Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 14 July 2005 in Joined Cases C-259/03, C-260/03 and C-343/03: Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Denmark (System of fishing quotas — 1988, 1990 to 1992, 1994 and 1995 to 1997 fishing years)
Date: 2005-09-03
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Denmark, European Commission, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, catch quota, fishery resources, fishing controls, fishing rights

C 217/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

3.9.2005

R. Schintgen, S. von Bahr, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, G. Arestis, M.
Ilešič, J. Malenovský and J. Klučka, Judges; C. Stix-Hackl, Advo-
cate General; L. Hewlett, Principal Administrator, for the Regis-
trar, gave a judgment on 21 July 2005, in which it ruled:

Articles 43 EC and 49 EC preclude, in circumstances such as those at
issue in the main proceedings, the direct award by a municipality of a
concession for the management of the public gas-distribution service
to a company in which there is a majority public holding and in the
capital of which the municipality in question has a 0.97 % holding,
if that award does not comply with transparency requirements which,
without necessarily implying an obligation to hold an invitation to
tender, are, in particular, such as to enable an undertaking located in
the territory of a Member State other than that of the municipality in
question to have access to appropriate information regarding that
concession, so that, if that undertaking had so wished, it would have
been in a position to express its interest in obtaining that concession.

(1) OJ C 226 of 20.09.2003.

J.-P. Puissochet

Barthet,
and
J. Malenovský, Judges; C. Stix-Hackl, Advocate General; R. Grass,
Registrar, gave a judgment on 14 July 2005, in which it:

(Rapporteur), S. von Bahr

1. Declares that, having failed

— to establish the appropriate detailed rules for utilisation of the
quotas allocated to it for each of the following fishing years
— 1988, 1990 to 1992, 1994 and 1995 to 1997;

— in respect of each of those fishing years to ensure compliance
with Community legislation on the conservation of fisheries
resources through the supervision of
fishing activities and
appropriate monitoring of the unloading and registration of
catches;

— in respect of each of those fishing years within a reasonable
period of time provisionally to prohibit fishing with vessels
which fly its flag or are registered within its territory when the
applicable quota was deemed to have been exhausted; and

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

— to notify the Commission of the European Communities of the

implementation of fishing bans in 1988,

(Third Chamber)

of 14 July 2005

in Joined Cases C-259/03, C-260/03 and C-343/03: Commis-
the European Communities v Kingdom of
sion of

Denmark (1)

(System of fishing quotas — 1988, 1990 to 1992, 1994 and
1995 to 1997 fishing years)

fishery resources

the Kingdom of Denmark has failed to fulfil its obligations under
Article 5(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 170/83 of 25
January 1983 establishing a Community system for the conserva-
(pre-1993 fishing
tion and management of
years), Article 9(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of
20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries
and aquaculture (post-1993 fishing years), Article 1 and Article
11(1) and (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2241/87 of 23
July 1987 establishing certain control measures for fishing activ-
ities (pre-1993 fishing years) and Article 2, Article 21(1) and (2)
and Article 31 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12
October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the
common fisheries policy (post-1993 fishing years).

(2005/C 217/15)

2. Dismisses the remainder of the applications.

(Language of the case: Danish)

3. Orders the Kingdom of Denmark to pay the costs.

In Joined Cases C-259/03, C-260/03 and C-343/03 Commis-
sion of the European Communities (Agent: H.-P. Hartvig) v
Kingdom of Denmark (Agent: J. Molde) — three actions under
Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations, brought on 17
June and 4 August 2003 — the Court
(Third Chamber),
composed of A. Rosas, President of the Chamber, A. Borg

(1) OJ C 200 of 23.08.2003
OJ C 239 of 04.10.2003.