Case C-502/03: Action brought on 26 November 2003 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Hellenic Republic
Date: 2004-02-21
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Greece, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, unauthorised dumping, waste disposal, waste management

21.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 47/15

2.

If the answer to the second alternative in question 1.
above is in the affirmative:

failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 4, 8 and
9 of Council Directive 75/442/EEC (1) on waste, as
amended by Directive 91/156/EEC. (2)

Does the proviso ‘subject to the same proviso’ contained
in the second subparagraph of Article 3(3) of Directive
92/12/EEC refer, also on taxation of the supply of services
relating to products subject to excise duty as defined by
Article 3(1) of Directive 92/12/EEC, only to the condition
laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 3(3) of that
directive, namely ‘provided, however, that those taxes do
not give rise to border-crossing formalities in trade
between Member States’, or in such a case must ‘specific
purposes’ for the tax, as laid down in Article 3(2) of the
directive, also exist?

(1) OJ L 76, p. 1.

Action brought on 26 November 2003 by the Com-
mission of the European Communities against the Hel-
lenic Republic

(Case C-502/03)

(2004/C 47/25)

An action against the Hellenic Republic was brought before
the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 26 Nov-
ember 2003 by the Commission of the European Communi-
ties, represented by M. Konstantinidis, of its Legal Service.

— order the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

According to the most recent records (December 2002), 1458
unlawful and uncontrolled waste tips are operating which
receive waste from 47 % of the country’s population.

The Greek authorities informed the Commission that the
programme to reduce unlawful and uncontrolled waste dis-
posal sites and their replacement with lawful
landfill sites
meeting public health requirements will only be completed at
the end of 2007.

The Commission considers that, inasmuch as it is allowing the
unlawful and uncontrolled sites to operate on its territory, the
Hellenic Republic is in breach of
its obligations under
Articles 4, 8 and 9 of Directive 75/442/EEC on waste, as
amended by Directive 91/156/EEC.

(1) OJ L 194 of 25.07.1975, p. 39.
(2) OJ L 78 of 26.3.1991, p. 32.

The Commission claims that the Court should:

— declare that, by failing to take all the measures necessary:

Action brought on 1 December 2003 (fax 26 November
2003) by the Federal Republic of Germany against the
Commission of the European Communities

— to ensure that waste is disposed of without
endangering human health and without harming
the environment,

— to prohibit the abandonment, dispοsal and uncon-
trolled treatment of waste, to ensure that any holder
of waste has it handled by a private or public waste
collector or by an undertaking which carries out
disposal, or disposes of it himself, in accordance
with the measures taken under Article 4,

— to ensure that the establishments or undertakings
which carry out disposal operations operate under a
permit from the competent authority or under a
permit which meets the legal requirements, has

(Case C-506/03)

(2004/C 47/26)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
Communities on 1 December 2003 (fax 26 November 2003)
by the Federal Republic of Germany, represented by Wolf-
Dieter Plessing, Ministerialrat in the Federal Ministry of Finance,
and Christoph von Donat, Rechtsanwalt, with an address for
service at the Federal Ministry for Finance, Berlin (Germany).