Case C-270/03: Action brought on 23 June 2003 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic
Date: 2003-08-23
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, hazardous waste, transport of dangerous goods, waste management

23.8.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 200/17

Does subparagraph (a) of the first paragraph of Article 13C of
the Sixth Council Directive (77/388/EEC) of 17 May 1977 on
the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to
taxes — Common system of value added tax (1),
turnover
permit a Member State which has exercised the power to allow
taxpayers a right of option for taxation in cases of letting and
leasing of immovable property to make full deduction of the
input VAT conditional upon non-retroactive approval of the tax
authorities first being obtained?

(1) OJ L 145, 13.06.1977, p. 1.

Action brought on 23 June 2003 by the Commission of
the European Communities against the Italian Republic

(Case C-270/03)

(2003/C 200/30)

An action against the Italian Republic was brought before the
the European Communities on 23 June
Court of
Justice of
2003 by the Commission of
the European Communities,
represented by L. Visaggio and R. Amorosi, acting as Agents.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— declare

by

that,

undertakings,

under
permitting
Article 30(4) of Legislative Decree No 22, of 5 February
1997, as amended by Law No 426, of 9 December 1998,
to collect and transport their own non-hazardous waste,
as an ordinary activity, without requiring them to be
registered in the national register of undertakings carrying
out waste disposal services, and,
in addition, by permit-
ting undertakings to transport their own hazardous waste
less than 30 kg and 30 litres per day,
in quantities of
without requiring them to be entered in that register, the
Italian Republic has failed to fulfil
its obligations under
Article 12 of Directive 75/442/EEC (1) on waste, as
amended by Directive 91/156/EEC (2);

— order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

As regards non-hazardous waste, Article 30(4) of the Legisla-
tive Decree expressly exempts undertakings which, on their
own account, collect and transport non-hazardous waste in
the course of their particular occupational activities from the
requirement of registration in the national register of under-
takings carrying out waste disposal services.

regards hazardous waste

transported directly by its
As
producer, the same provision of the Italian decree establishes
a further exemption from the requirement of registration in
the register referred to above, which applies to undertakings
that transport less than 30 litres or 30 kg of waste per day.

In sum, the requirement in question is limited to the collection
and transportation of hazardous waste, except in cases where
the collection or transportation of such waste is carried out by
its producer in quantities below a certain daily limit, and to
the collection and transportation of non-hazardous waste on
behalf of others.

is clearly inconsistent with the directive. According to
That
Article 12 of the directive, all undertakings, without distinc-
tion, which on a professional basis collect or transport waste
of any kind, whether hazardous or non-hazardous, must,
where not subject
to authorisation, be registered with the
competent authorities.

(1) OJ L 194, 25.07.1975, p. 39.
(2) OJ L 78, 26.03.1991, p. 32.

Action brought on 21 June 2003 by Ireland against the
Commission of the European Communities

(Case C-271/03)

(2003/C 200/31)

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
Communities on 21 June 2003 by Ireland, represented by
D.J. O'Hagan, acting as agent, assisted by P. Gallagher SC,
the
P. McGarry, Barrister and J. Buttimore of
Attorney General, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

the Office of

The Applicant claims that the Court should:

a)

declare the action admissible;

b)

annul Commission Decision C(2003)1084 reducing assis-
tance granted from the European Regional Development
Find (ERDF)
to the Global Grant Scheme for Private
Sector Tourism and Development, Operational Programme
in Ireland
for Tourism (1989-1993) sub-programme 2,
under Commission Decision C89(2258/7) of 21 December
1989;

c)

order the Commission to bear the costs of the proceed-
ings.