CELEX: C2002/118/19
Language: en
Date: 2002-05-18 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court 19 February 2002 in Case C-256/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour d'appel de Bruxelles): Besix SA v Wasserreinigungsbau Alfred Kretzschmar GmbH & Co. KG (WABAG), Planungs- und Forschungsgesellschaft Dipl. Ing. W. Kretzschmar GmbH & Co. KG (Plafog) (Brussels Convention — Article 5(1) — Jurisdiction in matters relating to a contract — Place of performance of the obligation in question — Obligation not to do something, applicable without geographical limit — Undertakings given by two companies not to bind themselves to other partners when tendering for a public contract — Application of Article 2)

18.5.2002                EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                          C 118/13
1.    Declares that, by maintaining in force, in Article 207 of the         F. Macken and N. Colneric (Presidents of Chambers), A. La
      Italian highway code, a disproportionate difference in treatment      Pergola, J.P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet, R. Schintgen (Rapporteur)
      between offenders based on the place of registration of their         and V. Skouris, Judges; S. Alber, Advocate General; R. Grass,
      vehicles, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations   Registrar, has given a judgment on 19 February 2002, in
      under Article 6 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment,               which it has ruled:
      Article 12 EC);
2.    Orders the Italian Republic to pay the costs.                         The special jurisdictional rule in matters relating to a contract, laid
                                                                            down in Article 5(1) of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on
                                                                            Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commer-
(1) OJ C 247 of 26.8.2000.                                                  cial Matters, as amended by the Convention of 9 October 1978 on
                                                                            the Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United
                                                                            Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is not applicable
                                                                            where, as in the present case, the place of performance of the
                                                                            obligation in question cannot be determined because it consists in an
                                                                            undertaking not to do something which is not subject to any
                                                                            geographical limit and is therefore characterised by a multiplicity of
                                                                            places for its performance. In such a case, jurisdiction can be
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                     determined only by application of the general criterion laid down in
                                                                            the first paragraph of Article 2 of that Convention.
                          19 February 2002
                                                                            (1) OJ C 233 of 12.8.2000.
in Case C-256/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Cour d’appel de Bruxelles): Besix SA v Wasserreini-
gungsbau Alfred Kretzschmar GmbH & Co. KG (WAB-
AG), Planungs- und Forschungsgesellschaft Dipl. Ing.
        W. Kretzschmar GmbH & Co. KG (Plafog) (1)
(Brussels Convention — Article 5(1) — Jurisdiction in
matters relating to a contract — Place of performance of the
obligation in question — Obligation not to do something,
applicable without geographical limit — Undertakings given
by two companies not to bind themselves to other partners                                    JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
when tendering for a public contract — Application of
                              Article 2)
                                                                                                      (Fifth Chamber)
                           (2002/C 118/19)
                                                                                                       21 March 2002
                     (Language of the case: French)
                                                                            in Case C-267/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published      the High Court of Justice (England & Wales), Queen’s
                    in the European Court Reports)                          Bench Division (Crown Office)): Commissioners of Cus-
                                                                                 toms and Excise v Zoological Society of London (1)
In Case C-256/00: Reference to the Court under the Protocol                 (Sixth VAT Directive — Article 13A(2)(a), second indent —
of 3 June 1971 on the interpretation by the Court of Justice of             Exempt transactions — Bodies managed and administered
the Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the                                        on a voluntary basis)
Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters
by the Cour d’Appel de Bruxelles (Belgium) for a preliminary
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
                                                                                                      (2002/C 118/20)
Besix SA and Wasserreinigungsbau Alfred Kretzschmar GmbH
& Co. KG (WABAG), Planungs- und Forschungsgesellschaft
Dipl. Ing. W. Kretzschmar GmbH & Co. KG (Plafog), on
the interpretation of Article 5(1) of the aforementioned                                       (Language of the case: English)
Convention of 27 September 1968 (OJ 1972 L 299, p. 32), as
amended by the Convention of 9 October 1978 on the
Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (OJ 1978
L 304, p. 1 and — amended version - p. 77), the Court,                      In Case C-267/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234
composed of: G.C. Rodrı́guez Iglesias, President, P. Jann,                  EC by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, Queen’s