CELEX: C2003/101/25
Language: en
Date: 2003-04-26 00:00:00
Title: Case C-6/03: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Verwaltungsgericht Koblenz by order of that Court of 4 December 2002 in the dispute of administrative law between Eiterköpfe and Land Rheinland-Pfalz

C 101/14                EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                          26.4.2003
             ORDER OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE                                   received at the Court Registry on 8 January 2003, for a
                                                                             preliminary ruling in the dispute of administrative law between
                          (First Chamber)                                    Eiterköpfe and Land Rheinland-Pfalz on the following ques-
                                                                             tions:
                        of 30 January 2003
in Case C-176/02 P: Laboratoire Monique Rémy SAS v                           1.    On a proper construction of Article 5(1) of Council
        Commission of the European Communities ( 1)                                Directive 1999/31/EC (1) laying down Community
                                                                                   requirements for a strategy for the reduction of biodegrad-
                                                                                   able waste going to landfills, can that provision be
(Appeal — Action seeking annulment — Inadmissibility on                            transposed into national law in the form of measures
    grounds of lateness — Appeal manifestly inadmissible)                          imposing more stringent requirements, in accordance
                                                                                   with Article 176 EC, which differ from those set out in
                          (2003/C 101/24)                                          Article 5(2) of the directive (reduction by a specific
                                                                                   calendar year of biodegradable municipal waste going to
                    (Language of the case: French)                                 landfills to a specific percentage of the total amount
                                                                                   by weight of biodegradable municipal waste) in that
                                                                                   municipal waste and waste that can be deposited in the
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published             same way as municipal waste may be landfilled only if
                   in the European Court Reports)                                  the appropriate ‘organic component of dry residue of the
                                                                                   original substance’ classification criterion (expressed as
                                                                                   either combustion loss or TOC) is satisfied?
In Case C-176/02 P: Laboratoire Monique Rémy SAS, having
its registered office in Grasse (France), represented by J.-
F. Pupel, avocat — Appeal against the order of the Court of
                                                                             2.    a)   If so, are the Community requirements laid down in
First Instance of the European Communities (First Chamber)
                                                                                        Article 5(2) of the directive to be construed as
of 21 March 2002 in Case T-218/01 Laboratoire Monique
                                                                                        meaning that the targets for reduction set out in that
Rémy v Commission [2002] ECR II-2139, seeking to have that
                                                                                        provision, namely:
order set aside, the other party to the proceedings being:
Commission of the European Communities (Agent: A. Bordes)
— The Court (First Chamber), composed of: M. Wathelet
(Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, P. Jann and A. Rosas,                           —     75 % of the total amount by weight by 16 July
Judges; L.A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar,                                 2006,
has made an order on 30 January 2003, the operative part of
which is as follows:
1.    The appeal is dismissed.                                                          —     50 % of the total amount by weight by 16 July
                                                                                              2009, and
2.    The company Laboratoire Monique Rémy SAS shall bear the
      costs.
                                                                                        —     35 % of the total amount by weight by 16 July
( 1) OJ C 169 of 13.7.2002.                                                                   2016,
                                                                                        are met, having regard to the Community law
                                                                                        principle of proportionality, by a national provision
                                                                                        under which: the organic content of dry residue of
                                                                                        the original substance in the case of municipal waste
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Verwaltungsger-                               and waste that can be deposited in the same way as
icht Koblenz by order of that Court of 4 December 2002                                  municipal waste must, by 1 June 2005, be no more
in the dispute of administrative law between Eiterköpfe                                 than either 5 % by mass, expressed as combustion
                    and Land Rheinland-Pfalz                                            loss, or 3 % by mass, expressed as TOC; from
                                                                                        1 March 2001, waste subject to mechanical and
                            (Case C-6/03)                                               biological treatment may be landfilled at existing
                                                                                        sites until 15 July 2009 at the latest, or even beyond
                          (2003/C 101/25)                                               that date in certain cases, only if the organic content
                                                                                        of dry residue of the original substance is no more
                                                                                        than 18 % by mass, expressed as TOC, and the
                                                                                        biodegradability of the dry residue of the original
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                                  substance is no more than 5 mg/g, expressed as
European Communities by order of the Verwaltungsgericht                                 aerobic activity (AT 4), or 20 l/kg, expressed as the
Koblenz (Administrative Court, Koblenz) of 4 December 2002,                             gas formation rate in the fermentation test (GB 21)?
 ---pagebreak--- 26.4.2003               EN                        Official Journal of the European Union                                             C 101/15
       b)   Under the Community law principle of pro-                            of a particular trader is that sufficient of itself to prove
            portionality, is the discretion to be exercised in                   that the shape has acquired a distinctive character within
            assessing the impact of overlaying waste that has                    the meaning of Art 3(3) of the Directive?
            not been treated prior to landfill with waste treated
            by thermal or mechanical and biological processes             3.     If that is insufficient, must it also be proved that the shape
            prior to landfill wide or narrow? Does the principle                 is used and relied upon by the relevant public as a
            of proportionality permit hazards caused by waste                    guarantee of trade origin?
            treated prior to landfill by mechanical processes
            alone to be offset by other safeguards?                       4.     If the preponderance of the public recognise a shape
                                                                                 mark as the product of one trader but a significant
                                                                                 minority also regard other shapes in use by other traders
( 1) OJ L 182 of 16.7.1999, p. 1 (Council Directive 1999/31/EC of                as the shape applied for, has the shape mark acquired a
     26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste).                                    ‘distinctive character’ within the meaning of Art 3(3) of
                                                                                 the Directive?
                                                                          (1 ) First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to
                                                                               approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade
                                                                               marks (OJ L 40 11.2.1989, p. 1).
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the High Court of
Justice (England & Wales), Chancery Division, by order
of that court dated 18 December 2002, in the case of
      Société de produits Nestlé SA against Unilever plc
                                                                          Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Oberlandesge-
                            (Case C-7/03)                                 richt Naumburg by order of that Court of 8 January 2003
                                                                          in the procurement review proceedings, Parties to the
                          (2003/C 101/26)                                 proceedings being 1. The City of Halle, 2. RPL Recy-
                                                                          clingpark Lochau GmbH and 3. The Thermische
                                                                          Restabfall- und Energieverwertungsanlage TREA Leuna
                                                                                                        consortium
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by an order of the High Court of                                                  (Case C-26/03)
Justice (England & Wales), Chancery Division, dated 18 Decem-
ber 2002, which was received at the Court Registry on
                                                                                                      (2003/C 101/27)
9 January 2003, for a preliminary ruling in the case of Société
de produits Nestlé SA and Unilever plc on the following
questions:
                                                                          Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
1.     When considering signs which consist of the shape of               European Communities by order of the Oberlandesgericht
       goods, what is meant by ‘the nature of the goods                   Naumburg (Higher Regional Court, Naumburg) of 8 January
       themselves’ in Art 3(1)(e) of the Trade Marks Directive            2003, received at the Court Registry on 23 January 2003, for
       89/104 ( 1)? and in particular does that nature arise from:        a preliminary ruling in the procurement review proceedings,
                                                                          Parties to the proceedings being 1. The City of Halle, 2. RPL
       (a)  the specification of goods for which the trade mark           Recyclingpark Lochau GmbH and 3. The Thermische
            is registered (or applied for);                               Restabfall- und Energieverwertungsanlage TREA Leuna consor-
                                                                          tium, on the following questions:
       (b) the kind of goods for which the mark is used
            regarded as articles of commerce;                             I.     1.    Does the first sentence of Article 1(1) of Council
                                                                                       Directive 89/665/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the
                                                                                       coordination of the laws, regulations and adminis-
       (c)  only the inherent nature of non-man made articles;
                                                                                       trative provisions relating to the application of
            or
                                                                                       review procedures to the award of public supply and
                                                                                       public works contracts ( 1), as replaced by Article 41
       (d) the shape of the goods which makes the product                              of Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992
            different in appearance from similar competitive                           relating to the coordination of procedures for the
            products;                                                                  award of public service contracts ( 2), require Member
                                                                                       States to ensure that a decision taken by a con-
       (e)  something else, and if so what?                                            tracting authority to award a public contract other-
                                                                                       wise than by means of a procedure which complies
2.     Where the shape of a product which has been on the                              with the directives relating to the award of public
       market is merely shown to be recognised by a substantial                        contracts may be reviewed effectively and as rapidly
       proportion of the relevant public as denoting the goods                         as possible?