Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 21 April 2005 in Case C-140/03 Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic (Failure by a Member State to fulfil obligations — Articles 43 EC and 48 EC — Opticians — Conditions of establishment — Establishment and operation of opticians' shops — Restrictions — Justification — Principle of proportionality)
Date: 2005-06-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Greece, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, optics, right of establishment, share capital

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,