CELEX: C1999/188/33
Language: en
Date: 1999-07-03 00:00:00
Title: Case C-129/99: Action brought on 15 April 1999 by the Federal Republic of Germany against the Commission of the European Communities

C 188/14              EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                       3.7.1999
2. order the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.                      Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster
                                                                      Gerichtshof (Supreme Court), Austria, by order of that
                                                                      court of 30 March 1999 in the case of Johann Kappel v
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                 Pensionsversicherungsanstalt der Arbeiter
The Member States are required by the binding character of                                     (Case C-128/99)
the third paragraph of Article 189 and of Article 5 of the EC
Treaty to adopt the measures needed to transpose directives
into national law before the expiry of the period laid down for                                (1999/C 188/32)
that purpose and to communicate those measures immediately
to the Commission. That period expired on 30 June 1996
                                                                      Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
without the Hellenic Republic having communicated to the
                                                                      European Communities by an order of the Oberster Gerichtsh-
Commission the provisions transposing the directive at issue
                                                                      of (Supreme Court), Austria, of 30 March 1999, which was
into national law.
                                                                      received at the Court Registry on 15 April 1999, for a
                                                                      preliminary ruling in the case of Johann Kappel v Pensionsver-
(1) OJ No L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10.                                   sicherungsanstalt der Arbeiter, on the following questions:
                                                                      1. Is Article 7(1)(a) of Directive 79/7/EEC (1) to be interpreted
                                                                           as allowing Member States to determine different pension-
                                                                           able ages only for pension rights which are granted
                                                                           exclusively on the basis of the risk of old age, or is that
                                                                           derogation applicable also to pension rights which are
                                                                           granted only from a specified age but in addition are
Appeal brought on 15 April 1999 by the Kingdom of                          granted only on account of invalidity (reduced capacity for
Sweden against the judgment delivered on 28 January                        work)?
1999 by the Second Chamber of the Court of First
Instance of the European Communities in Case T-264/97
between D, supported by the Kingdom of Sweden, and                    2. Is Article 7(1)(a) and (2) of Directive 79/7/EEC to be
              the Council of the European Union                            interpreted as allowing a Member State to alter a previously
                                                                           existing identical provision on pensionable age (in this case
                                                                           completion of the 55th year for men and women) after the
                       (Case C-125/99 P)                                   end of the transposition period, in such a way that a
                                                                           different pensionable age for men and women (in this case
                        (1999/C 188/31)                                    completion of the 57th year for men and the 55th year for
                                                                           women) is now determined?
An appeal against the judgment delivered on 28 January 1999
by the Second Chamber of the Court of First Instance of
the European Communities in Case T-264/97 between D,                  (1) OJ 1979 L 6, p. 24.
supported by the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Council of the
European Union was brought before the Court of Justice of
the European Communities on 15 April 1999 by the Kingdom
of Sweden, represented by Lotty Nordling, Legal Adviser, with
an address for service in Luxembourg at the Swedish Embassy,
2 Rue Heinrich Heine.
The appellant claims that the Court should:                           Action brought on 15 April 1999 by the Federal Republic
                                                                      of Germany against the Commission of the European
— set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance and                                     Communities
    declare void the decision of the Council refusing to grant
    the benefits claimed by D;
                                                                                               (Case C-129/99)
— order the Council to reimburse the costs incurred by
    Sweden in the proceedings before the Court of Justice.
                                                                                               (1999/C 188/33)
Pleas in law and main arguments                                       An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                      ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
Disregard of Article 1 of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations, in      Communities on 15 April 1999 by the Federal Republic of
that a meaning has been applied to the expressions ‘married’          Germany, represented by Wolf-Dieter Plessing and Claus-
and ‘spouse’ which does not take into account the family              Dieter Quassowski, Bundesministerium der Finanzen, Postfach
situation and civil status of officials under the national            13 08, D-53003 Bonn.
legislation applicable to them, and inasmuch as officials living
in a situation of registered partnership are not treated in the
                                                                      The applicant claims that the Court should:
same way as married officials.
                                                                      •    annul the Commission Decision of 3 February 1999 —
                                                                           C(99)209 final — on the clearance of the accounts
 ---pagebreak--- 3.7.1999                EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                            C 188/15
     presented by the Member States in respect of the expendi-           (2) Must the operations referred to in Article 4(3) of Direc-
     ture for 1995 of the Guarantee Section of the European                   tive 69/335/EEC be regarded as covered by the prohibition
     Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (1) in so far as                laid down in Article 10 of the same Community measure,
     Article 2 thereof requires a contribution from Germany of                in such a way as to preclude the collection, under the
     DM 833 895.82 on account of non-compliance with                          directive, not only of the tax on the raising of capital but
     payment deadlines, rather than charging it to the EAGGF;                 also of any other levy, of whatever kind, in particular one
                                                                              that is a charge rather than a tax?
•    order the Commission to pay the costs.
                                                                         (3) Must Articles 10 and 12(1)(e) of the same directive be
                                                                              interpreted as meaning that the fees payable for entry
Pleas in law and main arguments                                               (prescribed by law) on the National Register of Legal
                                                                              Persons of increases of capital may not vary according to
— Lack of legal basis for charging a contribution of                          the amount of such increases?
     DM 2 237 238.60 to Budget heading B01-2122-007
     rather than the contribution of DM 1 403 342.78 calcu-              (4) May such variables also be regarded as a function of the
     lated by the German authorities, which was the correct                   cost of the service provided?
     figure especially in view of a reserve remaining from 1994
     of DM 2 447 802.54. In clearing the accounts for 1995,
     the Commission did not apply, or did not correctly apply,           (5) Does that cost include the salary of officials, agents or
     the reserve regulations in its working paper VT/458/93 -                 other public employees, expenses incurred in respect of
     Rev.4 of 30 September 1994.                                              minor operations carried out free of charge, and a portion
                                                                              of overheads (rent of premises, data-processing and com-
                                                                              munications equipment, electricity, water and the like)
— Infringement of the principle of the protection of legitimate               attributable to registration operations?
     expectations: The Commission’s conduct is in contradic-
     tion to its own conduct in connection with the clearance
     of accounts for 1994, when it recognised an initially               (6) Is it permitted, having regard to the abovementioned
     disputed payment as having been paid on time. The unused                 articles of the said directive, to regard those variables
     residual reserve amount resulting therefrom cannot be left               deriving from increases of capital as a manifestation of
     out of account by the Commission in the clearance of                     standardised charges and, as such, authorised charges?
     accounts for 1995.
                                                                         (7) It is permitted, having regard to the same provisions of the
— Infringement of the duty to state reasons under Article 190                 directive, for any fee to be charged in excess of the cost of
     of the EC Treaty.                                                        the service? And if so, to what extent? If the excess were to
                                                                              be manifest and unreasonable, could the amount of the
                                                                              fees be reduced on an equitable basis?
(1) Decision 1999/187/EC, OJ No L 61, 10.3.1999, p. 37.
                                                                         (1) Council Directive 69/335/EEC of 17 July 1969 concerning
                                                                             indirect taxes on the raising of capital (OJ English Special Edition,
                                                                             1969(II) p. 412).
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Supremo
Tribunal Administrativo, Second Chamber, by judgment
of that court of 17 March 1999, in the case of IGI-
Investimentos Imobiliários, SA, and Fazenda Pública, both
            being both appellants and respondents
                                                                         Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Bundessozial-
                         (Case C-134/99)                                 gericht by order of that court of 24 February 1999 in the
                                                                         case of Ursula Elsen against Bundesversicherungsanstalt
                                                                                                    für Angestellte
                         (1999/C 188/34)
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                                             (Case C-135/99)
European Communities by an judgment of the Second Chamb-
er of the Supremo Tribunal Administrativo (Supreme Adminis-                                        (1999/C 188/35)
trative Court) of 17 March 1999, which was received at the
Court Registry on 19 April 1999, for a preliminary ruling in
the case of IGI-Investimentos Imobiliários, SA, and Fazenda             Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
Púiblica, on the following questions:                                   European Communities by order of the Bundessozialgericht
                                                                         (Federal Social Court) of 24 February 1999, received at the
(1) May Articles 10 and 12 of Council Directive 69/335/EEC (1)           Court Registry on 19 April 1999, for a preliminary ruling in
     be relied on by a private individual in dealings with the           the case of Ursula Elsen against Bundesversicherungsanstalt
     State, even if the latter has not transposed that directive         für Angestellte (Federal Insurance Office for Clerical Staff) on
     into national law?                                                  the following question: