CELEX: C2002/233/10
Language: en
Date: 2002-09-28 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) 11 July 2002 in Case C-139/00: Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain (Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Directive 89/369/EEC — Atmospheric pollution — Municipal waste incineration plants on the island of La Palma)

C 233/6                  EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                             28.9.2002
National legislation retroactively curtailing the period within which        1.     Article 6 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3118/93 of
repayment may be sought of sums paid by way of VAT collected in                     25 October 1993 laying down the conditions under which
breach of provisions with direct effect of Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC               non-resident carriers may operate national road haulage services
of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member                       within a Member State precludes national provisions of a host
States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added                    Member State which entail the latter levying vehicle tax on the
tax: uniform basis of assessment, such as those in Article 11A(1), is               use of motor vehicles for the carriage of goods by road on the
incompatible with the principles of effectiveness and of the protection             ground that those vehicles have their regular base in the territory
of legitimate expectations.                                                         of that host Member State, when they are registered in the
                                                                                    Member State of establishment and are used in the host
                                                                                    Member State to carry out cabotage by road, in accordance
( 1) OJ C 122 of 29.4.2000.                                                         with authorisations lawfully issued by the Member State of
                                                                                    establishment.
                                                                             2.     Article 5 of Council Directive 93/89/EEC of 25 October 1993
                                                                                    on the application by Member States of taxes on certain vehicles
                                                                                    used for the carriage of goods by road and tolls and charges for
                                                                                    the use of certain infrastructures precludes national provisions
                                                                                    of a host Member State, within the meaning of Article 1(1) of
                                                                                    Regulation No 3118/93, which entail the levying by the latter
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                             of vehicle tax on the use of motor vehicles for the carriage of
                                                                                    goods by road on the ground that those vehicles have their
                                                                                    regular base in the territory of that host Member State, when
                             2 July 2002
                                                                                    they are registered and the tax referred to in Article 3(1) of that
                                                                                    directive has been paid in the Member State of establishment
in Case C-115/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                           and those vehicles are used in the host Member State for
the Finanzgericht Münster): Andreas Hoves Internationa-                             cabotage by road, in accordance with authorisations lawfully
      ler Transport-Service Sàrl v Finanzamt Borken (1)                             issued by the Member State of establishment.
(Transport of goods by road — Tax on motor vehicles —                        (1 ) OJ C 163 of 10.6.2000.
                   Member State of registration)
                           (2002/C 233/09)
                    (Language of the case: German)
                                                                                                JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                    in the European Court Reports)                                                       (Fifth Chamber)
                                                                                                           11 July 2002
In Case C-115/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234
EC by the Finanzgericht Münster (Germany) for a preliminary                  in Case C-139/00: Commission of the European Communi-
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between                                       ties v Kingdom of Spain (1)
Andreas Hoves Internationaler Transport-Service Sàrl and
Finanzamt Borken, on the interpretation of Article 6 of Council              (Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations —
Regulation (EEC) No 3118/93 of 25 October 1993 laying                        Directive 89/369/EEC — Atmospheric pollution — Munici-
down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may                        pal waste incineration plants on the island of La Palma)
operate national road haulage services within a Member State
(OJ 1993 L 279, p. 1) and Article 5 of Council Directive 93/
89/EEC of 25 October 1993 on the application by Member                                                   (2002/C 233/10)
States of taxes on certain vehicles used for the carriage of
goods by road and tolls and charges for the use of certain
                                                                                                  (Language of the case: Spanish)
infrastructures (OJ 1993 L 279, p. 32), the Court, composed
of: G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President, P. Jann, F. Macken,
N. Colneric and S. von Bahr (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gul-                (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
mann, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, J.-P. Puissochet,                                             in the European Court Reports)
M. Wathelet (Rapporteur), R. Schintgen, V. Skouris and
J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advo-
cate General; H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator, for the
Registrar has given a judgment on 2 July 2002, in which it has               In Case C-139/00, Commission of the European Communities
ruled:                                                                       (Agent: G. Valero Jordana) v Kingdom of Spain (Agent: N. Díaz
 ---pagebreak--- 28.9.2002              EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                             C 233/7
Abad): Application for a declaration that, by failing to take the                     —      have not given prior approval for the sampling and
measures necessary in order to ensure, as regards the three                                  measurement procedures and have not determined
incineration furnaces installed at Mazo and Barlovento on the                                the location of the measurement points concerned;
island of La Palma (Spain), the application of:
                                                                                      —      have not laid down any measurement programme;
—    Article 2 of Council Directive 89/369/EEC of 8 June                        —     Article 7 of that directive, inasmuch as those furnaces are
     1989 on the prevention of air pollution from new                                 not equipped with auxiliary burners, which would make it
     municipal waste incineration plants (OJ 1989 L 163,                              possible to maintain the minimum combustion tempera-
     p. 32), inasmuch as those furnaces are operating without                         ture of 850C, particularly during start-up and shut-down
     the required prior authorisation:                                                operations,
                                                                                the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under
                                                                                that directive;
—    Article 6 of that directive, inasmuch as, with regard to
     those furnaces, the competent authorities
                                                                          2.    Dismisses the remainder of the action;
                                                                          3.    Orders the Commission of the European Communities to pay
     —     have not taken periodic measurements in respect of                   one third of the costs and the Kingdom of Spain two thirds of
           the parameters prescribed by that article;                           the costs.
                                                                          (1 ) OJ C 192 of 8.7.2000.
     —     have not given prior approval for the sampling and
           measurement procedures and have not determined
           the location of the measurement points concerned;
     —     have not laid down any measurement programme;
                                                                                            JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
—    Article 7 of that directive, inasmuch as those furnaces are
     not equipped with auxiliary burners, which would make                                           (Sixth Chamber)
     it possible to maintain the minimum combustion tem-
     perature of 850oC, particularly during start-up and shut-
     down operations,                                                                                   9 July 2002
                                                                          in Case C-181/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under           the Supremo Tribunal Administrativo): Flightline Ltd v
that directive, the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: P. Jann,          Secretário de Estado dos Transportes e Communicações,
President of the Chamber, D.A.O. Edward and C.W.A. Timmer-                        Transportes Aéreos Portugueses SA (TAP) ( 1)
mans (Rapporteur), Judges; P. Léger, Advocate General; H. von
Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on 11 July
2002, in which it:                                                        (Articles 3(2) and 4(1)(a) and (d) of Regulation (EEC)
                                                                          No 2408/92 — Imposition of public service obligations
                                                                          on scheduled air services serving a peripheral region —
                                                                          Compatibility with Member States’ power to restrict cabo-
                                                                          tage until 1 April 1997 — Interpretation of Article 1(e) of
1.   Declares that, by failing to adopt the measures necessary in                                  Decision 94/698/EC)
     order to ensure, as regards the three incineration furnaces
     installed at Mazo and Barlovento on the island of La Palma,
     the application of:                                                                              (2002/C 233/11)
                                                                                             (Language of the case: Portuguese)
     —     Article 6 of Council Directive 89/369/EEC of 8 June
           1989 on the prevention of air pollution from new               (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
           municipal waste incineration plants, inasmuch as, with                              in the European Court Reports)
           regard to those furnaces, the competent authorities
           —     have not taken periodic measurements in respect of       In Case C-181/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234
                 the parameters prescribed by that article;               EC by the Supremo Tribunal Administrativo (Portugal) for a