CELEX: C2003/200/11
Language: en
Date: 2003-08-23 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 19 June 2003 in Case C-467/01 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Corte d'appello di Genova): Ministero delle Finanze v Eribrand SpA (Export refunds — Articles 47 and 48 of Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 — Extension of time-limits)

C 200/6                 EN                            Official Journal of the European Union                                                23.8.2003
1.    Article 22(1)(c) and (i) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/           M.       Wathelet,       R.      Schintgen        (Rapporteur)       and
      71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security                C. W. A. Timmermans (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gulmann,
      schemes to employed persons and their families moving within            D. A. O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann, V. Skouris, F. Macken,
      the Community, as amended and updated by Council Regula-                N. Colneric, S. von Bahr and J. N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges;
      tion (EEC) No 2001/83 of 2 June 1983 must be interpreted                L. A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; M.-F. Contet, Principal
      as also applying to a pensioner and members of his family who           Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
      reside in a Member State other than the one which is liable for         10 July 2003, in which it has ruled:
      payment of that pension, and who benefit on that basis,
      following their registration with the institution of the place of
      residence, from the system laid down by Article 28 of that              Article 9 of and Annex II to the Staff Regulations of Official of the
      regulation, where those socially insured persons wish to go to          European Communities and Article 79 of the Conditions of Employ-
      the Member State liable for payment of the pension in order to          ment of Other Servants of the European Communities must be
      receive medical treatment there.                                        interpreted as precluding the application to the local staff employed in
                                                                              the representation of the Commission of the European Communities in
                                                                              Vienna (Austria) of the Austrian legislation on labour relations in
2.    The institution competent to issue the prior authorisation              establishments in Part II of the Bundesgesetz betreffend die Arbeitsver-
      mentioned in the said Article 22(1)(c) and (i) where the                fassung (Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz) (Federal law on labour relations) of
      application for authorisation concerns socially insured persons         13 December 1973.
      in such a position is the institution of the place of residence of
      the persons concerned.
                                                                              (1) OJ C 200 of 14.7.2001.
(1) OJ C 200 of 14.7.2001.
                                                                                                JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                                                          (First Chamber)
                           of 10 July 2003
                                                                                                         of 19 June 2003
in Case C-165/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Oberster Gerichtshof): Betriebsrat der Vertretung der                     in Case C-467/01 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
Europäischen Kommission in Österreich v European                              the Corte d'appello di Genova): Ministero delle Finanze v
Communities, Commission of the European Commu-                                                           Eribrand SpA (1)
                                nities (1)
                                                                              (Export refunds — Articles 47 and 48 of Regulation (EEC)
(Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities                               No 3665/87 — Extension of time-limits)
— Conditions of Employment of Other Servants — Local
staff — Representation of the Commission in Austria —
Applicability of national legislation concerning the represen-                                           (2003/C 200/11)
        tation of workers and defence of their interests)
                                                                                                   (Language of the case: Italian)
                           (2003/C 200/10)
                                                                              (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published in
                    (Language of the case: German)                                                  the European Court Reports)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published in
                      the European Court Reports)                             In Case C-467/01: reference to the Court under Article 234 EC
                                                                              from the Corte d'appello di Genova (Italy) for a preliminary
                                                                              ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
                                                                              Ministero delle Finanze and Eribrand SpA, formerly Eurico
In Case C-165/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234                    Italia SpA — on the interpretation of Articles 47 and 48 of
EC by the Oberster Gerichtshof (Austria) for a preliminary                    Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 of 27 November
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between                   1987 laying down common detailed rules for the application
Betriebsrat der Vertretung der Europäischen Kommission in                     of the system of export refunds on agricultural products (OJ
Österreich and European Communities, Commission of the                        1987 L 351, p. 1), as amended by Commission Regulation (EC)
European Communities, on the interpretation of Article 9 of                   No 1829/94 of 26 July 1994 (OJ 1994 L 191, p. 5) — the
and Annex II to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the                     Court (First Chamber), composed of M. Wathelet, President of
European Communities and Article 79 of the Conditions of                      the Chamber, P. Jann and A. Rosas (Rapporteur), Judges;
Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities,                     C. Stix-Hackl, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, gave a
the Court, composed of: G. C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President,                  judgment on 19 June 2003, in which it held that:
 ---pagebreak--- 23.8.2003                EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                         C 200/7
1.    Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 of 27 November                   Action brought on 13 May 2003 by Ireland against the
      1987 laying down common detailed rules for the application of                     Commission of the European Communities
      the system of export refunds on agricultural products, as
      amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1829/94 of
      26 July 1994 imposes no limit on the length of time by which
                                                                                                       (Case C-199/03)
      a time-limit may be extended for the benefit of an exporter
      under Article 47(4) of the regulation. It is for the competent
      national authorities to set the length of extensions of time in
      accordance with the particular circumstances of the case, taking                                 (2003/C 200/13)
      particular account of the degree of diligence with which the
      exporter seeking the extension of time has acted, the nature of
      the difficulties confronting the exporter and the amount of time
      which it will reasonably take to overcome those difficulties.
                                                                              An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
                                                                              nities was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
2.    Exporters have no right to apply directly to national courts for        Communities on 13 May 2003 by Ireland, represented by
      an extension of time of a specific duration but do have a legal         D. J. O'Hagan, acting as agent, assisted by P. Gallagher SC and
      right of recourse against decisions taken by competent national         P. McGarry, Barrister, with an address for service in Luxem-
      authorities under Article 47(4) of Regulation No 3665/87, as            bourg.
      amended by Regulation No 1829/94. The detailed rules and
      parameters of any such procedure shall be governed by the
      national law of the Member States, in accordance with the               The Applicant claims that the Court should:
      principles of effectiveness and equivalence as defined in Commu-
      nity law.
                                                                              1.    declare the action admissible;
(1) OJ C 44 of 16.2.2002.
                                                                              2.    annul Commission Decision C(2003)99 reducing assis-
                                                                                    tance granted from the European Social Fund under
                                                                                    Commission Decisions C(94)3226 of 29 November 1994
                                                                                    (operational programme for human resources develop-
                                                                                    ment) in the framework of the project 940002IR1;
                                                                                    C(94)1972 of 29 July 1994 (operational programme for
                                                                                    tourism), in the framework of the project 940001IR1;
                                                                                    C(94)2613 of 15 November 1994 (operational programme
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Sozialgericht                             for industrial development), in the framework of the
Stuttgart by order of that Court of 19 March 2003 in the                            project 940004IR1, approving operational programmes
case of Betriebskrankenkasse der Robert Bosch GmbH                                  under objective 1 in Ireland, in whole or in part, or in
against Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the                             respect of such periods or amounts as the Court should
                       Bundesversicherungsamt                                       determine;
                             (Case C-193/03)
                                                                              3.    order the Commission to bear the costs of the proceed-
                                                                                    ings.
                             (2003/C 200/12)
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by order of the Sozialgericht Stuttgart
(Social Court, Stuttgart) of 19 March 2003, received at the                   Pleas in law and main arguments
Court Registry on 9 May 2003, for a preliminary ruling in the
case of Betriebskrankenkasse der Robert Bosch GmbH against
Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the Bundesversi-
cherungsamt on the following question:                                        1.    The Applicant submits that it is apparent from the
                                                                                    contested decision that the Commission manifestly failed
                                                                                    to properly consider the evidence furnished by Ireland
Whether Article 34 of Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 (1)                                which unambiguously demonstrated that in fact there was
precludes a practice, in implementation of Paragraph 13(3)                          no overpayment or overfinancing in relation to ESF
SGB V, of flat-rate reimbursement by an insurer of costs for                        eligible projects. Because of a mistaken characterisation
medical treatment in another Community country, on the                              of the exercise carried out by Ireland to demonstrate that
model of similar provisions on small amounts.                                       no such claim of overpayment or overfinancing occurred,
                                                                                    and because of its mistaken belief that the evidence
                                                                                    adduced by Ireland somehow would have an impact on
(1) OJ L 74 of 27.3.1972, p. 1.                                                     the financial tables, the Commission failed to properly
                                                                                    consider the evidence and drew incorrect conclusions
                                                                                    from certain elements.