44/3

and then R. Loosli-Surrans and G. de Bergues) — application
for a declaration that, by refusing to adopt the measures
necessary in order to comply with:

— Council Decision 98/256/EC of 16 March 1998 concern-
ing emergency measures to protect against bovine spongi-
form encephalopathy, amending Decision 94/474/EC
and repealing Decision 96/239/EC (OJ 1998 L 113,
p. 32), in the version resulting from Commission Decision
98/692/EC of 25 November 1998 (OJ 1998 L 328,
p. 28), in particular with Article 6 and Annex III, and

— Commission Decision 1999/514/EC of 23 July 1999
setting the date on which dispatch from the United
Kingdom of bovine products under the date-based export
scheme may commence by virtue of Article 6(5) of
Decision 98/256 (OJ 1999 L 195, p. 42), in particular
with Article 1,

in particular, by refusing to permit the marketing in its
territory of products eligible under that scheme, which are
covered by Article 6 of, and Annex III to, Decision 98/256 as
amended by Decision 98/692, after 1 August 1999, the French
Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under those two
decisions, in particular their provisions referred to above, and
the EC Treaty, in particular Articles 28 EC and 10 EC — the
Court, composed of: G.C. Rodrı´guez Iglesias, President, P. Jann,
F. Macken, N. Colneric, S. von Bahr (Presidents of Chambers),
C. Gulmann, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, J.-P. Puissochet,
L. Sevo´ n (Rapporteur), M. Wathelet, R. Schintgen and V. Skou-
ris, Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Adminis-
trator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 13 December
2001, in which it:

in particular, by refusing to permit the marketing in its territory
after 30 December 1999 of products subject to that scheme
which are correctly marked or labelled, the French Republic has
failed to fulfil its obligations under those two decisions, in
particular their provisions referred to above;

2. Dismisses the remainder of the application;

3. Orders the French Republic to bear two thirds of the costs and
the Commission of the European Communities to bear the other
third;

4. Orders the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

Ireland to bear its own costs.

(1) OJ C 63 of 4.3.2000.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Sixth Chamber)

of 13 December 2001

in Case C-79/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling
from the Tribunal Supremo): Telefo´ nica de Espan˜ a SA v
Administracio´ n General del Estado (1)

(Directive 97/33/EC — Telecommunications — Intercon-
nection of networks — Obligations imposed on network
providers)

(2002/C 44/05)

(Language of the case: Spanish)

1. Declares that, by refusing to adopt the measures necessary in

order to comply with:

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

— Council Decision 98/256/EC of 16 March 1998 con-
cerning emergency measures to protect against bovine
spongiform encephalopathy,
amending Decision
94/474/EC and repealing Decision 96/239/EC, in the
version resulting from Commission Decision 98/692/EC
of 25 November 1998, in particular with Article 6 and
Annex III, and

— Commission Decision 1999/514/EC of 23 July 1999
setting the date on which dispatch from the United
Kingdom of bovine products under the date-based export
scheme may commence by virtue of Article 6(5) of
Decision 98/256, in particular with Article 1,

In Case C-79/00: reference to the Court under Article 234 EC
by the Tribunal Supremo (Spain) for a preliminary ruling in
the proceedings pending before that court between Telefo´ nica
de Espan˜ a SA and Administracio´ n General del Estado, third
party: Retevisio´ n SA, on the interpretation of Articles 4(2) and
9(2) of Directive 97/33/EC of the European Parliament and
of
the Council of 30 June 1997 on interconnection in
Telecommunications with regard to ensuring universal service
and interoperability through application of the principles of
Open Network Provision (ONP) (OJ 1997 L 199, p. 32), the
Court (Sixth Chamber), composed of: F. Macken (Rapporteur),
President of the Chamber, C. Gulmann, R. Schintgen, V. Skou-
ris and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues,
Judges, Advocate General:
F.G. Jacobs, Registrar: H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator, has
given a judgement on 13 December 2001, in which it has
ruled: