Case C-288/07: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 September 2008 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of Justice (Chancery Division) — (United Kingdom)) — The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs v Isle of Wight Council, Mid-Suffolk District Council, South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, West Berkshire District Council (Sixth VAT Directive — Article 4(5) — Activities engaged in by bodies governed by public law — Provision of off-street car-parking facilities for which a charge is made — Distortions of competition — Meaning of would lead to and significant )
Date: 2008-09-16
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: interpretation of the law, parking area, public institution, restriction on competition

22.11.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 301/9

2. Article 20 must also be interpreted as not precluding national
legislation which lays down that an eligible customer's equipment
may be connected to a transmission system only where the distribu-
tion system operator refuses, on account of established technical or
operating requirements, to connect to its system the equipment of
the eligible customer which is on the territory included in its
licence. It is, however, for national courts to verify that the imple-
mentation and application of
that access system takes place in
accordance with objective and non discriminatory criteria between
the users of the transmission and distribution systems.

(1) OJ C 170, 21.7.2007.

Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 September
2008 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the High
Court of Justice (Chancery Division) — (United Kingdom))
— The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Revenue and
Customs v Isle of Wight Council, Mid-Suffolk District
Council, South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council,
West Berkshire District Council

(Case C-288/07) (1)

(Sixth VAT Directive — Article 4(5) — Activities engaged in
by bodies governed by public law — Provision of off-street
car-parking facilities for which a charge is made — Distor-
tions of competition — Meaning of ‘would lead to’ and
‘significant’)

(2008/C 301/16)

Language of the case: English

Referring court

public law in its capacity as a public authority — Off-street
parking facilities for which a charge is made — Non-application
of VAT leading to distortions of competition — Concept of
‘distortion of competition’ — Criteria for determination

Operative part of the judgment

1. Article 4(5) of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May
1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States
relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax:
uniform basis of assessment is to be interpreted as meaning that
the significant distortions of competition, to which the treatment as
non-taxable persons of bodies governed by private law acting as
public authorities would lead, must be evaluated by reference to the
activity in question, as such, without such evaluation relating to
any local market in particular.

of Article 4(5)

2. The expression ‘would lead to’ is, for the purposes of the second
subparagraph
of Sixth Council Directive
77/388/EEC, to be interpreted as encompassing not only actual
competition, but also potential competition, provided that the possi-
bility of a private operator entering the relevant market is real, and
not purely hypothetical.

3. The word ‘significant’

the second sub-
paragraph of Article 4(5) of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC,
to be understood as meaning that the actual or potential distortions
of competition must be more than negligible.

the purposes of

for

is,

(1) OJ C 199, 25.8.2007.

Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 9 October
2008 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bundes-
gerichtshof, Germany) — Directmedia Publishing GmbH v
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

High Court of Justice (Chancery Division)

(Case C-304/07) (1)

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellants: The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Revenue and
Customs

Respondents: Isle of Wight Council, Mid-Suffolk District Council,
South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, West Berkshire
District Council

Re:

(Directive 96/9/EC — Legal protection of databases —
Sui generis right — Concept of ‘extraction’ of the contents of
a database)

(2008/C 301/17)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesgerichtshof

Reference for a preliminary ruling — High Court of Justice of
England and Wales (Chancery Division) — Interpretation of
Article 4(5) of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May
1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States
relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added
tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1) —
Activities or transactions engaged in by a body governed by

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Directmedia Publishing GmbH

Defendant: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg