CELEX: C1996/354/37
Language: en
Date: 1996-11-23 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 2 October 1996 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of Belgium (Case C-323/96)

23 . 11 . 96           EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                    No C 354/ 19
     broadcasting determine whether a broadcaster qualifies            2 . Are the proceedings of an administrative authority
     to become an active member of the EBU, and in that it                    within the meaning of paragraph 7 ( 1 ) ( 2 ) of the
     analyses the relevance of the criteria for membership of                 Umweltinformationsgesetz [Law on information on the
     the EBU in the light of the Commission decision .                        environment] preliminary investigation proceedings
                                                                              within the meaning of the third indent of Article 3 ( 2 ) of
— The Court of First Instance was guilty of manifest error                    that Directive ?
     of assessment when it considered that the Commission
     granted an exemption to the rules for EBU membership .            0 ) OJ No L 158 , 23 . 6 . 1990, p . 56 .
     The Commission has in no way granted exemption to
     those rules .
— Manifest error of assessment in so far as it is considered
     in the judgment that the criteria for EBU membership are
     vague, imprecise and liable to be applied in a                    Action brought on 2 October 1996 by the Commission of
     discriminatory manner, whereas, on an objective view,             the European Communities against the Kingdom of
     they are appropriate, foreseeable and reasonably                                                   Belgium
     precise .                                                                                     Case C-323 /96 )
— Defective reasoning and misinterpretation of Article 85                                           ( 96/C 354/37 )
     in so far as the judgment seems to lay down criteria for
     the grant of exemption to a group of broadcasters                 An action against the Kingdom of Belgium was brought
     entrusted with a mission of public interest which are so          before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
     onerous as to make it practically impossible to obtain            2 October 1996 by the Commission of the European
     any exemption whatsoever . The judgment also seriously            Communities, represented by Hendrik van Lier, Legal
     encroaches upon the discretion available to the                   Adviser, acting as Agent, with an address for service in
     Commission and consequently upon its ability to fulfil            Luxembourg at the office of C. Gomez de la Cruz, of its
     its obligations in administering the competition rules.           Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
(!) OJ No C 247, 24 . 8 . 1996 , p . 12 .                              The Commission claims that the Court should :
                                                                       — declare that the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil
                                                                              its obligations under Directives 89/440/EEC ( ! ) and
                                                                              93/37/EEC ( 2 ), and in particular Articles 7 and 11 of
                                                                              Directive 93/37/EEC in so far as it did not place a notice
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the                                   in the Official Journal of the European Communities
Schleswig-Holsteinischen Oberverwaltungsgericht by order                      either for the overall project or for the individual lots for
of that court of 10 July 1996 in the case of Wilhelm                          the construction of a building for the Vlaamse Raad and
Mecklenburg v. Kreis Pinneberg ( der Landrat); also                           it did not apply the award procedures in accordance with
participating: der Vertreter des offentlichen Interesses,                     those directives;
                                 Kiel
                                                                       — order the defendant to pay the costs .
                         ( Case C-321 /96 )
                           ( 96/C 354/36 )
                                                                       Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                 According to the Commission, the defendant does not
European Communities by an order of the                                dispute that it infringed Directive 93/37/EEC in connection
Schleswig-Holsteinischen Oberverwaltungsgericht [Higher                with the award procedures for the building of the Vlaamse
Administrative Court, Schleswig-Holstein] ( Fourth                     Raad. In contrast, it is clear from various reactions of the
Chamber ) of 10 July 1996 , which was received at the Court            Belgian public authorities that they considered that the
Registry on 1 October 1996 , for a preliminary ruling in the           infringement of the provisions of Directive 93/37/EEC was
case of Wilhelm Mecklenburg v. Kreis Pinneberg ( der                   attributable to the inadequate implementation of that
Landrat); also participating: der Vertreter des offentlichen           Directive in Belgian law, namely that the legislative bodies
Interesses [Representative of the Public Interest], Kiel, on           considered that the necessary legal framework was lacking.
the following questions :                                              The defendant's reliance on it itself having incorrectly
                                                                        implemented the Directive in question is however irrelevant,
 1 . Are the observations made by a lower                               since a Member State is not entitled to plead provisions,
      Landschaftspflegebehdrde [ Countryside Protection                 practices or situations of a domestic nature in order to
      Authority] in its capacity as representative of the public        justify its non-compliance with its obligations under
      interest in connection with development consent                   Community law.
      proceedings an administrative measure designed to
      protect the environment within the meaning of                     (>) OJ No L 210 , 21 . 7 . 1989 , p . 1 .
      Article 2 ( a ) of Council Directive 90/313/EEC (') of            ( 2 ) OJ No L 199 , 9 . 8 . 1993 , p . 54 .
      7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on
      the environment ?