Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of  8 November 2005  in Case C-443/03, Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands) Götz Leffler v Berlin Chemie AG (Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Service of judicial and extrajudicial documents — No translation of the document — Consequences)
Date: 2006-01-14
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU act, civil law, commercial law, interpretation of the law

C 10/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

14.1.2006

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(First Chamber)

of 10 November 2005

in Case C-307/03: Italian Republic v Commission of the
European Communities (1)

(EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Decision 2003/364/EC
— Arable crops — Spot checks — Repayment of aid in
respect of non-eligible areas — False declarations)

(2006/C 10/02)

(Language of the case: Italian)

In Case C-307/03 Italian Republic (Agents: I.M. Braguglia and
M. Fiorilli) v Commission of
the European Communities
(Agents: C. Cattabriga and L. Visaggio) — action for annulment
under Article 230 EC, brought on 18 July 2003 — the Court
(First Chamber), composed of P. Jann (Rapporteur), President of
the Chamber, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, K. Lenaerts, E. Juhász and
M. Ilešič, Judges; J. Kokott, Advocate General; R. Grass, Regis-
trar, gave a judgment on 10 November 2005, in which it:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 226 of 20.9.2003.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(First Chamber)

of 10 November 2005

in Case C-432/03: Commission of the European Commu-
nities v Portuguese Republic (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Articles
28 EC and 30 EC — Directive 89/106/EEC — Decision
3052/95/EC — National approval procedure — Failure to
take account of approval certificates drawn up in other
Member States — Construction products)

(2006/C 10/03)

(Language of the case: Portuguese)

In Case C-432/03, Commission of the European Communities
(Agent: A. Caeiros) v Portuguese Republic (Agents: L. Fernandes
and N. Ruiz, advogado) — Action under Article 226 EC for
failure to fulfil obligations, brought on 10 October 2003 —
the Court (First Chamber), composed of P. Jann, President of

the Chamber, K. Schiemann, N. Colneric, K. Lenaerts
(Rapporteur) and E. Juhász, Judges; L.A. Geelhoed, Advocate
General; M. Ferreira, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar,
gave a judgment on 10 November 2005, in which it:

1. Declares that, by failing to take account of approval certificates
issued by other Member States in a procedure, under Article 17 of
the General Law on Urban Construction, adopted by Decree-Law
No 38/382 of 7 August 1951,
for approval of polyethylene
pipes imported from those other Member States, and by not
informing the Commission of such a measure,
the Portuguese
Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 28 EC
and 30 EC and under Articles 1 and 4(2) of Decision No
3052/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
13 December 1995 establishing a procedure for the exchange of
information on national measures derogating from the principle of
the free movement of goods within the Community;

2. Orders the Portuguese Republic to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 304, 13.12.2003.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Grand Chamber)

of 8 November 2005

in Case C-443/03, Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands) Götz Leffler
v Berlin Chemie AG (1)

(Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Service of judicial
and extrajudicial documents — No translation of the docu-
ment — Consequences)

(2006/C 10/04)

(Language of the case: Dutch)

In Case C-443/03: reference for a preliminary ruling under
Articles 68 EC and 234 EC from the Hoge Raad der Neder-
landen (Netherlands), made by decision of 17 October 2003,
received at the Court on 20 October 2003, in the proceedings
between Götz Leffler and Berlin Chemie AG — the Court
(Grand Chamber), composed of V. Skouris, President, P. Jann,
C.W.A. Timmermans, A. Rosas (Rapporteur) and J. Malenovský,
Presidents of Chambers, S. von Bahr, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, R.
Silva de Lapuerta, K. Lenaerts, E. Juhász, G. Arestis, A. Borg
Barthet and M. Ilešič, Judges; C. Stix-Hackl, Advocate General;
M. Ferreira, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, gave a
judgment on 8 November 2005, the operative part of which is
as follows:

14.1.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 10/3

1. On a proper construction of Article 8(1) of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1348/2000 of 29 May 2000 on the service in the
Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or
commercial matters, when the addressee of a document has refused
it on the ground that it is not in an official
language of the
Member State addressed or in a language of the Member State of
transmission which the addressee understands, it is possible for the
sender to remedy that by sending the translation requested.

2. On a proper

construction of Article 8 of Regulation No
1348/2000, when the addressee of a document has refused it on
the ground that it is not in an official language of the Member
State addressed or in a language of the Member State of transmis-
sion which the addressee understands, that situation may be reme-
died by sending the translation of the document in accordance
with the procedure laid down by Regulation No 1348/2000 and
as soon as possible.

In order to resolve problems connected with the way in which the
lack of translation should be remedied that are not envisaged by
it is
Regulation No 1348/2000 as interpreted by the Court,
incumbent on the national court to apply national procedural law
while taking care to ensure the full effectiveness of that regulation,
in compliance with its objective.

(1) OJ C 304, 13.12.2003.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(First Chamber)

of 10 November 2005

in Case C-29/04: Commission of the European Commu-
nities v Republic of Austria (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Articles 8,
11(1) and 15(2) of Directive 92/50/EEC — Procedure for the
award of public service contracts — Contract relating to
waste disposal — Absence of call for tenders)

(2006/C 10/05)

(Language of the case: German)

In Case C-29/04: Commission of the European Communities
(Agent: K. Wiedner) v Republic of Austria (Agent: M. Fruh-
mann) — action under Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obli-
gations, brought on 28 January 2004 — the Court
(First
Chamber), composed of P. Jann, President of the Chamber, K.
Schiemann (Rapporteur), J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, K. Lenaerts and

M. Ilešič, Judges; L.A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; R. Grass,
Registrar, gave a judgment on 10 November 2005, in which it:

1. Declares that, in that the contract for the disposal of the town of
Mödling's waste was entered into without complying with the
procedural and advertising rules laid down by Article 8,
in
conjunction with Articles 11(1) and 15(2) of Council Directive
92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of
procedures for the award of public service contracts, the Republic
of Austria has failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive;

2. Orders the Republic of Austria to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 71 of 20.3.2004.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(First Chamber)

of 10 November 2005

in Case C-197/04: Commission of the European Commu-
nities v Federal Republic of Germany (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Tax on
the consumption of manufactured tobacco — Separate taxa-
tion of cigarettes and rolls of tobacco ‘West Single Packs’)

(2006/C 10/06)

(Language of the case: German)

In Case C-197/04, Commission of the European Communities
(Agent: K. Gross) v Federal Republic of Germany (Agents: C.-D.
Quassowski, A. Tiemann and U. Forsthoff) — Action under
Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations, brought on 30
April 2004, — the Court (First Chamber), composed of P. Jann,
President of the Chamber, K. Lenaerts, E. Juhász, M. Ilešič and
E. Levits (Rapporteur), Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General;
M. Ferreira, Principal Administrator, for the, Registrar, gave a
judgment on 10 November 2005, in which it:

1. Declares that, by applying the tax rate for fine-cut tobacco for
self-rolled cigarettes to rolls of tobacco sold under the name ‘West
Single Packs’, the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to fulfil
its
obligations under Article 4(1)(b) of Council Directive
95/59/EC of 27 November 1995 on taxes other than turnover
taxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco, and
the first paragraph of Article 2 of Council Directive 92/79/EEC
of 19 October 1992 on the approximation of taxes on cigarettes;