CELEX: C1997/074/01
Language: en
Date: 1997-03-08 00:00:00
Title: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber) of 12 December 1996 in Joined Cases C-320/94, C-328/94, C-329/94, C-337/94, C-338/94 and C-339/94 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale del Lazio): Reti Televisive Italiane SpA (RTI), in the presence of Publitalia '80, v. Ministero delle Poste e Telecomunicazioni, in the presence of Federazione Italiana Editori Giornali (FIEG), Coordinamento delle Associazioni per la Difesa dell'Ambiente e dei Diritti degli Utenti e Consumatori (Codacons) and Associazione Utenti Radiotelevisivi and Others (Interpretation - Directive 89/552/EEC - Television broadcasting activities)

8 . 3 . 97              EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                     No C 74/1
                                                                    I
                                                             (Information)
                                               COURT OF JUSTICE
                                                          COURT OF JUSTICE
                JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                  Ministero delle Poste e Telecomunicazioni ( Case C-337/
                         (Sixth Chamber)                               94 ), in the presence of Federazione Italiana Editori Gior­
                                                                       nali (FIEG), Coordinamento delle Associazioni per la Dife­
                      of 12 December 1996                              sa dell'Ambiente e dei Diritti degli Utenti e Consumatori
in Joined Cases C-320/94, C-328/94, C-329/94, C-337/                   ( Codacons ) and Associazione Utenti Radiotelevisivi, and
94, C-338/94 and C-339/94 (reference for a preliminary                 between Radio Italia Solo Musica Sri and Others, and
ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale del                 Ministero delle Poste e Telecomunicazioni ( Case C-338/
Lazio ): Reti Televisive Italiane SpA ( RTI), in the presence          94 ), in the presence of Federazione Italiana Editori Gior­
of Publitalia '80, v. Ministero delle Poste e Telecomuni­              nali (FIEG), and between GETE Sri, and Ministero delle
cazioni, in the presence of Federazione Italiana Editori               Poste e Telecomunicazioni ( Case C-339/94 ), in the
Giornali (FIEG ), Coordinamento delle Associazioni per                 presence of Federazione Italiana Editori Giornali ( FIEG )
la Difesa dell'Ambiente e dei Diritti degli Utenti e                   — on the interpretation of Council Directive 89/552/EEC
                                                                       of 3      October   1989   on the coordination of certain
Consumatori        ( Codacons ) and Associazione          Utenti
                  Radiotelevisivi and Others (')                       provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative
                                                                       action in Member States concerning the pursuit of
(Interpretation — Directive 89/552/EEC — Television                    television broadcasting activities ( OJ No L 298 , 17. 10 .
                      broadcasting activities)                         1989, p. 23 ), and in particular of Article 17 ( 1 ) thereof,
                           ( 97/C 74/01 )                              concerning sponsoring, and of Articles 1 ( b ) and 18
                                                                       thereof, — the Court (Sixth Chamber) composed of: G. F.
                                                                       Mancini, President of the Chamber, J. L. Murray
                 (Language of the case: Italian)                       ( Rapporteur), C. N. Kakouris, P. J. G. Kapteyn and H.
                                                                       Ragnemalm, Judges; F. G. Jacobs, Advocate-General; D.
  (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be         Louterman-Hubeau, Principal Administrator, gave a
           published in the European Court Reports)                    judgment on 12 December 1996, the operative part of
                                                                       which is as follows :
In Joined Cases C-320/94, C-328/94, C-329/94, C-337/94,
C-338/94 and C-339/94: reference to the Court under                    1 . Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on
Article 1 77 of the EC Treaty by the Tribunale Amministra­                  the coordination of certain provisions laid down by
tivo Regionale del Lazio (Italy) for a preliminary ruling in                law, regulation or administrative action in Member
the proceedings pending before that court between Reti                      States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting
Televisive Italiane SpA ( RTI), in the presence of Publitalia               activities, and in particular Articles 1 (b) and 18
' 80 and Ministero delle Poste e Telecomunicazioni ( Case                   thereof, must be interpreted as meaning that the
C-320/94 ), in the presence of Federazione Italiana Editori                 expression 'forms of advertisements such as direct
Giornali (FIEG ), Coordinamento delle Associazioni per la                   offers to the public' in Article 1 8 is used in the context
Difesa dell'Ambiente e dei Diritti degli Utenti e Consuma­                  of the Community rules, with regard to the possibility
tori ( Codacons ) and Associazione Utenti Radiotelevisivi,                  of increasing maximum advertising time to 20% of
and between Radio Torre, and Ministero delle Poste e Te­                    daily transmission time, by way of example.
lecomunicazioni ( Case C-328/94 ), in the presence of                       Consequently, it may also cover other forms of
Federazione Italiana Editori Giornali ( FIEG ), and between                 promotion, such as 'telepromotions ' which, like 'direct
Rete A Srl , and Ministero delle Poste e Telecomunicazioni                  offers to the public ', require more time than spot
( Case C-329/94 ), in the presence of Federazione Italiana                  advertisements on account of their method of
Editori Giornali ( FIEG ), Coordinamento delle Associazioni                 presentation.
per la Difesa dell'Ambiente e dei Diritti degli Utenti e
Consumatori ( Codacons ) and Associazione Utenti Radiote­              2 . Directive 89/552/EEC, and in particular Article 17
levisivi and between Vallau Italiana Promomarket Srl, and                   (1 ) (b) thereof, must be interpreted as permitting the
 ---pagebreak--- No C 74/2            | EN |               Official Journal of the European Communities                                      8 . 3 . 97
     insertion of the sponsor's name or logo at times other               national of Member State B from that latter State to
     than the beginning and/or the end of the programme.                  Serbia or Montenegro on the ground that Member
                                                                          State A allows payment for such exports to be made
                                                                          only if the exports take place from its own territory
(') OJ No C 386, 31 . 12 . 1994, and                                      and they have been authorized by its own competent
    OJ No C 74, 25 . 3 . 1995 .                                           authorities pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 1432/92,
                                                                          when the goods in question have been classified by the
                                                                          United Nations Sanctions Committee as products
                                                                          intended for strictly medical purposes and the
                                                                          competent authorities of Member State B have issued
                                                                          export authorizations for them in accordance with
                                                                          Regulation (EEC) No 1432/92 .
                JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                     2 . National measures which prove to be contrary to the
                                                                          common commercial policy provided for in Article 113
                       of 14 January 1997                                 of the Treaty and to the Community Regulations
                                                                          implementing that policy are justified under Article 234
in Case C-124/95 (reference for a preliminary ruling from                 of the EEC Treaty only if they are necessary to ensure
the Court of Appeal ): The Queen, ex parte: Centro-Com                    that the Member State concerned performs its
         Sri v. HM Treasury and Bank of England (')                       obligations towards non-member countries under an
                                                                          agreement concluded prior to entry into force of the
(Foreign and security policy — Common commercial                          Treaty or prior to accession by that Member State.
policy — Blocking of funds — Sanctions against the
             Republics of Serbia and Montenegro)                     H OJ No C 174, 8 . 7. 1995 .
                           ( 97/C 74/02 )
                 (Language of the case: English)
                                                                                    JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                                           of 14 January 1997
In Case C-124/95 : reference to the Court under Article 177
of the EC Treaty by the Court of Appeal ( England and                in Case C-169/95 : Kingdom of Spain v. Commission of
Wales ) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending                           the European Communities (')
before that court between the Queen, ex parte: Centro­               (State aids — Aid for the construction of a steel foundry
Com Sri, and HM Treasury and Bank of England on the                                 in the Province of Teruel, Spain)
interpretation of Articles 113 and 234 of the EC Treaty
and Council Regulation (EEC ) No 1432/92 of 1 June                                             ( 97/C 74/03 )
1992 prohibiting trade between the European Economic
Community and the Republics of Serbia and Montenegro
                                                                                     (Language of the case: Spanish)
( OJ No L 151 , 3 . 6 . 1992, p. 4 ), — the Court composed
of G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, President, G. F. Mancini, J. C.
Moitinho de Almeida and J. L. Murray, Presidents of
                                                                       (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
Chamber, P. J. G. Kapteyn ( Rapporteur ), Advocate­
General; F. G. Jacobs, Registrar: H. A. Riihl, Principal
                                                                               published in the European Court Reports)
Administrar, has given a judgment on 14 January 1997, in
which it rules :                                                     In Case C-169/95 : Kingdom of Spain ( Agents: Alberto
                                                                     Jose Navarro Gonzalez and Gloria Calvo Diaz ) v.
                                                                     Commission of the European Communities ( Agents:
                                                                     Francisco Enrique Gonzalez Diaz and Paul Nemitz ) —
1 . The common commercial policy provided for in                     application for annulment of Commission Decision
     Article 113 of the EEC Treaty, as implemented by                95/438/EC of 14 March 1995 concerning investment aid
     Council Regulation (EEC) No 1432/92 of 1 June 1992              granted by Spain to the company Piezas y Rodajes SA, a
    prohibiting trade between the European Economic                  steel foundry located in Teruel province (Aragon ), Spain
     Community and the Republics of Serbia and                       ( OJ No L 257, 27. 10 . 1995 , p. 45 ), — the Court,
     Montenegro and by Council Regulation (EEC)                      composed of: G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, President, J. C.
     No 2603/69 of 20 December 1969 establishing                     Moitinho de Almeida, J. L. Murray and L. Sevon,
     common rules for exports, precludes Member State A              Presidents of Chambers, P. J. G. Kapteyn, C. Gulmann,
    from adopting, for the purpose of ensuring effective             D. A. O. Edward, J.-P- Puissochet ( Rapporteur ), G.
     application of United Nations Security Council                  Hirsch, P. Jann and M. Wathelet, Judges; Advocate­
     Resolution 757 (1992) measures prohibiting Serbian              General : G. Tesauro; H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar,
     or Montenegran funds located in its territory from              for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 14 January
     being released in order to pay for goods exported by a          1997, in which it: