Order of the Court (Second Chamber) of 23 September 2004 in Joined Cases C-435/02 and C-103/03 (references for preliminary rulings from the Landgericht Essen and the Landgericht Hagen): Axel Springer AG v Zeitungsverlag Niederrhein GmbH & Co. Essen KG and Hans-Jürgen Weske (Article 104(3) of the Rules of Procedure — Partnership law and company law — Directive 90/605/EEC amending the scope of Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC — Article 54(3)(g) of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 44(2)(g) EC) — Partnerships in the form of limited partnerships all of the fully liable partners of which are constituted as private limited liability companies GmbH and Co. KG — Publication of annual accounts — Right of third parties to consult those documents — Concept of a third party — Inclusion, inter alia, of competitors — Validity — Legal basis — Principles of freedom to pursue a trade or profession, freedom of the press and equal treatment)
Date: 2004-12-18
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: communications industry, consultation of information, equal treatment, freedom of the press, interpretation of the law, limited partnership, private limited company, publication of accounts

C 314/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

18.12.2004

ORDER OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 23 September 2004

in Joined Cases C-435/02 and C-103/03 (references for
preliminary rulings from the Landgericht Essen and the
Landgericht Hagen): Axel Springer AG v Zeitungsverlag
Niederrhein GmbH & Co. Essen KG and Hans-Jürgen
Weske (1)

(Article 104(3) of the Rules of Procedure — Partnership law
and company law — Directive 90/605/EEC amending the
scope of Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC — Article
54(3)(g) of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article
44(2)(g) EC) — Partnerships in the form of limited partner-
ships all of the fully liable partners of which are constituted
as private limited liability companies GmbH and Co. KG —
Publication of annual accounts — Right of third parties to
consult those documents — Concept of a third party — Inclu-
sion, inter alia, of competitors — Validity — Legal basis —
freedom to pursue a trade or profession,
Principles of

freedom of the press and equal treatment)

(2004/C 314/03)

(Language of the cases: German)

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

In Joined Cases C-435/02 and C-103/03: references for preli-
minary rulings under Article 234 EC from the Landgericht
(Regional Court) Essen (Germany) and the Landgericht Hagen
(Germany), by orders of 25 November 2002 and 11 February
2003, registered at the Court on 2 December 2002 and 5
March 2003 respectively, in the proceedings brought by Axel
Springer AG against Zeitungsverlag Niederrhein GmbH & Co.
Essen KG (C-435/02) and Axel Springer AG against Hans-
Jürgen Weske (C-103/03),
(Second Chamber),
composed of: C.W.A. Timmermans (Rapporteur), President of
the Chamber, J.-P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen, F. Macken and N.
Colneric, Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General; R. Grass, Regis-
trar, has made an order on 23 September 2004, the operative
part of which is as follows:

the Court

-

1. To the extent it follows from Council Directive 90/605/EEC of 8
November 1990 amending Directive 78/660/EEC on annual
accounts and Directive 83/349/EEC on consolidated accounts as
regards the scope of those Directives that any person may inspect
the annual accounts and annual report of the types of partnerships
referred to in it, without having to establish a right or an interest
requiring to be protected, that directive could validly be adopted on
the basis of Article 54(3)(g) of the EC Treaty (now, after amend-
ment, Article 44(2)(g) EC).

2. Consideration of the first two questions referred in Case C-435/02
and the second and third questions referred in Case C-103/03 in

the light of the general Community-law principles of freedom to
pursue a trade or profession and of freedom of expression has not
disclosed anything that is capable of affecting the validity of Direc-
tive 90/605.

3. Consideration of the third question in Case C-435/02 and the
fourth question in Case C-103/03 in the light of the principle of
treatment has not disclosed anything that is capable of
equal
affecting the validity of Directive 90/605.

(1) OJ C 44 of 22.2.2003.
OJ C 12 of 10.5.2003.

ORDER OF THE COURT

(Third Chamber)

of 27 September 2004

in Case C-470/02 P: Union européenne de radio-télévision
(UER) against Commission of
the European Commu-
nities (1)

(Appeal — Competition — Agreements — Joint acquisition
television rights for international sporting events —
of
Access of third parties to those rights — Article 81(3) EC —
Appeal manifestly unfounded)

(2004/C 314/04)

(Language of the case: French)

In Case C-470/02 P, Union européenne de radio-télévision
(UER), established in Grand-Saconnex (Switzerland) (lawyers: D.
Waelbroeck and M. Johnsson) — appeal against the judgment
of 8 October 2002 of the Court of First Instance of the Euro-
pean Communities (Second Chamber, Extended Composition)
in Joined Cases T-185/00, T-216/00, T-299/00 and T-300/00
M6 and Others v Commission, asking for that judgment to be
set aside, the other parties to the proceedings being: Commis-
sion of the European Communities, Métropole télévision SA
(M6), established in Neuilly-sur-Seine (France) (lawyers: P. Dian
and J.-C. André) Antena 3 de Televisión SA, established in
(lawyers: S. Muñoz Machado and M. López-
Madrid (Spain)
Contreras González), Gestevisión Telecinco SA, established in
Madrid (Spain)
(lawyers: S. Muñoz Machado and M. López-
Contreras González), Sociedade Independente de Comunicação
SA (SIC), established in Linda-a-Velha (Portugal)
(lawyers:
C. Botelho Moniz and E. Maia Cadete), Radiotelevisión Española
(RTVE), Deutsches SportFernsehen GmbH (DSF), established in
Ismaning (Germany) (lawyer: K. Metzlaff) and Reti Televisive
(lawyers:
Italiane SpA (RTI), established in Rome (Italy),