CELEX: C2002/274/37
Language: en
Date: 2002-11-09 00:00:00
Title: Case C-332/02: Action brought on 19 September 2002 by the Commission of the European Communities against the United Kingdom

9.11.2002              EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                        C 274/21
      installations or, in any event, by failing to notify such         Pleas in law and main arguments
      provisions to the Commission, Ireland has failed to fulfil
      its obligations under Article 15 of this Directive;
                                                                        The obligation on the part of the United Kingdom to take
—     order Ireland to pay the costs.                                   measures in order to comply with the directive for the entirety
                                                                        of its territory is not disputed.
Pleas in law and main arguments                                         Since the United Kingdom has not informed the Commission
                                                                        of the provisions adopted and brought into force to comply
                                                                        with the directive concerned for Gibraltar and since the
Article 249 EC, under which a directive shall be binding as to          Commission is in possession of no other information enabling
the result to be achieved, upon each Member State, carries by           it to conclude that the United Kingdom has adopted and
implication an obligation on the Member States to observe the           brought into force the necessary provisions, it is compelled to
period for compliance laid down in the directive. That period           assume that the United Kingdom has not yet adopted such
expired on 1 April 2001 without Ireland havthe conclusions              provisions and has thus failed to fulfil its obligations under the
of the Commission.ing enacted the provisions necessary to               directive.
comply with the directive referred to in
                                                                        (1 ) OJ L 163, 29.6.1999, p. 41.
( 1) OJ L 85, 29.3.1999, p. 1.
Action brought on 19 September 2002 by the Com-                         Action brought on 19 September 2002 by the Com-
mission of the European Communities against the United                  mission of the European Communities against the United
                               Kingdom                                                               Kingdom
                         (Case C-331/02)                                                          (Case C-332/02)
                         (2002/C 274/36)                                                          (2002/C 274/37)
An action against the United Kingdom was brought before the
                                                                        An action against the United Kingdom was brought before the
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 19 Septem-
                                                                        Court of Justice of the European Communities on 19 Septem-
ber 2002 by the Commission of the European Communities,
                                                                        ber 2002 by the Commission of the European Communities,
represented by Mr X. Lewis, acting as agent, with an address
                                                                        represented by Mr X. Lewis, acting as agent, with an address
for service in Luxembourg.
                                                                        for service in Luxembourg.
The Applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                        The Applicant claims that the Court should:
1)    declare that by failing to adopt and bring into force
      for Gibraltar the laws, regulations and administrative            1)    declare that by failing to adopt the laws, regulations
      provisions necessary to comply with Council Directive                   and administrative provisions necessary to comply with
      1999/30/EC ( 1) of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values               Council Directive 1999/13/EC (1) of 11 March 1999 on
      for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of                     limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds
      nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air or, in             due to the use of organic solvents in certain activities and
      any event, by failing to notify such provisions to the                  installations or, in any event, by failing to notify such
      Commission, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and                     provisions to the Commission, the United Kingdom of
      Northern Ireland has failed to fulfil fully its obligations             Great Britain and Northern Ireland has failed to fulfil fully
      under this Directive.                                                   its obligations under Article 15 of this Directive;
2)    order the United Kingdom to pay the costs.                        2)    order the United Kingdom to the pay the costs.
 ---pagebreak--- C 274/22                EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                       9.11.2002
Pleas in law and main arguments                                          —     order the Commission of the European Communities and
                                                                               the Council of the European Union to pay the costs.
The obligation on the part of the United Kingdom to take
measures in order to comply with the directive for the entirety
of its territory is not disputed.
                                                                         Pleas in law and main arguments
Since the United Kingdom has not informed the Commission
of the provisions adopted and brought into force to comply               For the fifth year running the regulation adopted by the
with the directive concerned for Gibraltar and since the                 Council, identifying the deficit areas for which ‘derived’ prices
Commission is in possession of no other information enabling             for sugar and beet are fixed, did not include Italy, with
it to conclude that the United Kingdom has adopted and                   the result that the ‘ordinary’ intervention price fixed by
brought into force the necessary provisions, it is compelled to          Article 2(1)(a) of the regulation is applicable to Italy.
assume that the United Kingdom has not yet adopted such
provisions and has thus failed to fulfil its obligations under the
directive.
                                                                         The criterion used in describing an area as a ‘deficit’ area has
                                                                         been to take as a basis the figures for production and
( 1) OJ L 85, 29.3.1999, p. 1.                                           consumption shown in the balance sheets communicated by
                                                                         the Member States.
                                                                         It is forecast that Italy’s production of sugar will be
                                                                         111 400 tonnes greater than its estimated consumption.
                                                                         The Commission reaches that result by using a criterion
Action brought on 20 September 2002 by the Italian                       for assessing consumption which the Italian Government
Republic against the Commission of the European Com-                     considers to be unlawful and incorrect.
                               munities
                          (Case C-333/02)                                In particular, the calculation of foreseeable consumption did
                                                                         not include sugar used in products intended for export.
                          (2002/C 274/38)
                                                                         The Commission has, therefore, considered that ‘consumption’
                                                                         means solely white sugar used directly in Italy, to the exclusion
                                                                         of sugar used (still in Italy) in the preparation of sugar-based
                                                                         products intended for export.
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties and the Council of the European Union was brought
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
20 September 2002 by the Italian Republic, represented by                What has been determined is not, therefore, the ‘demand’ for
Prof. Umberto Leanza, acting as Agent, and Giacomo Aiello,               sugar, understood as ‘consumption’ by the market, but rather
Avvocato dello Stato.                                                    consumption stricto sensu in the national territory.
The applicant claims that the Court of Justice should:                   That operating method does not appear to be right, since it
                                                                         uses an unduly restrictive definition of consumption.
—     annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 1129/2002 ( 1) of
      7 June 2002 fixing the derived intervention prices for
      white sugar for the 2002/2003 marketing year (OJ of                (1 ) OJ L 169, 28.6.2002, p. 22.
      28 June 2002), in so far as it fails to fix the derived            (2 ) OJ L 178, 30.6.2001, p. 1.
      intervention price for white sugar for all areas of Italy and,
      in so far as may be necessary, annul also Article 2(1)(a) of
      Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 (2) of 19 June
      2001;