CELEX: C1997/181/04
Language: en
Date: 1997-06-14 00:00:00
Title: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Pretura Circondariale di Roma, Sezione Distaccata di Tivoli, by orders of that court of 19 and 5 February 1997 in the criminal proceedings against (1) Italia Testa and (2) Mario Modesti (Cases C-128/97 and C-137/97)

14 . 6 . 97             EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 181 /3
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Pretura Circon­               which has, in practice, a financial effect equivalent to an
dariale di Roma, Sezione Distaccata di Tivoli, by orders of             increase in the rate of capital duty beyond the ceiling of
that court of 19 and 5 February 1997 in the criminal                    1 % of contributed capital ?
proceedings against ( 1 ) Italia Testa and ( 2 ) Mario Modesti
                ( Cases C-128/97 and C-137/97)                          (') OJ No L 249 , 3 . 10 . 1969 , p . 25 .
                           ( 97/C 181 /04 )
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by orders of the Pretura Circonda­
riale di Roma, Sezione Distaccata di Tivoli ( District                  Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale di Ge­
Magistrate's Court, Rome, Tivoli Division ) of 19 and                   nova ( Sixth Civil Division ) by order of that court of
5 February 1997, which were received at the Court                       21 March 1997 in the case of Vincenzo Farina v. Credito
Registry on 28 March 1997 and 14 April 1997,                                             Italiano SpA, of Genoa, Italy
respectively, for a preliminary ruling in the criminal                                            ( Case C-138/97 )
proceedings against ( 1 ) Italia Testa ( C-l 28/97 ) and ( 2 )
Mario Modesti ( C-l 37/97) on the following questions :                                             ( 97/C 181 /06
1 . May the national legislation conferring on the SIAE (')             Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
     the exclusive right to manage copyright impede or                  European Communities by an order of the Sixth Civil
     prevent the import or export of sound recordings                   Division of the Tribunale di Genova ( District Court,
     which have been lawfully marketed in another State ?               Genoa ), which was received at the Court Registry on
                                                                        14 April 1997, for a preliminary ruling in the case of
                                                                        Vincenzo Farina v. Credito Italiano SpA, on the following
2 . In the context of the Single Market, characterized by               questions :
     the free movement of goods and freedom to provide
     services, may the SIAE require payments in all cases
     and circumstances on behalf of authors, relying on                 1 . Whether the Norme Bancarie Uniforme ( Uniform
     recourse to criminal proceedings in order to give effect                Bank Rules ) laid down by the ABI (') for its members
     to that power and enforce its claims ?                                  in relation to contracts for the opening of current
                                                                             account credit facilities — since they are laid down
                                                                             and applied in a uniform and binding manner by the
(') Italian Society of Authors and Publishers .                              banks belonging to the ABI — are compatible with
                                                                             Article 85 of the Treaty, where they make the credit
                                                                             facility subject to conditions for determination of an
                                                                             interest rate which is not previously determined and is
                                                                             not determinable by the customer, and they are liable
                                                                             adversely to affect trade between the Member States
                                                                             and have as their object and effect the prevention,
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Commissione                        restriction or distortion of competition within the
Tributaria Provinciale di Livorno by order of that court of                  Common Market ?
20 March 1997 in the case of CAR — Centro Acciai Rive­
stiti SRL against Direzione Regionale delle Entrate per la
                  Toscana — Sezione di Livorno
                                                                        2 . What effects any finding of incompatibility in
                                                                             accordance with Question 1 may have on the
                         ( Case C-133/97 )                                   corresponding clauses of the contracts for the opening
                            ( 97/C 181 /05 )                                 of a current account credit facility, concluded
                                                                             ' downstream ' by member banks with individual
                                                                             customers, since, as a group, the banks belonging to
                                                                             the ABI may be regarded, within the meaning and for
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                       the purposes of Article 86 of the Treaty, as holding a
European Communities by order of the Commissione Tri­                        joint dominant position in the national credit market,
butaria ( Provincial Tax Court, Leghorn ) of 20 March                        whose specific application of the rules in question ( in
 1997, which was received at the Court Registry on 3 April                   connection with determination of the interest payable
 1997, for a preliminary ruling in the case of CAR — Cen­                    on the loan ) is regarded as an abuse ?
tro Acciai Rivestiti SRL against Direzione Regionale delle
Entrate per la Toscana — Sezione di Livorno on the
following question:                                                     3 . Whether the NBU laid down by the ABI for its
                                                                             members in relation to the ' all-embracing' guarantee
                                                                             covering the credit facility — since they are applied in
Does        Directive     69/335/EEC (')        and    subsequent            a uniform and binding manner by the member banks
amendments thereto prohibit not only the application of                      — are, taken as a whole, compatible with Article 85
the tax in question when capital is contributed in excess of                 of the Treaty, in relation to the individual clauses
 1 % of the capital contributed, but also prohibit the                       discussed in the grounds of this order, in that they are
establishment of additional taxes on contributed capital                     liable adversely to affect trade between the Member