Joined Cases C-278/07 to C-280/07: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 29 January 2009 (references for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof — Germany) — Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas v Josef Vosding Schlacht-, Kühl- und Zerlegebetrieb GmbH & Co. (Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 — Protection of the European Communities' financial interests — Article 3 — Recovery of an export refund — Determining the limitation period — Irregularities committed before the entry into force of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 — Rule on limitation forming part of the general civil law of a Member State)
Date: 2009-01-29
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: export refund, financial interests of members, interpretation of the law, limitation of legal proceedings

C 69/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

21.3.2009

Re:

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Failure to
adopt, within the prescribed period, the measures necessary to
comply with Article 26(3) of Directive 2002/22/EC of the Euro-
pean Parliament and of
the Council of 7 March 2002 on
universal service and users' rights relating to electronic commu-
nications networks and services (Universal Service Directive)
(OJ L 108, p. 51)

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Bundesgerichtshof —
Interpretation of Article 10(2) of Directive 2006/116/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006
on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights
(OJ 2006 L 372, p. 12) — Application of the term of protection
to subject-matter that has not at any time been protected in the
Member State in which protection is sought and whose right-
holder is not a Community national.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1. declares that by not making, for calls to the single European emer-
gency call number ‘112’, caller location information available to
authorities handling emergencies, to the extent technically feasible,
the Kingdom of the Netherlands has failed to fulfil its obligations
under Article 26(3) of Directive 2002/22/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on universal
communications
relating to electronic
service and users'
networks and services (Universal Service Directive);

rights

2. orders the Kingdom of the Netherlands to pay the costs;

3. orders the Republic of Lithuania to bear its own costs.

(1) OJ C 155, 7.7.2007.

Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 20 January
2009 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bundes-
(Germany)) — Sony Music Entertainment
gerichtshof

(Germany) GmbH v Falcon Neue Medien Vertrieb GmbH

(Case C-240/07) (1)

(Rights related to copyright — Rights of phonogram produ-
cers — Reproduction right — Distribution right — Term of
protection — Directive 2006/116/EC — Rights of nationals
of non-Member States)

(2009/C 69/08)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesgerichtshof

Parties to the main proceedings

Operative part of the judgment

1. The term of protection laid down by Directive 2006/116/EC of
the European Parliament and of
the Council of 12 December
2006 on the term of protection of copyright and certain related
rights is also applicable, pursuant to Article 10(2) thereof, where
the subject-matter at issue has at no time been protected in the
Member State in which the protection is sought.

2. Article 10(2) of Directive 2006/116 is to be interpreted as
meaning that the terms of protection provided for by that directive
apply in a situation where the work or subject-matter at issue was,
on 1 July 1995, protected as such in at least one Member State
under that Member State's national legislation on copyright and
related rights and where the holder of such rights in respect of that
work or subject-matter, who is a national of a non-Member State,
benefited, at that date, from the protection provided for by those
national provisions.

(1) OJ C 170, 21.7.2007.

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 29 January
2009 (references for a preliminary ruling from the Bundes-
finanzhof — Germany) — Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas v
und Zerlegebetrieb
Josef Vosding

Schlacht-, Kühl-
GmbH & Co.

(Joined Cases C-278/07 to C-280/07) (1)

(Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 — Protection of the
European Communities' financial
interests — Article 3 —
Recovery of an export refund — Determining the limitation
period — Irregularities committed before the entry into force
of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 — Rule on limita-
tion forming part of the general civil law of a Member State)

(2009/C 69/09)

Language of the case: German

Applicant: Sony Music Entertainment (Germany) GmbH

Referring court

Defendant: Falcon Neue Medien Vertrieb GmbH

Bundesfinanzhof, Germany

21.3.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 69/7

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas

Defendants:
Josef Vosding Schlacht-, Kühl- und Zerlegebetrieb
GmbH & Co. (C-278/07), Vion Trading GmbH (C-279/07), Ze
Fu Fleischhandel GmbH (C-280/07),

Re:

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 15 January
2009 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bundes-
finanzhof — Germany) — Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas v
Bayerische Hypotheken- und Vereinsbank AG

(Case C-281/07) (1)

(Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 — Protection of the
European Communities' financial
interests — Article 3 —
Recovery of an export refund — Error on the part of the
national authorities — Limitation period)

(2009/C 69/10)

Language of the case: German

the first sentence of

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Bundesfinanzhof — Inter-
pretation of
the first subparagraph of
Article 3(1) and of Article 3(3) of Council Regulation (EC,
Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection
interests (OJ 1995
of
L 312, p. 1) — Determination of the limitation period applic-
able to irregularities committed before the entry into force of
Regulation No 2988/95 and involving recovery of an export
refund

the European Communities'

financial

Operative part of the judgment

1) The limitation period laid down in the first subparagraph of
Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of
18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Commu-
nities' financial
interests is applicable to administrative measures
such as the recovery of export refunds wrongly received by the
exporter as a result of irregularities it committed.

2) In situations such as those at issue in the main proceedings, the
limitation period provided for in the first subparagraph of Article 3
(1) of Regulation No 2988/95:

— applies to irregularities committed before the entry into force of

that regulation;

Referring court

Bundesfinanzhof

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas

Defendant: Bayerische Hypotheken- und Vereinsbank AG

Re:

the first sentence of

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Bundesfinanzhof — Inter-
the first subparagraph of
pretation of
Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95
of 18 December 1995 on the protection of
the European
interests (OJ 1995 L 312, p. 1) —
Communities'
Applicability of
laid down by Regulation
time-limit
No 2988/95 in the case of recovery of an export refund granted
as a result of an error on the part of the national authorities but
without any wrongdoing on the part of the trader concerned

financial
the

— starts to run from the date on which the irregularity at issue

was committed.

Operative part of the judgment

3) The longer limitation periods which Member States retain the
possibility of applying under Article 3(3) of Regulation No
2988/95 may result from general provisions of law predating the
adoption of that regulation.

The limitation period of four years laid down in the first subparagraph
of Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of
18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities'
financial interests is not applicable to a claim for recovery of an export
refund unduly granted to an exporter as a result of an error on the
part of the national authorities, where that exporter did not commit
any irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of that regulation.

(1) OJ C 211, 8.9.2007.

(1) OJ C 211, 8.9.2007.