Case C-506/10: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 6 October 2011 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Amtsgericht Waldshut-Tiengen — Landwirtschaftsgericht — Germany) — Rico Graf, Rudolf Engel v Landratsamt Waldshut — Landwirtschaftsamt (Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons — Equal treatment — Self-employed frontier workers — Agricultural lease — Agricultural structure — Legislation of a Member State enabling an objection to be made to the contract if the goods produced in national territory by the self employed Swiss frontier farmers are intended to be exported, free of duty, to Switzerland)
Date: 2011-10-06
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Germany, Switzerland, agreement (EU), equal treatment, exemption from customs duties, export (EU), farm lease, farmer, free movement of persons, frontier worker, nationality of legal persons








C_2011347EN.01000602.xml










26.11.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 347/6





Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 6 October 2011 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Amtsgericht Waldshut-Tiengen — Landwirtschaftsgericht — Germany) — Rico Graf, Rudolf Engel v Landratsamt Waldshut — Landwirtschaftsamt
(Case C-506/10) (1)

(Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons - Equal treatment - Self-employed frontier workers - Agricultural lease - Agricultural structure - Legislation of a Member State enabling an objection to be made to the contract if the goods produced in national territory by the self employed Swiss frontier farmers are intended to be exported, free of duty, to Switzerland)
2011/C 347/09
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Amtsgericht Waldshut-Tiengen — Landwirtschaftsgericht

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Rico Graf, Rudolf Engel

Defendant: Landratsamt Waldshut — Landwirtschaftsamt

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Amtsgericht Waldshut-Tiengen, Landwirtschaftsgericht — Interpretation of the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons, signed in Luxembourg on 21 June 1999 (OJ 2002 L 114, p. 6) — Objection by the competent authority of a Member State to an agricultural tenancy agreement in respect of agricultural land in that State and concluded with a Swiss farmer whose business is established in Switzerland — National legislation allowing such an objection, on the ground of a distortion of competition, in respect of land used for the production of agricultural products to be exported free of duty outside the internal market

Operative part

The principle of equal treatment laid down in Article 15(1) of Annex I to the Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other, on the free movement of persons, signed in Luxembourg on 21 June 1999, precludes legislation of a Member State, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under which the competent authority of that Member State may object to an agricultural lease — relating to land located in a given area of the territory of that Member State and concluded between a resident of that Member State and a frontier-zone resident of the other contracting party — on the grounds that the land leased is used for producing agricultural products intended for export, free of duty, outside the internal market of the European Union and so gives rise to distortion of competition, if the application of that legislation affects a much greater number of nationals of the other Contracting Party than nationals of the Member State on whose territory that legislation applies. It is for the national court to determine whether that latter situation in fact exists.


(1)  OJ C 30, 29.1.2011.