Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 21 July 2005 in Case C-231/03: Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per la Lombardia: Consorzio Aziende Metano (Coname) v Comune di Cingia de' Botti (Articles 43 EC, 49 EC and 81 EC — Concession for the management of a public gas-distribution service)
Date: 2005-09-03
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU national, competition law, energy distribution, freedom to provide services, gas, interpretation of the law, public service, right of establishment

3.9.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/7

J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, M.

Chambers, J. P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen, N. Colneric, S. von
Bahr,
J. Malenovský, U.
Lõhmus and E. Levits, Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General; L.
Hewlett, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, gave a judg-
ment on 12 July 2005, in which it:

Ilešič,

1. Sets aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of the Euro-
pean Communities of 26 February 2003 in Joined Cases T-344/
00 and T-345/00 CEVA and Pharmacia Enterprises v Commis-
sion in so far as it established that there had been inaction on the
part of the Commission of the European Communities between
1 January 2000 and 25 July 2001 of such a kind as to give rise
to liability on the part of the Community;

2. Dismisses the actions;

3. Orders CEVA Santé Animale SA and Pfizer Enterprises Sàrl to
pay the costs of both the proceedings before the Court of First
Instance of the European Communities and the present proceed-
ings;

4. Orders the International Federation for Animal Health to bear its
own costs in both the proceedings before the Court of First
Instance and the present proceedings.

(1) OJ C 213 of 06.09.2003.

Pen, residing at Saint-Cloud (France), (Agent: F. Wagner), the
other party to the proceedings being the European Parliament
(Agents: H. Krück and C. Karamarcos), the French Republic,
(Agents: R. Abraham, G. de Bergues and L. Bernheim), inter-
vener at
(Second Chamber),
composed of C.W.A. Timmermans (Rapporteur), President of
the Chamber, R. Silva de Lapuerta, J. Makarczyk, P. Kūris and
G. Arestis,
Jacobs, Advocate General; R. Grass,
Registrar, gave a judgment on 7 July 2005, in which it:

instance — the Court

Judges; F.G.

first

1. Dismisses the appeal;

2. Orders Mr Le Pen to pay the costs of these proceedings including

those of the proceedings for interim measures;

3. Orders the French Republic to bear its own costs.

(1) OJ C 275 of 15.11.2003

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Grand Chamber)

of 21 July 2005

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 7 July 2005

in Case C-231/03: Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per la Lombardia:
Consorzio Aziende Metano (Coname) v Comune di Cingia
de' Botti (1)

in Case C-208/03 P: Jean-Marie Le Pen v European Parlia-
ment (1)

(Articles 43 EC, 49 EC and 81 EC — Concession for the
management of a public gas-distribution service)

(Appeal — Elections of Members of the European Parliament
— Lack of uniform electoral procedure — Application of
national law — Disqualification of a Member of the Euro-
pean Parliament from holding office following a criminal
conviction — Measure by which the European Parliament
‘takes note’ of that disqualification — Action for annulment
— Act not open to challenge — Inadmissibility)

(2005/C 217/14)

(Language of the case: Italian)

(2005/C 217/13)

(Language of the case: French)

In Case C-208/03 P: appeal under Article 56 of the Statute of
the Court of Justice lodged on 10 May 2003 by Jean-Marie Le

In Case C-231/03: reference for a preliminary ruling under
Article 234 EC from the Tribunale amministrativo regionale
per la Lombardia (Lombardy Regional Administrative Court)
(Italy), made by decision of 14 February 2003, received at the
Court on 28 May 2003,
in the proceedings between
Consorzio Aziende Metano (Coname) and Comune di
intervener: Padania Acque SpA — the
Cingia de' Botti,
Court (Grand Chamber), composed of V. Skouris, President, P.
Jann, C.W.A. Timmermans (Rapporteur), A. Rosas, R. Silva de
Lapuerta and A. Borg Barthet, Presidents of Chambers,

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.