Case C-293/07: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 11 December 2008 — Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EC — Conservation of wild birds — Special protection areas — Insufficient measures of protection)
Date: 2008-12-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Community, Greece, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, bird, environmental protection, protected area

C 32/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

7.2.2009

Parties to the main proceedings

Re:

Applicant: A.T.

Defendant: Finanzamt Stuttgart-Körperschaften

Intervening party: Bundesministerium der Finanzen

Re:

transfers of assets and exchanges of

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Bundesfinanzhof — Interpreta-
tion of Article 8(1) and (2) of Council Directive 90/434/EEC of
taxation applicable to
23 July 1990 on the common system of
shares
mergers, divisions,
concerning companies of different Member States (OJ 1990 L 225,
p. 1) and of Articles 43 EC and 56 EC — Shareholder receiving secu-
rities representing the capital of the acquiring company in exchange for
securities of the acquired company — Taxation of the shareholder of
the acquired company — Tax legislation of a Member State making
the shareholder's attribution of the book value (Buchwertansatz) to the
securities received in exchange conditional upon the acquiring compa-
ny's own attribution of the book value to the securities exchanged
(doppelte Buchwertverknüpfung)

Operative part of the judgment

Article 8(1) and (2) 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 precludes legislation of a Member State
under which, in consequence of an exchange of shares, the shareholders
of the acquired company are taxed on the capital gains arising from
the transfer and the capital gain is deemed to correspond to the differ-
ence between the initial cost of acquiring the shares transferred and
their market value, unless the acquiring company carries over the
historical book value of the shares transferred in its own tax balance
sheet.

(1) OJ C 247, 20.10.2007.

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Infringement
of Articles 4(1) and (2) of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of
2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ 1979 L 103,
p. 1), in conjunction with Article 4(4) of Directive 92/43/EEC of
21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of
wild fauna and flora (OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7) — Lack of protec-
tion for Special Protection Areas (SPAs) — Existence of activities
which may damage the integrity of SPAs and have negative
consequences for the objectives of conservation of SPAs and of
the species for which the areas have been defined

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1. Declares that, by failing to take all the measures necessary to estab-
lish and apply a coherent, specific and integrated legal regime
capable of ensuring viable management and effective protection of
in the light of the
areas designated as Special Protection Areas,
conservation objectives of Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April
1979 on the conservation of wild birds, the Hellenic Republic has
failed to fulfil
in
conjunction with the first sentence of Article 4(4) of that directive,
as amended by Article 6(2) to (4) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC
of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of
wild fauna and flora;

its obligations under Article 4(1) and (2),

2. Dismisses the remainder of the action;

3. Orders the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 182, 4.8.2007.

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 11 December
the European Communities v
2008 — Commission of

Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 11 December
the European Communities v
2008 — Commission of

Département du Loiret, Scott SA

Hellenic Republic

(Case C-293/07) (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directives
79/409/EEC and 92/43/EC — Conservation of wild birds —
of
Special

protection areas — Insufficient measures

protection)

(2009/C 32/06)

Language of the case: Greek

(Case C-295/07 P) (1)

(Appeal — State aid — Preferential price of a plot of land —
Commission decision — Recovery of aid incompatible with the
common market — Present-day value of the aid — Compound
interest rate — No statement of reasons — Complete annul-
ment — Lawfulness)

(2009/C 32/07)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: M. Konstantinidis, D. Recchia and M. Patakia, acting
as Agents)

Parties

Defendant: Hellenic Republic (represented by: E. Skandalou,
Agent)

Appellant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: J. Flett, acting as Agent)