CELEX: C1997/054/02
Language: en
Date: 1997-02-22 00:00:00
Title: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT of 12 December 1996 in Case C-302/94 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division)): The Queen v. Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Ex parte: British Telecommunications plc (Telecommunications - Directive on open network provision - Special or exclusive rights - Directive on leased lines - Provision of a minimum set of leased lines)

22 . 2 . 97           EN [                Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 54/ 1
                                                                  I
                                                            (Information)
                                              COURT OF JUSTICE
                                                        COURT OF JUSTICE
              JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                   Edward, J. -P. Puissochet, G. Hirsch, P. Jann and M.
                     of 3 December 1996                               Wathelet, Judges; A. La Pergola, Advocate-General; H.
                                                                      von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on
in Case C-268/94 Portuguese Republic v. Council of the                3 December 1996 in which it :
                     European Union ( ! )
(Cooperation Agreement between the European                           1 . dismisses the application;
Community and the Republic of India — Development
cooperation — Respect for human rights and democratic
principles — Cooperation in the fields of energy, tourism,            2 . orders the Portuguese Republic to pay the costs;
culture, drug abuse control and protection of intellectual
property — Competence of the Community — Legal                        3 . orders the Kingdom of Denmark, the Hellenic
                              basis)                                       Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
                         ( 97/C 54/01 )                                    Northern Ireland, and the Commission of the
                                                                           European Communities to bear their own costs.
             (Language of the case: Portuguese)
                                                                      (■) OJ No C 316 , 12 . 11 . 1994 .
  (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
          published in the European Court Reports)
In case C-268/94: Portuguese Republic ( Agents : Joao
Mota de Campos, Luis Fernandes and Maria Luisa                                      JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
Duarte, supported by the Hellenic Republic ( Agents :                                      of 12 December 1996
Aikaterini Samoni-Rantou and Georgios Karipsiadis ) v.
Council of the European Union ( Agents : Jorge Monteiro               in Case C-302/94 ( reference for a preliminary ruling from
and Antonio Tanca ), supported by the Kingdom of                      the High Court of Justice ( Queen's Bench Division )): The
Denmark ( Agent: Peter Biering), the United Kingdom of                Queen v. Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Ex
Great Britain and Northern Ireland ( Agent: Lindsey                             parte: British Telecommunications pic (')
Nicoll ) and by the Commission of the European
                                                                      (Telecommunications — Directive on open network
Communities ( Agents: Claire Bury and Ana Maria Alves                 provision — Special or exclusive rights — Directive on
Vieira ) — application for annulment of Council Decision               leased lines — Provision of a minimum set of leased lines)
94/578/EC of 18 July 1994 concerning the conclusion of
the Cooperation Agreement between the European                                                    ( 97/C 54/02 )
Community and the Republic of India on partnership and
development ( OJ No L 223 , 27. 8 . 1994, p. 23 ) — the                              (Language of the case: English)
Court, composed of: G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, President,
G. F. Mancini, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, J. L. Murray
and L. Sevon ( Rapporteur ) ( Presidents of Chambers ), C. N.         In Case C-302/94 : reference to the Court under Article 177
Kakouris, P. J. G. Kapteyn, C. Gulmann, D. A. O.                      of the EC Treaty from the High Court of Justice ( Queen's
 ---pagebreak--- No C 54/2             EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                     22 . 2 . 97
Bench Division) for a preliminary ruling in the                                      JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
proceedings pending before that court between the Queen                                          (Fifth Chamber)
and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Ex parte:
                                                                                             of 12 December 1996
British Telecommunications pic — on the interpretation
of Council Directive 90/387/EEC of 28 June                 1990        in Case C-3/95 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
on     the   establishment    of    the  internal   market    for      the Landgericht Dortmund ): Reisebiiro Broede v. Gerd
telecommunications services through the implementation                                                Sandker ( 1 )
of open network provision ( OJ No L 192, 24 . 7. 1990,
p. 1 ) and on the interpretation and validity of Council               (Freedom to provide services — Judicial recovery of debts
Directive 92/44/EEC of 5 June 1992 on the application of                     — Authorization — Article 59 of the EC Treaty)
open network provision to leased lines ( OJ No L 165 ,                                              ( 97/C 54/03 )
19 . 6 . 1992 , p. 27 ) — the Court, composed of: G. C.
Rodriguez Iglesias, President, G. F. Mancini and J. C.                                (Language of the case: German)
Moitinho de Almeida ( Presidents of Chambers ), C. N.
Kakouris, C. Gulmann, D. A. O. Edward, J. -P. Puissochet
( Rapporteur ), P. Jann and H. Ragnemalm, Judges; G.                     (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
Tesauro, Advocate-General; L. Hewlett, Administrator, for                       published in the European Court Reports)
the Registrar, gave a judgment on 12 December 1996 , the
operative part of which is as follows:                                 In Case C-3/95 : reference to the Court under Article 177
                                                                       of the EC Treaty by the Landgericht ( Regional Court )
                                                                       Dortmund ( Germany ), for a preliminary ruling in the
                                                                       proceedings pending before that court between Reisebiiro
                                                                       Broede and Gerd Sandker on the interpretation of the
1 . Council Directive 92/44/EEC of 5 June 1992 on the                  provisions of the EC Treaty relating to freedom to provide
     application of open network provision to leased lines             services, in particular Article 59 — the Court ( Fifth
     applies to telecomunications organizations within the             Chamber), composed of: J. C. Moitinho de Almeida,
     meaning of Article 2 (1 ) of Council Directive 90/387/            President of the Chamber, L. Sevon, D. A. O. Edward
     EEC of 28 June 1990 on the establishment of the                   ( Rapporteur ), P. Jann and M. Wathelet, Judges; N. Fenelly,
     internal market for telecommunications services
                                                                       Advocate-General ; H. A. Riihl , Principal Administrator,
     through the implementation of open network                        for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 12 December
    provision. Inter alia, the two undertakings to which a             1996 , in which it has ruled :
     Member State has reserved, otherwise than according
     to objective, proportional and non-discriminatory
     criteria, the operation of international and in                   Article 59 of the EC Treaty does not preclude a national
    particular intra- Community telecommunications lines               rule which prohibits an undertaking established in another
     and likewise the undertaking to which a Member State              Member State from securing judicial recovery of debts
     has reserved, on the same terms, the operation of a               owed to others on the ground that the exercise of that
    public telecommunications network in part of its                   activity in a professional capacity is reserved to the legal
     territory constitute telecommunications organizations             profession.
     within the meaning of that provision. A Member State
     is entitled to impose the obligations laid down in                (') OJ No C 54, 4 . 3 . 1995 .
    Article 7 of Directive 92/44/EEC on only some
     telecommunications          organizations,     since    the
     imposition of those obligations is sufficient to make
    available to users throughout the national territory a
     minimum number of leased lines complying with the
    specifications laid down by that Directive. In                                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
    particular, a Member State is entitled to impose the                                          ( First Chamber)
     obligations laid down in that provision on only those
     telecommunications organizations which are the                                          of 12 December 1996
    principal operators of telecommuncations lines in each             in Case C-38/95 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
     of the geographical areas comprising its territory.               the Corte d'Appello di Ancona ): Ministero delle Finanze v.
                                                                                              Foods Import Srl ( ] )
                                                                       (Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Fish of
                                                                                            the Molva molva kind)
2 . Examination of the questions referred for a
    preliminary ruling has disclosed no factor capable of                                           ( 97/C 54/04 )
    affecting the validity of Directive 92/44/EEC.
                                                                                       (Language of the case: Italian)
(') OJ No C 380, 31 . 12 . 1994 .                                        (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
                                                                                published in the European Court Reports)
                                                                       In Case C-38/95 : reference to the Court under Article 177
                                                                       of the EC Treaty by the Corte d'Appello di Ancona, for a