CELEX: C1998/340/22
Language: en
Date: 1998-11-07 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 23 September 1998 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic (Case C-349/98)

7.11.98                 EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                  C 340/13
Action brought on 23 September 1998 by the Commission                 The applicant claims that the Court should:
 of the European Communities against the Italian Republic
                         (Case C-349/98)                              Ð annul Articles 3 and 4 of Decision C(1998) 2048 of
                                                                          the Commission of 1 July 1998 concerning the Spanish
                          (98/C 340/22)
                                                                          system of aid for the purchase of industrial vehicles
                                                                          (Plan Renove Industrial);
An action against the Italian Republic was brought before
the Court of Justice of the European Communities on                   Ð order the defendant institution to pay the costs.
23 September 1998 by the Commission of the European
Communities, represented by Laura Pignataro of its Legal
                                                                      Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
Service, acting as Agent, with an address for service in
Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz,
Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.                                             Ð Infringement of Article 92(1) of the EC Treaty:
The applicant claims that the Court should:                               The measures contained in the Plan Renove Industrial
                                                                          do not constitute aid which is incompatible with the
                                                                          common market, since they do not favour certain
Ð declare that, by not adopting the laws, regulations and                 undertakings or the production of certain goods and
     administrative provisions necessary to comply with                   do not distort competition; consequently, by adopting
     Council Directive 95/18/EC of 19 June 1995 on the                    the contested decision, the Commission has infringed
     licensing of railway undertakings (1) and Council                    Article 92(1) of the EC Treaty. There exists no
     Directive 95/19/EC of 19 June 1995 on the allocation                 discrimination of any kind based on the nationality of
     of railway infrastructure capacity and the charging of               the person acquiring a vehicle; consequently, any
     infrastructure fees (2), the Italian Republic has failed to          national of another Member State is eligible to benefit
     fulfil its obligations under those Directives;                       from the measures provided for in the Plan. The rules
                                                                          laid down by the Plan Renove Industrial do not
Ð order the Italian Republic to pay the costs of the                      provide that the vehicle to be withdrawn from
     proceedings.                                                         circulation must be owned by the recipient of aid
                                                                          under that Plan; the vehicle concerned may be owned
                                                                          by a third party with whom the recipient enters into
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                       an agreement for that purpose. The fact that the
                                                                          vehicle which is withdrawn must be registered in Spain
Article 189 of the EC Treaty, in providing that a directive               does not give rise to any distortion of competition or
is binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon the                     prejudice haulage contractors established outside
Member State to which it is addressed, places Member                      Spain.
States under an obligation to comply with the time-limits
set by directives for their implementation. In the present                Even if, as the Commission maintains, the directives
case, when the time-limits expired on 27 June 1997, the                   on aid to small and medium-sized undertakings (92/
Italian Republic had not adopted the measures necessary                   C 213/02) are not applicable to the haulage sector, it is
to comply with the Directives named in the Commission's                   undeniable that the reason which prompted the
application.                                                              Commission to adopt the de minimis' rule in those
                                                                          directives does not apply in the circumstances of the
(1) OJ L 143 of 27.6.1995, p. 70.                                         present case, and that aid on such a small scale as that
(2) OJ L 143 of 27.6.1995, p. 75.                                         paid to recipients under the Plan Renove Industrial
                                                                          does not have any appreciable effect on competition or
                                                                          on trade between Member States. In fact, the analysis
                                                                          carried out in relation to recipients of aid under the
                                                                          Plan reaches the following conclusions:
                                                                          1. A considerable number of recipients of aid under
Action brought on 25 September 1998 by the Kingdom
                                                                              the Plan carry on haulage activities on such a
of Spain against the Commission of the European
                                                                              small scale that they do not even require the grant
                           Communities
                                                                              of authorisation by the transport authorities.
                         (Case C-351/98)
                          (98/C 340/23)                                   2. There is a high proportion of type B, C and D
                                                                              vehicles covered by the Plan which are authorised
                                                                              only for private haulage operations.
An action against the Commission of the European
Communities was brought before the Court of Justice of                    3. The weight of the type B, C and D vehicles
the European Communities on 25 September 1998 by the                          authorised for public haulage operations is limited
Kingdom of Spain, represented by R. Silva de Lapuerta,                        (43 %), and, of those vehicles, slightly over half
acting as Agent, with an address for service in                               are authorised for haulage on a nation-wide scale,
Luxembourg at the Spanish Embassy, 4±6 Boulevard E.                           the remainder being authorised only for local
Servais.                                                                      haulage operations.