CELEX: C2001/118/30
Language: en
Date: 2001-04-21 00:00:00
Title: Case C-99/01: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Verwaltungsgerichtshof, Vienna, by order of that court of 29 January 2001 in appeal proceedings brought by (1) Gottfried Linhart and (2) Dr Hans Biffl

C 118/18                EN                        Official Journal of the European Communities                                     21.4.2001
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale di                       The applicant claims that the Court should:
Brescia, by orders of that court of 20 January 2001, in
the cases of (1) Agricola Torriani Sas; (2) Finanziaria
                                                                             —     annul Commission decision C(2000) 3565 final of
Immobiliare Perugino SpA and (3) San Marco SpA v
                                                                                   15 November 2000 relating to State aid which Italy
                     Ministero delle Finanze
                                                                                   intends to grant to Solar Tech Srl, insofar as it has failed
                                                                                   to apply 15 % GSE (1), provided for small and medium-
             (Cases C-88/01, C-89/01 and C-90/01)                                  sized enterprises (SMEs), to the aid granted, and order the
                                                                                   Commission to pay the costs.
                          (2001/C 118/28)
References have been made to the Court of Justice of the                     Pleas in law and main arguments
European Communities by orders of 20 anuary 2001, received
at the Court Registry on 21 February 2001, for a preliminary
ruling in the cases of (1) Agricola Torriani Sas; (2) Finanziaria            The Italian Government submits that, by basing the decision
Immobiliare Perugino SpA and (3) San Marco SpA v Ministero                   not to recognise the increment provided for on a definition of
delle Finanze on the following questions:                                    SMEs which fails to take account exclusively of the require-
                                                                             ments mentioned in the rules for aid to SMEs, the Commission
1.    Is Article 11(1) of Italian Law No 448 of 23 December                  infringed those rules, which the Court has held to be binding.
      1998 (G.U.R.I. No 302 of 29 December 1998, ordinary
      supplement) compatible with Community law, in particu-
                                                                             The Italian Government further submits that the contested
      lar with Articles 10 and 12 of Council Directive
                                                                             application of the rules contained in the decision at issue is
      69/335/EEC (1), inasmuch as it provides that the adminis-
      trative charge is payable at a flat annual rate for regis-             also contrary to the principles of legitimate expectations and
                                                                             legal certainty.
      tration of ‘other company documents’ for each of the
      years from 1985 to 1992, equal to the sum of the
      sum of ITL 750 000 for public limited companies and
      partnerships limited by shares and ITL 400 000 for                     (1) GSE = maximum concession in gross subsidy equivalent granted
      private limited companies?                                                 according to the size of the undertaking and location of the
                                                                                 production unit.
2.    Is Article 11(3) of Law No 448/98 compatible with
      Community law, inasmuch as it provides that interest on
      the sums to be reimbursed in so far as they exceed the
      sum provided for by Article 11(1) should be calculated
      according to the legal rate in force at the date on which
      that Law entered into force (2.5% per annum) and not
      according to the rate provided for by Article 5 with
      respect to Article 1 of Law No 29 of 26 January 1961, as
      subsequently amended?
                                                                             Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Verwaltungsge-
                                                                             richtshof, Vienna, by order of that court of 29 January
(1) Council Directive 69/335/EEC of 17 July 1969 concerning                  2001 in appeal proceedings brought by (1) Gottfried
    indirect taxes on the raising of capital (OJ, English Special Edition                     Linhart and (2) Dr Hans Biffl
    1969 (11), p. 412).
                                                                                                      (Case C-99/01)
                                                                                                     (2001/C 118/30)
                                                                             Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
Action brought on 21 February 2001 by the Italian                            European Communities by order of the Verwaltungsgerichts-
Republic against the Commission of the European Com-                         hof (Supreme Administrative Court), received at the Court
                               munities                                      Registry on 28 February 2001, for a preliminary ruling in the
                                                                             appeal proceedings brought by (1) Gottfried Linhart and (2)
                                                                             Dr Hans Biffl, on the following questions:
                           (Case C-91/01)
                                                                             (1) Do Articles 28 and 30 EC, Council Directive 76/768/EEC
                          (2001/C 118/29)                                          of 27 July 1976 (1) on the approximation of the laws of
                                                                                   the Member States relating to cosmetic products, as
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                          amended by Council Directives 88/667/EEC of
ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European                       21 December 1988 (2) (OJ 1988 L 382, p. 46) and
Communities on 21 February 2001 by the Italian Republic,                           Council Directive 93/35/EEC of 14 June 1993 (3) (OJ
represented by Danilo Del Gaizo, Avvocato dello Stato.                             1993 L 151, p. 32) (hereinafter ‘Directive 76/768’), in
 ---pagebreak--- 21.4.2001              EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                         C 118/19
      particular Article 6(3) thereof, together with Council                   about fifteen people with links between the pages which
      Directive 84/450/EEC of 10 September 1984 (4) on the                     make it possible to search by first name be considered to
      approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative                constitute ‘the processing otherwise than by automatic
      provisions of the Member States concerning misleading                    means of personal data which form part of a filing system
      advertising (OJ 1984 L 250, p. 17) (hereinafter ‘Directive               or are intended to form part of a filing system’ within the
      84/450’), in particular Articles 4 and 7 thereof, preclude               meaning of Article 3(1)?
      national legislation which, in connection with the market-
      ing of cosmetic products, makes it an offence to refer to
      medical opinions, by the use, in particular, of the                If the answer to either of those questions is yes, the Hovrätten
      description ‘clinically tested’ or ‘dermatologically tested’ ,     also asks the following questions:
      if erroneous ideas as to the characteristics and functioning
      of the cosmetic product could be engendered in the mind
                                                                         (3) Can the act of loading information of the type described
      of the consumer, as a result of a lack of information as to
                                                                               about work colleagues onto a private home page which
      the content and outcome of the opinion in question?
                                                                               is none the less accessible to anyone who knows its
                                                                               address be regarded as outside the scope of the directive
(2) Do Articles 28 and 30 EC, Directive 76/768, in particular                  on the ground that it is covered by one of the exceptions
      Article 6(3) thereof, and Directive 84/450, in particular                in Article 3(2)?
      Articles 4 and 7 thereof, preclude national legislation
      which permits information coming within the terms of
      Question 1 to be used only after prior authorisation by            (4) Is information on a home page stating that a named
      the competent Federal Minister?                                          colleague has injured her foot and is on half-time on
                                                                               medical grounds personal data concerning health which,
                                                                               according to Article 8(1), may not be processed?
( 1) OJ 1976 L 262, p. 169.
( 2) OJ 1988 L 382, p. 46.                                               (5) The directive prohibits the transfer of personal data to
( 3) OJ 1993 L 151, p. 32.                                                     third countries in certain cases. If a person in Sweden
( 4) OJ 1984 L 250 p. 17.                                                      uses a computer to load personal data onto a home page
                                                                               stored on a server in Sweden — with the result that
                                                                               personal data becomes accessible to people in third
                                                                               countries — does that constitute a transfer of data to a
                                                                               third country within the meaning of the directive? Would
                                                                               the answer be the same even if, as far as known, no one
                                                                               from the third country had in fact accessed the data or if
                                                                               the server in question is actually physically in a third
                                                                               country?
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Göta Hovrätt-
en by decision of that court of 23 February 2001 in                      (6) Can the provisions of the directive, in a case such as the
the case of Bodil Lindqvist v Kammaråklagaren (Public                          above, be regarded as bringing about a restriction which
                    Prosecutor), Jönköpning                                    conflicts with the general principles of freedom of
                                                                               expression or other freedoms and rights, which are
                         (Case C-101/01)                                       applicable within the EU and are enshrined in inter alia
                                                                               Article 10 of the European Convention on the Protection
                                                                               of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms?
                         (2001/C 118/31)
                                                                         Finally, the Hovrätten asks the following question:
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by a decision of the Göta Hovrätten
of 23 February 2001, which was received at the Court Registry            (7) Can a Member State, as regards the issues raised in the
on 1 March 2001, for a preliminary ruling in the case of Bodil                 above questions, provide more extensive protection for
Lindqvist v Kammaråklagaren, Jönköpning, on the following                      personal data or give it a wider scope than the directive,
questions:                                                                     even if none of the circumstances described in Article 13
                                                                               exists?
(1) Is the mention of a person — by name or with name and
      telephone number — on an Internet home page an action
      which falls within the scope of the directive? (1) Does it
                                                                         (1) Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
      constitute ‘the processing of personal data wholly or
                                                                             on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of
      partly by automatic means’ to list on a self-made Internet             personal data and on the free movement of such data (OJ 1995
      home page a number of persons with comments and                        L 281, p. 31).
      statements about their jobs and hobbies etc?
(2) If the answer to the first question is no, can the act of
      setting up on an Internet home page separate pages for