Case C-327/05: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 5 July 2007 — Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Denmark (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive 85/374/EEC — Liability for defective products — Liability of the supplier for a defective product)
Date: 2007-08-25
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Denmark, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, defective product, producer's liability, supplier, trade intermediary

25.8.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 199/7

Re:

Re:

Preliminary ruling — Østre Landsret — Interpretation of
Article 2(d) of Council Directive 90/434/EEC of 23 July 1990
on the common system of taxation applicable to mergers, divi-
sions, transfers of assets and exchanges of shares concerning
companies of different Member States (OJ 1990 L 225, p. 1) —
Exchange of shares followed immediately by a distribution of
dividends by the acquiring company,
the amount of which
exceeds 10 % of the nominal value of the shares exchanged

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Incorrect trans-
position of Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on
the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative
provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defec-
tive products (OJ 1985 L 210, p. 29) — National legislation
which makes the distributor of a defective product liable in the
same way as the producer

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Operative part of the judgment

for

provided

In circumstances such as those in the main proceedings, a dividend,
such as that paid, is not to be included in the calculation of the ‘cash
payment’
of Council Directive
in Article 2(d)
90/434/EEC of 23 July 1990 on the common system of taxation
applicable to mergers, divisions, transfers of assets and exchanges of
shares concerning companies of different Member States and that,
accordingly, an exchange of shares such as that in issue constitutes an
‘exchange of shares’ within the meaning of Article 2(d) of that direc-
tive.

1. By adopting and maintaining in force provisions which make inter-
mediaries in the distribution chain liable under the same conditions
as a manufacturer, contrary to Article 3(3) of Council Directive
85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws,
regulations and administrative provisions of
the Member States
concerning liability for defective products, the Kingdom of Denmark
has failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive.

2. The Kingdom of Denmark is ordered to pay the costs.

Consequently, Article 8(1) of Directive 90/434 precludes, in principle,
the taxation of such an exchange of shares, unless national rules on
abuse of rights, tax evasion or tax avoidance may be interpreted in
accordance with Article 11(1)(a) of Directive 90/434 and thus justify
the taxation of that exchange.

(1) OJ C 257, 15.10.2005.

(1) OJ C 257, 15.10.2005.

Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 5 July 2007 —
Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of
Denmark

(Case C-327/05) (1)

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 28 June 2007
the
— Internationaler Hilfsfonds eV v Commission of

European Communities

(Case C-331/05 P) (1)

(Appeal — Non-contractual liability — Causal link — Costs
relating to proceedings before the European Ombudsman)

(2007/C 199/11)

Language of the case: German

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive
85/374/EEC — Liability for defective products — Liability of
the supplier for a defective product)

Parties

(2007/C 199/10)

Language of the case: German

Appellant:
Kaltenecker and S. Krüger, Rechtsanwälte)

Internationaler Hilfsfonds eV (represented by: H.

the European
Other party to the proceedings: Commission of
Communities (represented by: M.-J. Jonczy and S. Fries, Agents)

Parties

Re:

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: N. Rasmussen, A. Caeiros and H. Støvlbæk, acting as
Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Denmark (represented by:
acting as Agent)

J. Molde,

Appeal against the order of the Court of First Instance (Third
Internationaler Hilfsfonds e.V. v
Chamber) of 11 July 2005,
Commission (Case T-294/04),
in which the Court of First
Instance dismissed as manifestly unfounded an application for
compensation for damage alleged to have been suffered
comprising the lawyer's fees incurred in three sets of proceed-
ings before the European Ombudsman