Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) 21 March 2002 in Case C-451/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Handelsgericht Wien): Cura Anlagen GmbH v Auto Service Leasing GmbH (ASL) (Vehicle leasing — Prohibition on using in a Member State for longer than a certain time a vehicle registered in another Member State — Obligations to register the vehicle and to pay a consumption tax in the Member State of use — Obligation to insure with an insurer authorised in the Member State of use — Obligation to undergo roadworthiness testing — Restrictions on the freedom to provide services — Justifications)
Date: 2002-05-18
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: interpretation of the law, organisation, right of establishment, vehicle registration, vehicle rental

C 118/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

18.5.2002

No 1408/71 of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application
of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-
employed persons and to members of their families moving
within the Community, as amended and updated by Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2001/83 of 2 June 1983 (OJ 1983 L 230,
p. 6), and as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3811/
86 of 11 December 1986 (OJ 1986 L 355, p. 5), the Court,
Jann,
composed of: G.C. Rodrı´guez Iglesias, President, P.
F. Macken and N. Colneric (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gul-
mann, D.A.O. Edward, J.-P. Puissochet (Rapporteur), M. Wathe-
let and V. Skouris, Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General;
H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on
19 March 2002, in which it has ruled:

Examination of the questions referred has not disclosed any factor of
such a kind as to affect the validity:

— of Article 14c(1)(b) of and Annex VII to Regulation No 1408/
71 of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application of social
security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons
and to members of their families moving within the Community,
as amended and updated by Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2001/83 of 2 June 1983.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Fifth Chamber)

21 March 2002

in Case C-451/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Handelsgericht Wien): Cura Anlagen GmbH v Auto
Service Leasing GmbH (ASL) (1)

(Vehicle leasing — Prohibition on using in a Member State
for longer than a certain time a vehicle registered in another
Member State — Obligations to register the vehicle and to
pay a consumption tax in the Member State of use —
Obligation to insure with an insurer authorised in the
Member State of use — Obligation to undergo roadworthi-
ness testing — Restrictions on the freedom to provide
services — Justifications)

(2002/C 118/08)

(Language of the case: German)

— of Article 14(b) of and Annex VII to that regulation, as
amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3811/86 of
11 December 1986.

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

However, it is, where appropriate, for the national court hearing
disputes in the context of the application of that provision, first, to
ascertain that the legislation of the States concerned applied in that
context is applied in accordance with Articles 48 and 52 of the
Treaty (now, after amendment, Articles 39 EC and 43 EC), and in
particular that the national legislation whose conditions for appli-
cation are at issue does afford social security cover for the person
concerned, and, second, to determine whether that provision should,
exceptionally, be disapplied at the request of the worker concerned
where it would cause him to lose a social security advantage which he
originally enjoyed under a social security convention in force between
two or more Member States.

In Case C-451/99: Reference to the Court under Article 234
EC by the Handelsgericht Wien (Austria) for a preliminary
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Cura Anlagen GmbH and Auto Service Leasing GmbH (ASL),
on the interpretation of Articles 49 EC to 55 EC and Article 28
EC,the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: S. von Bahr,
President of the Fourth Chamber, acting for the President of
the Fifth Chamber, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, M. Wathelet
(Rapporteur) and C.W.A. Timmermans, Judges; F.G. Jacobs,
Advocate General; H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has
given a judgment on 21 March 2002, in which it has ruled:

(1) OJ C 366 of 18.12.1999.

issue in the main proceedings,

The provisions of the EC Treaty on the freedom to provide services
(Articles 49 EC to 55 EC) preclude legislation of a Member State,
such as that at
requiring an
undertaking established in that Member State which takes a lease of
a vehicle registered in another Member State to register it in the first
Member State in order to be able to use it there beyond a period that
is so short, in this case three days, that it makes it impossible or
excessively difficult to comply with the requirements imposed. The
same provisions of the Treaty preclude legislation of a Member State,
such as that at
requiring an
undertaking established in that Member State which takes a lease of

issue in the main proceedings,

18.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 118/7

a vehicle registered in another Member State to register in the first
Member State and imposing on it one or more of the following
conditions:

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

19 March 2002

— a requirement that the person in whose name the vehicle is
registered in the Member State of use reside or have a place of
business there, in so far as it obliges a leasing undertaking
either to have a principal place of business in that Member
State or to accept registration of the vehicle in the name of the
lessee and the consequent limitation of its rights over the vehicle;

— a requirement to insure the vehicle with an authorised insurer
in the Member State of use, if that requirement implies that the
insurer must have its principal place of business in that Member
State, as the home State within the meaning of the non-life
insurance directives, and have ‘official authorisation’ there;

— a requirement of a roadworthiness test when the vehicle has
already undergone such testing in the Member State where the
leasing company is established, save where that requirement is
aimed at verifying that the vehicle satisfies the conditions
imposed on vehicles registered in the Member State of use that
are not covered by the tests carried out in the Member State
where the leasing company is established and/or, if the vehicle
has in the meantime been used on the public highway, that its
condition has not deteriorated since it was tested in that latter
Member State, provided similar testing is imposed where a
vehicle previously tested in the Member State of use is presented
for registration in that State;

— payment, in the Member State of use, of a consumption tax the
amount of which is not proportionate to the duration of the
registration of the vehicle in that State.

(1) OJ C 34 of 5.2.2000.

in Case C-476/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Centrale Raad van Beroep): H. Lommers v Minister
van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij (1)

(Social policy — Equal treatment of men and women —
Derogations — Measures to promote equality of opportunity
between men and women — Subsidised nursery places made
available by a Ministry to its staff — Places reserved only
for children of female officials, save in cases of emergency,
to be determined by the employer)

(2002/C 118/09)

(Language of the case: Dutch)

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

In Case C-476/99: Reference to the Court under Article 234
EC by the Centrale Raad van Beroep (Netherlands) for a
preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
court between H. Lommers and Minister van Landbouw,
Natuurbeheer en Visserij, on the interpretation of Article 2(1)
and (4) of Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976
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 (OJ 1976
L 39, p. 40), the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodrı´guez Iglesias,
President, P. Jann, F. Macken and N. Colneric (Presidents of
(Rapporteur),
Chambers), C. Gulmann, A. La Pergola
J.-P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen and V. Skouris, Judges; S. Alber,
Advocate General; H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has
given a judgment on 19 March 2002, in which it has ruled:

Article 2(1) and (4) of Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February
1976 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 does not preclude a scheme
set up by a Minister to tackle extensive under-representation of
women within his Ministry under which, in a context characterised
by a proven insufficiency of proper, affordable care facilities, a limited
number of subsidised nursery places made available by the Ministry
to its staff is reserved for female officials alone whilst male officials
may have access to them only in cases of emergency, to be determined