CELEX: C2001/028/35
Language: en
Date: 2001-01-27 00:00:00
Title: Case C-423/00: Action brought on 16 November 2000 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of Belgium

27.1.2001               EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 28/19
Action brought on 16 November 2000 by the Com-                          Question 1
mission of the European Communities against the
                       Kingdom of Belgium
                                                                        Does Paragraph 9 of the LMG constitute an appropriate
                                                                        transposition of Article 2(1)(b) of Council Directive
                           (Case C-423/00)                              79/112/EEC (1) of 18 December 1978?
                            (2001/C 28/35)
                                                                        Question 2
An action against the Kingdom of Belgium was brought
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on              Does Article 2(1)(b) of Directive 79/112/EEC make exhaustive
16 November 2000 by the Commission of the European                      provision concerning unlawful labelling, or does that provision
Communities, represented by Götz zur Hausen, Legal Adviser,             provide for a minimum level of regulation which may be
acting as Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at           supplemented by national provisions?
the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, of its Legal Service,
Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
                                                                        Question 3
The applicant claims that the Court should:
1.    Declare that, by failing to adopt all the laws, regulations       Is Article 2(1)(b) of Directive 79/112/EEC to be construed to
      and/or administrative provisions necessary to comply              mean that a restriction on labelling (such as that in Paragraph
      with Council Directive 96/82/EC of 9 December 1996                9(1) of the LMG in regard to health-related information) is
      on the control of major-accident hazards involving                only permissible where a prohibition appears to be an
      dangerous substances (1), and in any event by failing to          unavoidable necessity in order to prevent consumers from
      inform the Commission of such provisions, the Kingdom             being misled?
      of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under that
      Directive;
                                                                        Question 4
2.    Order the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs.
                                                                        Can Paragraph 9(1) of the LMG be interpreted so as to comply
Pleas in law and main arguments                                         with the directive and the restriction on labelling mentioned
                                                                        therein be deemed to be in conformity with Article 2(1)(b) of
                                                                        Directive 79/112/EEC? This would be possible inasmuch as an
The pleas in law and main arguments are similar to those put            intention to mislead is not required by Article 2(1)[(b)] as a
forward in Case C-407/00 (2); the time-limit for transposition          whole but is a second criterion of the unlawfulness of a label.
expired on 3 February 1999.
                                                                        (1) OJ 1979 L 33, p. 1.
(1) OJ 1997 L 10, p. 13.
(2) See p. 13 of this Official Journal.
                                                                        Action brought on 20 November 2000 by the Com-
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Unabhängiger
                                                                        mission of the European Communities against the United
Verwaltungssenat Wien by order of 15 November 2000                                                  Kingdom
in the case of Paul Dieter Haug against Magistrat der Stadt
                                  Wien
                                                                                                (Case C-427/00)
                           (Case C-426/00)
                                                                                                 (2001/C 28/37)
                            (2001/C 28/36)
                                                                        An action against the United Kingdom was brought before the
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                  Court of Justice of the European Communities on 20 Novem-
European Communities by order of 15 November 2000 of the                ber 2000 by the Commission of the European Communities,
Unabhängiger Verwaltungssenat Wien (Independent Adminis-                represented by Mr Richard Wainwright, Principal Legal
trative Chamber, Vienna), which was received at the Court               Adviser, acting as agent, with an address for service at the
Registry on 20 November, for a preliminary ruling in the case           office of Mr Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, a member of the
of Paul Dieter Haug against Magistrat der Stadt Wien (Vienna            Legal Service of the Commission, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,
municipal authorities) on the following questions:                      Luxembourg.