Case C-487/06 P: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 22 December 2008 — British Aggregates Association v Commission of the European Communities, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Appeal — State aid — Environmental levy on aggregates in the United Kingdom)
Date: 2008-12-22
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, State aid, action for annulment (EU), appeal, complaint to the Commission, environmental tax, mineral resources

C 44/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

21.2.2009

Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 18 December
the European Communities v
2008 — Commission of

Kingdom of Spain

(Case C-338/06) (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Second
Directive 77/91/EEC — Articles 29 and 42 — Public limited
to
liability
pre-emptive subscription for shares and for bonds convertible
into shares — Withdrawal — Protection of shareholders —
Equal treatment)

companies — Capital

increase — Right

(2009/C 44/05)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: G. Braun and R. Vidal Puig, Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Spain (represented by: F. Díez Moreno,
Agent)

Interveners in support of the defendant: Republic of Poland (repre-
sented by: E. Ośniecka-Tamecka, Agent), Republic of Finland
(represented by: J. Heliskoski, Agent), United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland (represented by: V. Jackson, Agent,
assisted by J. Stratford, Barrister)

Re:

Failure by a Member State to fulfil obligations — Infringement
of Articles 29 and 42 of Second Council Directive 77/91/EEC
of 13 December 1976 on coordination of safeguards which, for
the interests of members and others, are
the protection of
required by Member States of companies within the meaning of
the second paragraph of Article 58 of the Treaty, in respect of
the formation of public limited liability companies and the
maintenance and alteration of
their capital, with a view to
making such safeguards equivalent (OJ 1977 L 26, p. 1) —
Failure to protect minority shareholders

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1) Declares that the Kingdom of Spain:

— by granting the right to pre-emptive subscription of shares in
the event of a capital
increase by consideration in cash, not
only to shareholders, but also to holders of bonds convertible
into shares;

— by granting the right to pre-emptive subscription rights for
bonds convertible into shares not only to shareholders, but also
to holders of bonds convertible into shares pertaining to earlier
issues; and

— by failing to provide that the shareholders' meeting may decide
to withdraw pre-emptive subscription rights for bonds conver-
tible into shares;

has failed to fulfil
its obligations under Article 29 of Second
Council Directive 77/91/EEC of 13 December 1976 on coordina-
tion of safeguards which,
the interests of
members and others, are required by Member States of companies
within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article [48] of the

for the protection of

Treaty, in respect of the formation of public limited liability compa-
nies and the maintenance and alteration of their capital, with a
view to making such safeguards equivalent;

2) Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3) Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay three quarters of all the costs.
The Commission of the European Communities is ordered to pay a
quarter of the costs;

4) Orders the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Finland and the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to bear
their own costs.

(1) OJ C 261, 28.10.2006.

Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 22 December
2008 — British Aggregates Association v Commission of
the European Communities, United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland

(Case C-487/06 P) (1)

(Appeal — State aid — Environmental levy on aggregates in
the United Kingdom)

(2009/C 44/06)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Appellant: British Aggregates Association (represented by:
C. Pouncey, Solicitor, and L. Van den Hende, advocaat)

(represented by:

Other parties to the proceedings: Commission of the European
Communities
J. Flett, B. Martenczuk and
T. Scharf, Agents); United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland (represented by: T. Harris, M. Hall and
G. Facenna, Agents)

Re:

Extended Composition)

the Court of First
Appeal brought against the judgment of
Instance
of
(Second Chamber,
13 September 2006 in Case T-210/02 British Aggregates Associa-
tion v Commission, by which the Court of First Instance rejected
the partial annulment of
as unfounded an application for
Commission Decision C(2002) 1478 final of 24 April 2002 not
to raise objections to the system of levies on quarry aggregates
in the United Kingdom (State aid 863/01 — United Kingdom,
Aggregates Levy)

Operative part of the judgment

The Court (Third Chamber):

1. Sets aside the judgment delivered by the Court of First Instance of
the European Communities on 13 September 2006 in Case
T-210/02 British Aggregates Association v Commission;

21.2.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 44/5

2. Refers the case back to the Court of First Instance of the European

Communities;

3. Reserves the costs.

(1) OJ C 42, 24.2.2007.

Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 December
2008 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Ober-
verwaltungsgericht
für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
(Germany)) — Heinz Huber v Bundesrepublik Deutschland

(Case C-524/06) (1)

(Protection of personal data — European citizenship — Prin-
ciple of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality —
Directive 95/46/EC — Concept of necessity — General proces-
sing of personal data relating to citizens of the Union who are
nationals of another Member State — Central register of
foreign nationals)

(2009/C 44/07)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Heinz Huber

Defendant: Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Oberverwaltungsgericht
für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen — Interpretation of the first
paragraph of Article 12 EC, Article 17 EC, Article 18(1) EC and
the first paragraph of Article 43 EC, and of Article 7(e) of Direc-
tive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard
to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of
such data (OJ 1995 L 281, p. 31) — National rules providing
for the general processing of personal data relating to citizens of
the other Member States in a national central register of foreign
nationals, which differ from the national rules relating to the
personal data of citizens of the State in question, which are
processed only in the municipal registers for declarations of resi-
dence

the provision of support to the national authorities responsible for
the application of the law relating to the right of residence does not
satisfy the requirement of necessity laid down by Article 7(e) of
the
Directive 95/46/EC of
Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with
regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement
of such data,
interpreted in the light of the prohibition on any
discrimination on grounds of nationality, unless:

the European Parliament and of

— it contains only the data which are necessary for the application

by those authorities of that legislation, and

— its centralised nature enables the legislation relating to the
right of residence to be more effectively applied as regards
Union citizens who are not nationals of that Member State.

It is for the national court to ascertain whether those conditions are
satisfied in the main proceedings.

The storage and processing of personal data containing individua-
lised personal information in a register such as the Central Register
of Foreign Nationals for statistical purposes cannot, on any basis,
be considered to be necessary within the meaning of Article 7(e) of
Directive 95/46.

2) Article 12(1) EC must be interpreted as meaning that it precludes
the putting in place by a Member State, for the purpose of fighting
crime, of a system for processing personal data specific to Union
citizens who are not nationals of that Member State.

(1) OJ C 56, 10.3.2007.

Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 December
2008 — Masdar (UK) Ltd v Commission of the European
Communities

(Case C-47/07 P) (1)

(Appeal — Second paragraph of Article 288 EC — Action
alleging unjust enrichment on the part of the Community —
Community assistance programmes — Irregularities on the
part of the co-contractor of the Commission — Services
provided by a subcontractor — Non-payment — Risks
inherent in economic activities — Principle of the protection
of legitimate expectations — Duty of care of the Community
administration)

(2009/C 44/08)

Language of the case: English

Operative part of the judgment

1) A system for processing personal data relating to Union citizens
who are not nationals of the Member State concerned, such as that
put in place by the Law on the central register of foreign nationals
(Gesetz über das Ausländerzentralregister) of 2 September 1994,
as amended by the Law of 21 June 2005, and having as its object

Appellant: Masdar (UK) Ltd (represented by: A.P. Bentley, QC,
and P. Green, barrister)

Other party to the proceedings: Commission of
Communities (represented by:
acting as Agents)

the European
J. Enegren and M. Wilderspin,

Parties