CELEX: C1997/199/17
Language: en
Date: 1997-06-28 00:00:00
Title: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (First Chamber) of 15 May 1997 in Case C-405/95 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht München): Bioforce GmbH v. Oberfinanzdirektion München (Common customs tariff - Heading 3004 - Echinacea - Medicament)

28 . 6 . 97            EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                  No C 199/9
               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                  M. Stein, Bayerische Landesbank International SA, 7-9
                        (Fourth Chamber)                              Boulevard Royal — appeal against the judgment of the
                                                                      Court of First Instance of the European Communities
                         of 15 May 1997                               (Third Chamber, Extended Composition) of 13 September
in Case C-278/95 P: Siemens SA v. Commission of the                   1995 in Joined Cases T-244/93 and T-486/93 TWD v.
                   European Communities ( ')                          Commission [ 1995 ] ECR 11-2265 , seeking to have that
                                                                      judgment set aside, the other party to the proceedings
  (Appeal — State aid — General aid — Definition of aid)              being one Commission of the European Communities
                           ( 97/C 199/ 15                             (Agents: Paul F. Nemitz and Anders Jessen ) — the Court,
                                                                      composed of: G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, President, G. F.
                                                                      Mancini, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, J. L. Murray and
                 (Language of the case: French)                       L. Sevón, Presidents of Chambers, C. N. . Kakouris,
                                                                      P. J. G. Kapteyn, C. Gulmann, P. Jann ( Rapporteur),
  (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be        H. Ragnemalm and M. Wathelet, Judges; G.Tesauro,
          published in the European Court Reports)                    Advocate-General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a
                                                                      judgment on 15 May 1997, in which it:
In Case C-278/95 P: Siemens SA ( represented by Michel
Waelbroeck, Jules Stuyck and Olivier Speltdoorn) —                    I. dismisses the appeal;
appeal against the judgment of the Court of First Instance
of the European Communities ( Second Chamber ) of 8 June              2 . orders the appellant to pay the costs.
1995 in Case T-459/93 Siemens v. Commission [ 1995]
ECR 11-1675 , seeking to have that judgment set aside, the            (') OJ No C 31 , 3 . 2 . 1996 .
other party to the proceedings being Commission of the
European Communities (Agents : Jean-Paul Keppenne and,
subsequently, Gerard Rozet) — the Court ( Fourth
Chamber ), composed of: J. L. Murray, President of the
Chamber, P. J. G. Kapteyn, H. Ragnemalm ( Rapporteur ),
Judges; M. B. Elmer, Advocate-General; H. von Holstein,                             JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
Deputy Registrar, for the Registrar, has given a judgment
                                                                                                 (First Chamber)
on 15 May 1997, in which it:
                                                                                                of 15 May 1997
1 . dismisses the appeal;                                             in Case C-405/95 (reference for a preliminary ruling
                                                                      from ' the Finanzgericht München ): Bioforce GmbH v.
2 . orders Siemens to pay the costs.                                                Oberfinanzdirektion München (')
                                                                      (Common customs tariff — Heading 3004 — Echinacea
(') OJ No C 268 , 14 . 10 . 1995 .                                                              — Medicament)
                                                                                                   97/C 199/ 17
                                                                                     (Language of the case: German)
               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                    (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
                                                                               published in the European Court Reports)
                         of 15 May 1997
in Case C-3 55/95 P: Textilwerke Deggendorf GmbH                      In Case C-405/95 : reference to the Court under Article 177
  (TWD ) v. Commission of the European Communities ( ] )              of the EC Treaty from the Finanzgericht München
                                                                      ( Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings
(State aid — Commission decisions suspending payment of
                                                                      pending before that court between Bioforce GmbH and
   certain aids until previous unlawful aid has been repaid)
                                                                      Oberfinanzdirektion München — on the interpretation of
                             97/C 199/16 )                            headings 3004 and 2208 of Annex I to Commission
                                                                      Regulation ( EEC ) No 2551 /93 of 10 August 1993
                (Language of the case: German)                        amending Annex I to Council Regulation ( EEC ) No 2658/
                                                                      87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the
                                                                      Common Customs Tariff ( OJ No L 241 , 27. 9 . 1993 , p. 1 ),
  (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be        on the classification of echinacea extract drops — the
          published in the European Court Reports)                    Court ( First Chamber ), composed of: L. Sevón, President
                                                                      of the Chamber, D. A. O. Edward and M. Wathelet
In Case C-3 55/95 P: Textilwerke Deggendorf GmbH                      ( Rapporteur ), Judges; A. La Pergola, Advocate-General;
(TWD ), a company incorporated under German law,                      H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment
established in Deggendorf ( Germany ), represented by                 on 15 May 1997, in which it has ruled :
Walter Forstner, Lutz Radtke and Karl-Heinz Schupp,
Rechtsanwälte, Deggendorf, assisted by Michael                        The Common Customs Tariff, in the version established in
Schweitzer, Professor at the University of Passau, with an            Annex 1 to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2551 /93 of
address for service in Luxembourg at the office of                    1 0 August 1 993 amending Annex I to Council Regulation
 ---pagebreak--- No C 199/ 10           EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                         28 . 6 . 97
(EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical                        Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Commissione
nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff must                    Tributaria Provinciale di Milano — Sezione XII — by
be interpreted as meaning that Echinacea purpurea                     order of that court of 24 March 1997 in the case of AGAS
extract-based drops must be classified under heading                  (Abbruzzi       Gas    Agas )      SpA   against Amministrazione
3004 .                                                                                                 Tributaria
                                                                                                 ( Case C-152/97 )
(') OJ No C 46, 17. 2 . 1996 .                                                                     ( 97/C 199/ 19 )
                                                                      Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                      European Communities by order of the Commissione
                                                                      Tributaria Provinciale di Milano ( Provincial Tax Court,
                                                                      Milan ) — Sezione XII (Twelfth Chamber ) — of 24 March
Action brought on 16 April 1997 by the Commission of                  1997, received at the Court Registry on 21 April 1997, for
  the European Communities against the Hellenic Republic              a preliminary ruling in the case of AGAS ( Abbruzzi Gas
                          Case C-146/97                               Agas ) SpA against Amministrazione Tributaria on the
                                                                      following question :
                          ( 97/C 199/ 18 )
                                                                      Do the provisions on the harmonization of indirect taxes
                                                                      on contributions of capital to capital companies ( ! ) in the
An action against the Hellenic Republic was brought                   Union also include merger by acquisition of one company
before the Court of Justice on 16 April 1997 by the                   by another company which already owns 100% of the
Commission of the European Communities, represented                   capital of the former ?
by Maria Kondou-Durande, of its Legal Service, with an
address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Carlos             (') Article 4 of Directive 69/335/EEC of 17 July 1969 ( OJ No
Gomez de la Cruz, also of the Commission's Legal                          L 249 , 3 . 10 . 1969 , p. 5 ), amended by Directives 73/80/EEC
Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.                                        of 9 April 1973 ( OJ No L 103 , 18 . 4 . 1973 , p. 15 ) and 85/
                                                                          303/EEC of 10 June 1985 ( OJ No L 156 , 15 . 6 . 1985 , p. 23 ).
The applicant claims that the Court should:
— declare that, by failing to adopt within the period
     prescribed the laws, regulations and administrative              Reference for a preliminary ruling from the
     provisions necessary to comply with Commission                   Staatsgerichtshof des Landes Hessen by order of that court
     Directive 93/70/EEC of 28 July 1993 establishing                 of 16 April 1997 in the application for review of
     Community analysis methods for official control of               legislative provisions brought by Georg Badeck and
     feedingstuffs ('), the Hellenic Republic has failed to           other members and former members of the Hessischer
     fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty and that              Landtag, interveners: Hessischer Ministerprasident and
     Directive ,                                                        Landesanwalt beim Staatsgerichtshof des Landes Hessen
                                                                                                   Case C-158/97 )
— order the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs .                                                    ( 97/C 199/20 )
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                   Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                      European Communities by an order of the
                                                                      Staatsgerichtshof des Landes Hessen ( State Constitutional
Under the third paragraph of Article 189 of the Treaty                Court, Hessen ) of 16 April 1997, which was received at
establishing the European Community, a directive is to be             the Court Registry on 24 April 1997, for a preliminary
binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each                   ruling in the application for review of legislative
Member State to which it is addressed . Under the first               provisions brought by Georg Badeck and other
paragraph of Article 5 of the Treaty, the Member States               members        and    former        members    of  the   Hessischer
are to take all appropriate measures, whether general or              Landtag, interveners : Hessischer Ministerprasident and
particular, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising           Landesanwalt beim Staatsgerichtshof des Landes Hessen,
out of the Treaty or resulting from action taken by the               on the following question :
institutions of the Community. The Hellenic Republic has
not yet taken the appropriate measures to transpose the               Does Article 2 ( 1 ) and (4 ) of Council Directive 76/207/
Directive in question fully into the Greek legal system.              EEC of 9 February 1976 on the implementation of the
                                                                      principle of equal treatment for men and women as
 (*) OJ Nd L 234, 17. 9 . 1993 , p . 17 .                             regards access to employment, vocational training and
                                                                      promotion, and working conditions ( OJ No L 39 , 14 . 2 .
                                                                       1976, p. 40, hereinafter 'the Equal Treatment Directive')
                                                                      preclude national rules under which :