CELEX: C1995/189/13
Language: en
Date: 1995-07-22 00:00:00
Title: Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour de Cassation Française (Chambre Sociale) by judgment of 28 March 1995 in the case of Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Vieillesse des Travailleurs Salariés (CNAVTS) v. Evelyne Thibault (Case C-136/95)

22 . 7. 95                EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                     No C 189/7
— Question 3 :                                                           Appeal brought on 27 April 1995 by Vereniging
                                                                         van Samenwerkende Prijsregelende Organisaties in de
       If questions 1 and 2a to 2d are answered to the effect that       Bouwnijverheid ( SPO ) and 28 others against the judgment
       set-off is in general possible, or possible subject to            delivered on 21 February 1995 by the Court of First Instance
       certain conditions , is Article 15 ( 3 ) of Council               of the European Communities in Case T-29/92 between
       Regulation ( EEC ) No 1765/92 of 30 June 1992                     Vereniging van Samenwerkende Prijsregelende Organisaties
       establishing a support system for producers of certain            in de Bouwnijverheid ( SPO ) and 28 others and the
       arable crops (*) to be interpreted as meaning that a                        Commission of the European Communities
       Member State is precluded from requiring a national                                        Case C-137/95 P )
       intervention agency to effect set-off in the case of a
       beneficiary of compensatory payments with outstanding                                        ( 95/C 189/14
       debts to the State which could otherwise be involved in
       set-off ?                                                         An appeal against the judgment delivered on 21 February
                                                                         1 995 by the Court of First Instance of the European
                                                                         Communities in Case T-29/92 between Vereniging van
— Question 4 :
                                                                         Samenwerkende Prijsregelende Organisaties in de
       Is Article 10 ( 1 ) of Regulation ( EEC ) No 1765/92 to be        Bouwnijverheid ( SPO ) and 28 others and the Commission
       interpreted as meaning that the sums of compensation              of the European Communities was brought before the
       in question are to be paid over immediately the                   Court of Justice of the European Communities on 27 April
       intervention agency has concluded the procedure                   1995 by Vereniging van Samenwerkende Prijsregelende
       with regard to the beneficiary's application, or is it            Organisaties in de Bouwnijverheid ( SPO ) and 28 others ,
       permissible to delay the payment for an investigation as          represented by L. H. van Lennep, of The Hague Bar, and
       to whether the State has outstanding claims against the           E. H. Pijnacker Hordijk, of the Amsterdam Bar, with an
       beneficiary in respect of which it wishes to effect a             address for service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of L.
       set-off, provided always that the payment is effected at          Frieden, 62 Avenue Guillaume .
       the latest by 31 December of the relevant support                 The appellants claim that the Court should :
       year ?
                                                                         — set aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance of
 f 1 ) OJ No L 181 , 1 . 7 . 1992 , p . 12 .                                 the European Communities of 21 February 1995 in Case
                                                                             T-29/92 ( l ),
                                                                         — annul, wholly or at least in part, Commission Decision
                                                                             92/204/EEC of 5 February 1992 relating to a proceeding
                                                                             pursuant to Article 85 of the EC Treaty ( IV/31.572 and
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour de                          32.571 — Building and construction industry in the
Cassation Française ( Chambre Sociale ) by judgment of                       Netherlands ),
28 March 1995 in the case of Caisse Nationale d'Assurance
Vieillesse des Travailleurs Salariés ( CNAVTS ) v. Evelyne              — order the Commission to pay the costs of the
                                 Thibault                                    proceedings before the Court of First Instance and of
                            ( Case C-136/95 )
                                                                             the appeal .
                               95/C 189/ 13 )                            Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                        — Infringement and/or misapplication of Articles 85 ( 3 ),
                                                                             173 and/or 190 of the EC Treaty and/or of Article 9 ( 1 )
European Communities by a judgment of the Cour de
                                                                             of Regulation No 17/62 , and in any event of the general
Cassation Française ( Chambre Sociale ) ( French Court of
                                                                             principles of Community law requiring reasons to be
Cassation, Social Affairs Chamber ) of 28 March 1995 ,
                                                                             given for (judicial ) decisions, alternatively of the right to
which was received at the Court Registry on 28 April 1995 ,
                                                                             a fair hearing, in that the Court of First Instance wrongly
for a preliminary ruling in the case of Caisse Nationale                     considered and decided the matters stated and set forth
d'Assurance Vieillesse des Travailleurs Salariés ( CNAVTS )
                                                                             in paragraphs 266 , 267, 286 to 300 inclusive and 310 to
v. Evelyne Thibault on the following question:
                                                                             314 inclusive of its contested judgment, since, in thus
                                                                             considering and ruling on the case in the course of its
Must Articles 1 ( 1 ), 2 ( 1 ), 5 ( 1 ) and, if relevant, 2 (4 ) of          review of the evaluation by the Commission of the
Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 on the                       appellants ' application for exemption, the Court of First
implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men                   Instance :
and women as regards access to employment, vocational
training and promotion, and working conditions ( ! ) be                      ( a ) limited its review of the legality of the decision of the
interpreted as meaning that a woman may not be deprived                            Commission to the Commission's appraisal of the
of the right to an assessment of performance, and                                  rules in the light of the second and third conditions
consequently to the possibility of an advancement in career,                       of exemption contained in Article 85 ( 3 ) of the EC
on the ground that she was absent from work by reason of                           Treaty, without establishing the benefits and
maternity leave ?                                                                  objectives of those rules, and consequently without
                                                                                   determining the relevant facts needing to be
H OJ No L 39 , 14 . 2 . 1976 , p . 40 .                                            established for the purposes of an assessment in the
                                                                                   light of the second and third conditions contained in
                                                                                   Article 85 ( 3 ) of the EC Treaty;