CELEX: C2003/264/15
Language: en
Date: 2003-11-01 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 11 September 2003 in Case C-207/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Corte d'appello di Firenze): Altair Chimica SpA v ENEL Distribuzione SpA (Competition — Dominant position — Supply of electricity — Imposition of a "sovrapprezzo")

1.11.2003                 EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                                   C 264/9
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                             —      may impose penalties on the undertakings concerned in
                                                                                           respect of past conduct where the conduct was merely
                                                                                           facilitated or promoted by the national legislation, whilst
                         of 9 September 2003                                               taking due account of the specific features of the legislative
                                                                                           framework in which the undertakings acted;
in Case C-198/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                     2.    It is for the referring court to assess whether national legislation
the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio):                               such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under which
Consorzio Industrie Fiammiferi (CIF) v Autorità Garante                             competence to fix the retail selling prices of a product is
               della Concorrenza e del Mercato (1)                                  delegated to a ministry and power to allocate production
                                                                                    between undertakings is entrusted to a consortium to which the
                                                                                    relevant producers are obliged to belong, may be regarded,
(Competition law — National legislation anti-competitive                            for the purposes of Article 81(1) EC, as precluding those
— National competition authority’s power to declare such                            undertakings from engaging in autonomous conduct which
legislation inapplicable — Circumstances in which undertak-                         remains capable of preventing, restricting or distorting compe-
       ings not answerable for anti-competitive conduct)                            tition.
                            (2003/C 264/14)                                   (1) OJ C 227 of 11.8.2001.
                      (Language of the case: Italian)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                     in the European Court Reports)
                                                                                                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                                                          (Sixth Chamber)
In Case C-198/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234                                             of 11 September 2003
EC by the Tribunale amministrativo regionale per il Lazio
(Italy) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending
before that court between Consorzio Industrie Fiammiferi (CIF)                in Case C-207/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
and Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, on the                  the Corte d’appello di Firenze): Altair Chimica SpA v
interpretation of Article 81 EC, the Court, composed of:                                           ENEL Distribuzione SpA (1)
G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President, J.-P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet
(Rapporteur) and C.W.A. Timmermans (Presidents of Cham-                       (Competition — Dominant position — Supply of electricity
bers), C. Gulmann, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann,                                      — Imposition of a ‘sovrapprezzo’)
V. Skouris, S. von Bahr and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges;
F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Principal Adminis-
trator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 9 September                                            (2003/C 264/15)
2003, in which it has ruled:
                                                                                                     (Language of the case: Italian)
1.    Where undertakings engage in conduct contrary to Article 81(1)
      EC and where that conduct is required or facilitated by national        (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
      legislation which legitimises or reinforces the effects of the                                in the European Court Reports)
      conduct, specifically with regard to price-fixing or market-
      sharing arrangements, a national competition authority, one of
      whose responsibilities is to ensure that Article 81 EC is
                                                                              In Case C-207/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234
      observed:
                                                                              EC by the Corte d’appello di Firenze (Italy) for a preliminary
                                                                              ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
      —      has a duty to disapply the national legislation;                 Altair Chimica SpA and ENEL Distribuzione SpA on the
                                                                              interpretation of Articles 81, 82 and 85 EC, Council Directive
                                                                              92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general arrangements
      —      may not impose penalties in respect of past conduct on
                                                                              for products subject to excise duty and on the holding,
             the undertakings concerned when the conduct was required
                                                                              movement and monitoring of such products (OJ 1992 L 76,
             by the national legislation;
                                                                              p. 1), as amended by Council Directive 96/99/EC of 30 Decem-
                                                                              ber 1996 (OJ 1997 L 8, p. 12), and Council Recommendation
      —      may impose penalties on the undertakings concerned in            81/924/EEC of 27 October 1981 on electricity tariff structures
             respect of conduct subsequent to the decision to disapply        in the Community (OJ 1981 L 337, p. 12), the Court (Sixth
             the national legislation, once the decision has become           Chamber), composed of: J.-P. Puissochet, President of the
             definitive in their regard;                                      Chamber, R. Schintgen (Rapporteur), V. Skouris, F. Macken
 ---pagebreak--- C 264/10                  EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                              1.11.2003
and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate                        lishing certain conditions for the carriage of goods by road
General; M.-F. Contet, Principal Administrator, for the Regis-                 and the promotion of combined transport (OJ 2001 L 108,
trar, has given a judgment on 11 September 2003, in which it                   p. 27), but only in so far as they are based on Article 93 EC
has ruled:                                                                     and without altering their effects, which should be maintained,
                                                                               the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: M. Wathelet (Rappor-
Articles 81, 82 and 85 EC and Council Directive 92/12/EEC of                   teur), President of the Chamber, C.W.A. Timmermans,
25 February 1992 on the general arrangements for products subject              D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola and S. von Bahr, Judges; S. Alber,
to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of                  Advocate General; H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator, for the
such products, as amended by Council Directive 96/99/EC of                     Registrar, has given a judgment on 11 September 2003, in
30 December 1996, must be interpreted as meaning that they do                  which it:
not preclude a national rule providing for the levy of surcharges on
the price of electricity such as those at issue in the main proceedings        1.    Annuls Council Decision 2001/265/EC of 19 March 2001
when the electricity is used in an electro-chemical process and that                 concerning the conclusion of the agreement between the
Council Recommendation 81/924/EEC of 27 October 1981 on                              European Community and the Republic of Bulgaria establishing
electricity tariff structures in the Community is not capable of                     certain conditions for the carriage of goods by road and the
preventing a Member State from levying such surcharges.                              promotion of combined transport and 2001/266/EC of
                                                                                     19 March 2001 concerning the conclusion of the agreement
                                                                                     between the European Community and the Republic of Hungary
(1) OJ C 200 of 14.7.2001.                                                           establishing certain conditions for the carriage of goods by road
                                                                                     and the promotion of combined transport;
                                                                               2.    Declares that the effects of the decisions are to be maintained
                                                                                     until the measures necessary to implement the present judgment
                                                                                     have been adopted;
                                                                               3.    Orders the Council of the European Union to pay the costs;
                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                               4.    Orders the Federal Republic of Germany and the Grand Duchy
                            (Fifth Chamber)                                          of Luxembourg to bear their own costs.
                        of 11 September 2003                                   (1) OJ C 212 of 28.7.2001.
in Case C-211/01: Commission of the European Communi-
            ties v Council of the European Union (1)
(EC/Bulgaria and EC/Hungary Agreements — Carriage of                                            JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
goods by road and combined transport — Taxation — Legal
                basis — Articles 71 EC and 93 EC)                                                     of 9 September 2003
                            (2003/C 264/16)                                    in Case C-236/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling
                                                                               from the Tribunale amministrativo regionale del Lazio):
                                                                               Monsanto Agricoltura Italia SpA and Others v Presidenza
                      (Language of the case: French)                                       del Consiglio dei Ministri and Others (1)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published         (Regulation (EC) No 258/97 — Novel foods — Placing on
                     in the European Court Reports)                            the market — Safety assessment — Simplified procedure —
                                                                               Substantial equivalence to existing foods — Foods produced
                                                                               from genetically modified maize — Presence of residues of
                                                                               transgenic protein — Measure by a Member State tempor-
In Case C-211/01, Commission of the European Communities                       arily restricting or suspending the trade in or use of a novel
(Agent: initially by M. Wolfcarius, subsequently by W. Wils) v                                         food in its territory)
Council of the European Union (Agents: A. Lopes Sabino and
E. Karlsson) supported by Federal Republic of Germany                                                    (2003/C 264/17)
(Agents: W.-D. Plessing and M. Lumma) and by Grand Duchy
of Luxembourg (Agents: J. Falts and N. Mackel): Application
                                                                                                   (Language of the case: Italian)
for the annulment of Council Decisions 2001/265/EC of
19 March 2001 concerning the conclusion of the agreement
between the European Community and the Republic of                             (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
Bulgaria establishing certain conditions for the carriage of                                      in the European Court Reports)
goods by road and the promotion of combined transport (OJ
2001 L 108, p. 4), and 2001/266/EC of 19 March 2001
concerning the conclusion of the agreement between the                         In Case C-236/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234
European Community and the Republic of Hungary estab-                          EC by the Tribunale amministrativo regionale del Lazio (Italy)