Case C-30/09: Action brought on 22 January 2009 — Commission of the European Communities v Portuguese Republic
Date: 2009-01-22
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Portugal, access to information, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, chemical accident, dangerous substance

4.4.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 82/15

2008 on measures of
inquiry, did not enable the Court to
review the lawfulness of Decision 2008/583/EC and infringed
the right to effective judicial protection.

According to the Portuguese Administration's own information,
none of those obligations has been fulfilled in Portugal.

(1) Council Decision of 15 July 2008 implementing Article 2(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 on specific restrictive measures
directed against certain persons and entities with a view to
combating terrorism and repealing Decision 2007/868/EC (OJ 2008
L 188, p. 21).

(1) OJ 1997 L 10, p. 13.

Action brought on 22 January 2009 — Commission of the
European Communities v Portuguese Republic

(Case C-30/09)

(2009/C 82/27)

Language of the case: Portuguese

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Fővárosi
Bíróság (Hungary) lodged on 26 January 2009 — Bolbol
Nawras v Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal

(Case C-31/09)

(2009/C 82/28)

Language of the case: Hungarian

Referring court

Fővárosi Bíróság

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: A. Sipos and P. Guerra e Andrade, acting as Agents)

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Bolbol Nawras

Defendant: Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal

Defendant: Portuguese Republic

Forms of order sought

— Declare that, by not drawing up external emergency plans
for the establishments requiring such plans, the Portuguese
Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 11
of Council Directive 96/82/EC (1) of 9 December 1996 on
the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous
substances, as amended by Directive 2003/105/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December
2003;

— Order the Portuguese Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

It is apparent from the letters sent by the Portuguese Adminis-
tration to the Commission in this matter that none of the estab-
lishments required to draw up emergency plans has had its
external emergency plan approved in accordance with the direc-
tive.

Article 11 of Directive 96/82 requires Member States to ensure
that operators supply to the competent authorities the informa-
tion necessary to draw up external emergency plans. The
competent authorities must prepare such emergency plans.

Under Article 11(4) of the directive, internal and external emer-
gency plans must be reviewed, tested, revised and updated at
intervals of no longer than three years.

Questions referred

the purposes of Article 12(1)(a) of Council Directive

For
2004/83/EC (1)

1. Must someone be regarded as a person receiving the protec-
tion and assistance of a United Nations agency merely by
virtue of the fact he is entitled to assistance or protection or
is it also necessary for him actually to avail himself of that
protection or assistance?

2. Does cessation of the agency's protection or assistance mean
residence outside the agency's area of operations, cessation of
the agency and cessation of the possibility of receiving the
agency's protection or assistance or, possibly, an objective
obstacle such that the person entitled thereto is unable to
avail himself of that protection or assistance?

3. Do the benefits of

this directive mean recognition as a
refugee, or either of the two forms of protection covered by
the directive (recognition as a refugee and the grant of
subsidiary protection), according to the choice made by the
Member State, or, possibly, neither automatically but merely
inclusion in the scope ratione personae of the directive?

(1) Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum stan-
dards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or
stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need inter-
national protection and the content of
the protection granted
(OJ 2004 L 304, p. 12).