Judgment of the Court of 13 May 2003 in Case C-98/01: Commission of the European Communities v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Articles 43 EC and 56 EC — Rights attaching to the United Kingdom's Special Share in BAA plc)
Date: 2003-07-05
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, financial control, liquidation, share

C 158/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

5.7.2003

concerning Corporación Bancaria de España SA (Argentaria)
(BOE No 15 of 17 January 1998, p. 1851), Royal Decree
No 552/1998 of 2 April 1998 concerning Tabacalera SA (BOE
No 80 of 3 April 1998, p. 11370), and Royal Decree No 929/
1998 of 14 May 1998 concerning Endesa SA (BOE No 129 of
30 May 1998, p. 17939), in so far as they implement a system
of prior administrative approval

— which is not justified by any overriding requirements of

the general interest,

— which does not lay down objective and stable criteria

which have been made public, and

— which does not comply with the principle of pro-

portionality,

are incompatible with Article 43 EC and Article 56 EC, the
Court, composed of: G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President, J.-
P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet and R. Schintgen (Presidents of
Chambers), C. Gulmann, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann
(Rapporteur), V. Skouris, F. Macken, N. Colneric, S. von Bahr
and A. Rosas,
Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate
General; L. Hewlett, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar,
has given a judgment on 13 May 2003, in which it:

1. Declares that, by maintaining in force the provisions of Article 2
and Article 3(1) and (2) of Ley 5/1995 de régimen jurídico
de enajenación de participaciones públicas en determinadas
empresas (Law 5/1995 on the legal arrangements for disposal
of public shareholdings in certain undertakings) of 23 March
1995, as well as Royal Decree No 3/1996 of 15 January
1996 concerning Repsol SA, Royal Decree No 8/1997 of
10 January 1997 concerning Telefónica de España SA and
Telefónica Servicios Móviles SA, Royal Decree No 40/1998 of
16 January 1998 concerning Corporación Bancaria de España
SA (Argentaria), Royal Decree No 552/1998 of 2 April
1998 concerning Tabacalera SA, and Royal Decree No 929/
1998 of 14 May 1998 concerning Endesa SA, in so far as
they implement a system of prior administrative approval, the
Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under
Article 56 EC;

2. Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs;

3. Orders the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

Ireland to bear its own costs.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

of 13 May 2003

in Case C-98/01: Commission of the European Communi-
ties v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (1)

its obligations —
(Failure by a Member State to fulfil
Articles 43 EC and 56 EC — Rights attaching to the United
Kingdom’s Special Share in BAA plc)

(2003/C 158/05)

(Language of the case: English)

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

In Case C-98/01, Commission of the European Communities
(Agents: F. Benyon and M. Patakia) v United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland (Agents: R. Magrill, assisted by
D. Wyatt, QC, and J. Crow, barrister): Application for a
declaration that the provisions limiting the possibility of
acquiring voting shares in BAA plc as well as the procedure
requiring consent to the disposal of the company’s assets, to
control of its subsidiaries and to winding-up are incompatible
with Articles 43 EC and 56 EC, the Court, composed of:
G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President, J.-P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet
and R. Schintgen (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gulmann,
D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann (Rapporteur), V. Skouris,
F. Macken, N. Colneric, S. von Bahr and A. Rosas, Judges;
D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; H. von Holstein,
Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on 13 May 2003, in
which it:

1. Declares that, by maintaining in force the provisions limiting
the possibility of acquiring voting shares in BAA plc as well as
the procedure requiring consent to the disposal of the company’s
assets, to control of its subsidiaries and to winding-up, the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has
failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 56 EC;

2. Orders the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

Ireland to pay the costs.

( 1) OJ C 61 of 24.2.2001.

(1) OJ C 134 of 5.5.2001.