Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 14 April 2005 in Case C-163/03: Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive 80/68/EEC — Protection of groundwater against pollution caused by certain dangerous substances — Articles 3, 4 and 5 — Directive 91/689/EEC — Hazardous waste — Article 2(1) and Article 6(1)
Date: 2005-06-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Greece, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, dangerous substance, groundwater, water pollution, water protection

C 143/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

11.6.2005

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 21 April 2005

in Case C-140/03 Commission of the European Commu-
nities v Hellenic Republic (1)

(Failure by a Member State to fulfil obligations — Articles
43 EC and 48 EC — Opticians — Conditions of establish-
ment — Establishment and operation of opticians' shops —
Restrictions — Justification — Principle of proportionality)

(2005/C 143/07)

(Language of the case: Greek)

In Case C-140/03 Commission of the European Communities
(Agent: M. Patakia) v Hellenic Republic (Agent: E. Skandalou)
— action under Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations,
brought on 27 March 2003 — the Court (Second Chamber),
composed of C.W.A. Timmermans, President of the Chamber,
R. Silva de Lapuerta, C. Gulmann (Rapporteur), P. Kūris and G.
Arestis, Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; L.
Hewlett, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, gave a judg-
ment on 21 April 2005, in which it:

1. Declares that by enacting and maintaining in force Law No
971/79 on the exercise of the profession of optician and on shops
for the sale of optical articles, which does not permit a qualified
optician as a natural person to operate more than one optician's
shop,
its obligations
under Article 43 EC;

the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil

2. Declares that by enacting and maintaining in force Law No
971/79 and Law No 2646/98 on the development of a national
social security system and other provisions, under which the estab-
lishment by a legal person of an optician's shop in Greece is
subject to the following conditions:

— authorisation for the establishment and operation of the opti-
cian's shop must have been granted to a recognised optician
who is a natural person, the person holding the authorisation
to operate the shop must hold at least 50 % of the company's
share capital and must participate at least to that extent in
the profits and losses of the company, and the company must
be in the form of a collective or limited partnership, and

— the optician in question may participate at most in one other
company owning an optician's shop, subject to the condition
that the authorisation for the establishment and operation of
that shop is in the name of another authorised optician,

the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Arti-
cles 43 EC and 48 EC;

3. Orders the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 135 of 07.06.2003.

(Sixth Chamber)

of 14 April 2005

in Case C-163/03: Commission of the European Commu-
nities v Hellenic Republic (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive
80/68/EEC — Protection of groundwater against pollution
caused by certain dangerous substances — Articles 3, 4 and
5 — Directive 91/689/EEC — Hazardous waste — Article
2(1) and Article 6(1)

(2005/C 143/08)

(Language of the case: Greek)

In Case C-163/03 Commission of the European Commu-
nities (Agents: G. Valero Jordana and M. Konstantinidis) v
Hellenic Republic (Agent: E. Skandalou) — action under
Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations, brought on 8
April 2003 — the Court (Sixth Chamber), composed of A.
Borg Barthet, President of the Chamber, U. Lõhmus and A. Ó
Caoimh (Rapporteur), Judges; P. Léger, Advocate General; R.
Grass, Registrar, gave a judgment on 14 April 2005, in which
it:

1. Declares that, having failed, as regards the region of Thriassion

Pedion:

— to adopt the measures necessary to prevent the introduction
into groundwater of substances in list I of Council Directive
80/68/EEC of 17 December 1979 on the protection of
groundwater against pollution caused by certain dangerous
substances, and to limit the introduction into groundwater of
substances in list II of that directive so as to avoid pollution of
that water by those substances,

— to subject to prior investigation any disposal or tipping for the
purpose of disposal of the substances in list I of that directive
which might lead to indirect discharge, and

— to subject

to prior

investigation all direct discharge of
substances in list II of Directive 80/68 and the disposal or
tipping for the purpose of disposal of those substances which
might lead to indirect discharge,

11.6.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 143/9

the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Arti-
cles 3, 4 and 5 of Directive 80/68.

2. Declares that, having failed to take the measures necessary to
record and identify the hazardous waste tipped in the region of
Thriassion Pedion and to draw up, either separately or in the
framework of their general waste management plans, plans for the
management of hazardous waste in the region of Thriassion
Pedion, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations
under Article 2(1) and Article 6(1) of Council Directive
91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991 on hazardous waste.

3. Orders the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 135 of 07.06.2003

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 21 April 2005

in Joined Cases C-207/03 and C-252/03: References for
preliminary rulings from the High Court of Justice of
England and Wales, Chancery Division (Patents Court)
(United Kingdom, C-207/03), and from the Cour adminis-
trative (Luxembourg, C-252/03) Novartis AG and Others v
Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks
for the United Kingdom, and Ministre de l'Économie v
Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (1)

(Patent law — Medicinal products — Supplementary protec-
tion certificate for medicinal products)

(2005/C 143/09)

(Languages of the case: English and French)

In Joined Cases C-207/03 and C-252/03: References for preli-
minary rulings under Article 234 EC from the High Court of
Justice of England and Wales, Chancery Division (Patents
Court) (United Kingdom, C-207/03), and from the Cour admin-
istrative (Luxembourg, C-252/03), made by decisions of 6 May
and 3 June 2003, received at the Court on 14 May and 13 June
in the proceedings between Novartis AG (C-207/03),
2003,
University College London, Institute of Microbiology and Epide-
miology and Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and
Trade Marks for the United Kingdom and between Ministre de

l'Économie (C-252/03) and Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.,
formerly Cor Therapeutics Inc. — the Court (Second Chamber),
composed of C.W.A. Timmermans, President of the Chamber,
J.-P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen and
C. Gulmann (Rapporteur),
J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advo-
cate General, M. Múgica Arzamendi, Administrator,
for the
Registrar, gave a judgment on 21 April 2005, the operative
part of which is as follows:

In so far as an authorisation to place a medicinal product on the
market issued by the Swiss authorities and automatically recognised
by the Principality of Liechtenstein under that State's legislation is the
first authorisation to place that product on the market in one of the
States of the European Economic Area, it constitutes the first authori-
sation to place the product on the market within the meaning of
Article 13 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1768/92 of 18 June
1992 concerning the creation of a supplementary protection certificate
for medicinal products, as it is to be read for the purposes of the
application of the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

(1) OJ C 158 of 05.07.2003, OJ C 200 of 23.08.2003.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 21 April 2005

in Case C-267/03 Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Högsta domstolen Lars Erik Staffan Lindberg (1)

(Directive 83/189/EEC — Notification procedure in the field
of technical standards and regulations — Obligation to
notify draft technical regulations — National legislation on
gaming and lotteries — Gaming machines — Prohibition on
the organisation of games on gaming machines which do not
pay out winnings directly — Machines of the ‘wheel of
fortune’ type — Definition of 'technical regulation')

(2005/C 143/10)

(Language of the case: Swedish)

In Case C-267/03: reference for a preliminary ruling under
Article 234 EC from the Högsta domstolen (Sweden), made by
decision of 10 April 2003, received at the Court on 18 June
2003,
in the criminal proceedings against Lars Erik Staffan
Lindberg — the Court: (Second Chamber) composed of C.W.A.