do-me/EUR-LEX huggingface dataset:
Case C-387/11: Action brought on 19 July 2011 — European Commission v Kingdom of Belgium
Date: 2011-07-19
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Belgium, deduction at source, free movement of capital, infringement of EU law, investment company, legal domicile, tax system








C_2011305EN.01000401.xml










15.10.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 305/4





Action brought on 19 July 2011 — European Commission v Kingdom of Belgium
(Case C-387/11)
2011/C 305/04
Language of the case: French

Parties


Applicant: European Commission (represented by: W. Mölls and C. Soulay, Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Belgium

Form of order sought







—


Declare that, by maintaining different rules for the taxation of income from capital and immovable property earned by Belgian investment companies and the taxation of income from capital and immovable property earned by foreign investment companies, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 49 and 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Articles 31 and 40 of the European Economic Area Agreement;










—


order the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs.





Pleas in law and main arguments

By the present action, the Commission criticises the different treatment of resident investment companies and non-resident investment companies as regards taxation of revenue from capital and immovable property. Unlike resident investment companies, non-resident investment companies which do not have a fixed establishment in the national territory are not permitted to recover the amount paid by way of withholding tax on income from capital and immovable property. That discrimination is incompatible with the provisions of the Treaty on freedom of establishment, inasmuch as it makes the founding of non-resident investment companies less attractive, and with the provisions of the Treaty on free movement of capital, inasmuch as the financing of a Belgian company by a foreign investment company is more costly than financing through a Belgian investment company.
Furthermore, the Commission rejects the justifications put forward by the Belgian authorities. First of all, the Belgian authorities did not plead objective grounds justifying the conclusion that there is any difference between the situations of resident investment companies and non-resident investment companies which is relevant to their tax status. Secondly, the tax scheme in question bears no relation to a balanced division of the power of taxation between the States concerned. In any event, a member State cannot rely on a bilateral convention to escape from its obligations under the Treaty. Finally, as regards the alleged risk of tax fraud by non-resident investment companies, the Belgian authorities cannot rely on obstacles to tax inspections which result from the provisions adopted by Belgium itself to justify failure to apply the freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty.
Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.6299 — KKR/Sorgenia/Sorgenia France) — Candidate case for simplified procedure  Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2011-07-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic concentration, electrical industry, exchange of information, gas, management, merger control








C_2011212EN.01003601.xml










19.7.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 212/36





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case COMP/M.6299 — KKR/Sorgenia/Sorgenia France)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
2011/C 212/12






1.


On 11 July 2011, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which investments funds affiliated with KKR & Co. L.P. (‘KKR’, USA) and Sorgenia SpA (‘Sorgenia’, Italy), which is part of the group of companies controlled by Cofide, acquire, within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation, indirect joint control of Sorgenia France SA (‘Sorgenia France’, France), currently solely controlled by Sorgenia, by way of purchase of shares.










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


KKR: provision of alternative asset management services and capital markets solutions,










—


Sorgenia: generation, wholesale and retail trading of gas and electricity essentially in Italy,










—


Sorgenia France: generation of electricity in France from renewable sources.














3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the EC Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the EC Merger Regulation (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.










4.


The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.6299 — KKR/Sorgenia/Sorgenia France, to the following address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




J-70




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË










(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘EC Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32 (‘Notice on a simplified procedure’).
Euro exchange rates
Date: 2011-07-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: euro, exchange rate








C_2011212EN.01002101.xml










19.7.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 212/21





Euro exchange rates (1)

18 July 2011
2011/C 212/10

1 euro =











 


Currency


Exchange rate




USD


US dollar


1,4045




JPY


Japanese yen


111,10




DKK


Danish krone


7,4567




GBP


Pound sterling


0,87315




SEK


Swedish krona


9,2534




CHF


Swiss franc


1,1485




ISK


Iceland króna


 




NOK


Norwegian krone


7,8670




BGN


Bulgarian lev


1,9558




CZK


Czech koruna


24,405




HUF


Hungarian forint


272,98




LTL


Lithuanian litas


3,4528




LVL


Latvian lats


0,7093




PLN


Polish zloty


4,0440




RON


Romanian leu


4,2688




TRY


Turkish lira


2,3468




AUD


Australian dollar


1,3237




CAD


Canadian dollar


1,3472




HKD


Hong Kong dollar


10,9488




NZD


New Zealand dollar


1,6640




SGD


Singapore dollar


1,7107




KRW


South Korean won


1 490,82




ZAR


South African rand


9,8084




CNY


Chinese yuan renminbi


9,0853




HRK


Croatian kuna


7,4500




IDR


Indonesian rupiah


12 024,36




MYR


Malaysian ringgit


4,2311




PHP


Philippine peso


60,463




RUB


Russian rouble


39,6125




THB


Thai baht


42,219




BRL


Brazilian real


2,2208




MXN


Mexican peso


16,5456




INR


Indian rupee


62,6060






(1)  Source: reference exchange rate published by the ECB.
Prior notification of a concentration (Case COMP/M.6238 — RREEF/SMAG/OHL — Arenales) — Candidate case for simplified procedure  Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2011-07-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: bank, economic concentration, exchange of information, merger control, power plant, thermal energy








C_2011212EN.01003701.xml










19.7.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 212/37





Prior notification of a concentration
(Case COMP/M.6238 — RREEF/SMAG/OHL — Arenales)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
2011/C 212/13






1.


On 8 July 2011, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which RREEF Pan-European Infrastructure Fund II, LP (‘RREEF’), ultimately controlled by Deutsche Bank AG (‘Deutsche Bank’, Germany), acquires joint control within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation of Arenales Solar PS, S.L. (‘Arenales’, Spain), by way of a purchase of shares. Arenales is currently jointly controlled by Solar Millenium AG (‘SMAG’, Germany) and OHL Industrial, S.L., part of the Villar Mir group (‘OHL/Villar’, Spain).










2.


The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


for undertaking RREEF/Deutsche Bank: financial services,










—


for undertaking Arenales: building and operating a thermosolar power plant in Morón de la Frontera, Seville, Spain,










—


For undertaking OHL/Villar: activities related to fertilizer, ferro-alloys, real estate, energy and the construction of industrial projects,










—


For undertaking SMAG: the promotion, construction and operation of thermo-solar power plants.














3.


On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the EC Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the EC Merger Regulation (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.










4.


The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.6238 — RREEF/SMAG/OHL — Arenales, to the following address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




J-70




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË










(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘EC Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 56, 5.3.2005, p. 32 (‘Notice on a simplified procedure’).
Case F-41/11: Action brought on 19 July 2011 — ZZ v Commission
Date: 2011-07-19
Institutions: Civil Service Tribunal
Subjects: European Anti-fraud Office, servant (EU), work contract








C_2011282EN.01005102.xml










24.9.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 282/51





Action brought on 19 July 2011 — ZZ v Commission
(Case F-41/11)
2011/C 282/96
Language of the case: French

Parties


Applicant: ZZ (represented by: D. Abreu Caldas, S. Orlandi, A. Coolen, J.-N. Louis and E. Marchal, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Subject-matter and description of the proceedings

Annulment of the decision of the Director-General of OLAF to reject the applicant’s request for the extension of the applicant’s contract as a member of the temporary staff within the meaning of Article 2(c) of the Conditions of Employment.

Form of order sought by the applicant







—


Annul the decision of the Director-General of OLAF of 11 February 2011 to reject the applicant’s request for the extension of the applicant’s contract as a member of the temporary staff within the meaning of Article 2(c) of the Conditions of Employment;










—


order the Commission to pay the costs.