EN
31.10.2022
Official Journal of the European Union
C 418/13
3.
Does the liability waiver set out in Article 14(1) of Directive 2000/31/EC apply to the provider of an information gathering service, and selection from it by means of a search engine, in terms of liability for the manner of its provision, if that manner encourages the service recipient to store the information on it without the consent of the copyright holders, but without the active participation of the service provider in the copyright infringement?
(1)
Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (‘Directive on electronic commerce’) (OJ 2000 L 178, p. 1).
Action brought on 30 August 2022 — European Commission v Kingdom of Spain (Case C-576/22) (2022/C 418/16) Language of the case: Spanish Parties Applicant: European Commission (represented by: C. Hermes y E. Sanfrutos Cano, acting as Agents) Defendant: Kingdom of Spain
Form of order sought The Commission claims that the Court should: — Declare that, in so far as it has not designated as nitrate vulnerable zones, in Castilla y León, Extremadura, Galicia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Madrid and the Autonomous Community of Valencia, the relevant catchment areas for run-off (surface water) or infiltration (groundwater) for each of the contaminated measurement points identified in the application; by failing to provide for all the necessary mandatory measures in the action programmes of Aragon, Castile-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura and Madrid, and by failing to adopt the additional measures or reinforced actions in relation to eutrophication, in relation to the whole country, and as regards nitrate pollution, in relation to the Autonomous Communities showing upward trends in pollution at the NVZ measuring points, in particular Aragon, Castile-La Mancha, Castilla y León and Murcia, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 3(4) and Article 5(4) (read in conjunction with Annexes II and III) and (5) of Council Directive 91/676/EEC (1) of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. — Order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments In its application, the Commission puts forward three pleas in law alleging failure to fulfil obligations.
By its first plea in law, the Commission alleges that the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 3(4) of Directive 91/676/EEC.
The Commission argues that the Kingdom of Spain has failed to comply with this provision in Castilla y León, Extremadura, Galicia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Madrid and the Autonomous Community of Valencia, in so far as there are still areas that have not been designated as a nitrate vulnerable zone, nor included in existing nitrate vulnerable zones, despite the fact that the data obtained through the monitoring network for pollution caused by nitrates of agricultural origin justify its designation/inclusion.