CELEX: C2003/184/44
Language: en
Date: 2003-08-02 00:00:00
Title: Case C-247/03: Action brought on 6 June 2003 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Hellenic Republic

C 184/24                EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                            2.8.2003
Pursuant to Article 6(3) of the Protocol, the discharge into the            Action brought on 6 June 2003 by the Commission of the
lake of the substances referred to in Article 6(1) is subject to                European Communities against the Hellenic Republic
two, cumulative conditions: first, there must be a discharge
authorisation issued by the competent national authorities and,                                      (Case C-246/03)
secondly, that authorisation must take due account of all the
relevant provisions of Annex III to the Protocol. The French                                         (2003/C 184/43)
Republic has failed to comply with either of those two condi-
tions.
                                                                            An action against the Hellenic Republic was brought before the
(1) OJ L 67 of 12.03.1983, p. 3.                                            Court of Justice of the European Communities on 6 June 2003
(2) Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against          by the Commission of the European Communities, represented
    Pollution (Barcelona Convention), OJ L 240 of 19.9.1977, p. 3.          by Minas Konstantinidis, of its Legal Service.
(3) Council Decision of 25 July 1977 concluding the Convention for
    the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution and the
    Protocol for the prevention of the pollution of the Mediterranean       The Commission claims that the Court should:
    Sea by dumping from ships and aircraft (OJ L 240 of 19.09.1977,
    p. 1).                                                                  —     declare that, by failing to adopt and, in any event, to
(4) Council Decision of 28 February 1983 concluding the Protocol for              notify to the Commission the laws, regulations and
    the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution from                administrative provisions necessary to comply with Direc-
    land-based sources (OJ L 67 of 12.03.1983, p. 1).                             tive 2000/53/EC (1) of the European Parliament and of the
                                                                                  Council of 18 September 2000 on end-of-life vehicles, the
                                                                                  Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under
                                                                                  that directive;
                                                                            —     order the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.
                                                                            Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                            In accordance with the third paragraph of Article 249 EC,
                                                                            directives are binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Cour adminis-                     each Member State to which they are addressed.
trative by order of that Court of 3 June 2003 in the case
of Minister for Finance against Jean-Claude Weidert and                     Under the first paragraph of Article 10 EC, Member States are
                           Elisabeth Paulus                                 to take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular,
                                                                            to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising out of the Treaty
                                                                            or resulting from action taken by the institutions of the
                                                                            Community.
                           (Case C-242/03)
                                                                            It is not disputed by the Hellenic Republic that it must adopt
                                                                            measures to comply with the abovementioned directive.
                           (2003/C 184/42)
                                                                            The Commission records that until now the Hellenic Republic
                                                                            has not adopted the appropriate measures for the full incor-
                                                                            poration of the directive at issue into Greek law.
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                      (1) OJ L 269, 21.10.2000, p. 34.
European Communities by order of the Cour administrative
(Higher Administrative Court) of 3 June 2003, received at the
Court Registry on 6 June 2003, for a preliminary ruling in the
case of Minister for Finance against Jean-Claude Weidert and
Elisabeth Paulus on the following question:
                                                                            Action brought on 6 June 2003 by the Commission of the
                                                                                European Communities against the Hellenic Republic
Is Article 129c of the Law of 4 December 1967 on income
tax, as amended, in the version applicable to the 2000 tax
                                                                                                     (Case C-247/03)
year, which, subject to certain conditions and limits, grants tax
relief to taxpayers who are natural persons and acquire shares
representing cash contributions in fully-taxable resident capital                                    (2003/C 184/44)
companies, compatible with the principle of the free move-
ment of capital within the European Community as laid down
by Article 56(1) of the EC Treaty, taking account of the                    An action against the Hellenic Republic was brought before the
restrictions on that principle laid down inter alia by                      Court of Justice of the European Communities on 6 June 2003
Article 58(1)(a) of the EC Treaty?                                          by the Commission of the European Communities, represented
                                                                            by Michel van Beek, Legal Adviser, and Minas Konstantinidis,
                                                                            of its Legal Service.
 ---pagebreak--- 2.8.2003               EN                         Official Journal of the European Union                                          C 184/25
The Commission claims that the Court should:                                    amounting to EUR 15 745,34 on 30 September 2002
                                                                                and to EUR 7,97 (7,03 plus 0,94) per day until the
—     declare that, by failing to adopt and, in any event, to                   defendant's debt has been fully discharged, or, in the
      notify to the Commission the laws, regulations and                        alternative, interest for late payment under Article 94 of
      administrative provisions necessary to comply with                        Commission Regulation No 3418/93 on the whole sum
      Council Directive 1999/22/EC (1) of 29 March 1999                         of EUR 48 046, at a rate of 5,50% from 31 December
      relating to the keeping of wild animals in zoos, the                      1998 (when the period laid down by the order for
      Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under              payment expired) until the defendant's debt has been fully
      that directive;                                                           discharged, amounting up until 30 September 2002 to
—     order the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.                             EUR 9 911 and thereafter EUR 7,24 per day;
                                                                          —     order the defendants to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
In accordance with the third paragraph of Article 249 EC,
directives are binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon             Pleas in law and main arguments
each Member State to which they are addressed.
                                                                          The defendant ‘TASEIS TRENDS’ is a civil-law partnership
Under the first paragraph of Article 10 EC, Member States are             governed by Greek law, which has as its object the promotion
to take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular,          of research and the dissemination of information on proble-
to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising out of the Treaty         matical issues in relation to the environment, development,
or resulting from action taken by the institutions of the                 town planning, transport and so forth. It concluded with the
Community.                                                                Commission, within the framework of Council Decision 94/
                                                                          801/EC of 23 November 1994 adopting a specific programme
It is not disputed by the Hellenic Republic that it must adopt
                                                                          for research and technological development, including demon-
measures to comply with the abovementioned directive.
                                                                          stration in the field of telematics applications of common
                                                                          interest (1994 to 1998) (1), the following contracts: (i) Contract
The Commission records that until now the Hellenic Republic
                                                                          ARTEMIS — EN 1001 (implementation of the project ‘Artemis
has not adopted the appropriate measures for the full incor-
                                                                          — Application Research and Testing for Emergency Manage-
poration of the directive at issue into Greek law.
                                                                          ment Intelligent Systems’) and (ii) Contract TILEMATT —
                                                                          TR 1057 (implementation of the project ‘Tilematt — Testing
(1) OJ L 94, 9.4.1999, p. 24.                                             and Implementing Links in Europe for Multimodal Applica-
                                                                          tions of Transport Telematics’).
                                                                          Serious financial contraventions on the part of the defendant
                                                                          were found following audits by the Court of Auditors and the
                                                                          Commission. Since the defendant did not produce the evidence
Action brought on 6 June 2003 by the Commission of the                    needed to overturn the audit's conclusions, the Commission
European Communities against (1) ‘TASEIS TRENDS’                          considered the contracts to be terminated and sought reimbur-
(Transport Environment Development Systems) and (2)                       sement of the sums overpaid.
                 Marios Kontaratos and Others
                          (Case C-248/03)                                 The Commission pleads:
                          (2003/C 184/45)                                 —     in support of its principal claim: Article 5,3(a)(ii) of
                                                                                Annex II to the contracts, which provides that the
                                                                                Commission may immediately terminate the contract, or
An action against (1) ‘TASEIS TRENDS’ (Transport Environ-                       the participation of any contractor, by written notice for
ment Development Systems) and (2) Marios Kontaratos and                         any financial irregularity of a serious nature;
Others was brought before the Court of Justice of the
European Communities on 6 June 2003 by the Commission                     —     in support of the principal head of claim regarding
of the European Communities, represented by Maria Patakia, of                   payment of interest: the third paragraph of Article 5,4 of
its Legal Service, Maria Bra, of the Brussels Bar, and K.                       Annex II to the contracts, which provides that, in the
Kapoutzidou, of the Athens Bar, with an address for service                     event of termination of the contract under Article 5,3(a)
in Luxembourg.                                                                  of the annex, interest is payable on any amount to be
                                                                                reimbursed;
The Commission claims that the Court should:
                                                                          —     in support of the alternative head of claim regarding
—     allow the application in its entirety;                                    payment of interest: Article 94 of Commission Regulation
                                                                                No 3418/93 of 9 December 1993 laying down detailed
—     order the defendant partnership ‘TASEIS TRENDS’ and the                   rules for the implementation of certain provisions of the
      defendants who are members thereof to reimburse to the                    Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 (2).
      Commission the entire amount of the wrongly made
      advance payments received by the defendant partnership
      from the Community in respect of the contracts at issue,            (1) OJ L 334, 22.12.1994, p. 1.
      that is to say the sum of EUR 48 046, together with                 (2) OJ L 315, 16.12.1993, p. 1.
      contractual interest in respect of the period from the date
      of mispayment, the interest calculated in that way