CELEX: C1999/281/05
Language: en
Date: 1999-10-02 00:00:00
Title: Case C-265/99: Action brought on 16 July 1999 by the Commission of the European Communities against the French Republic

2.10.1999               EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                       C 281/3
Action brought on 16 July 1999 by the Commission of                        Action brought on 16 July 1999 by the Commission of
  the European Communities against the Italian Republic                     the European Communities against the French Republic
                          (Case C-264/99)                                                          (Case C-265/99)
                          (1999/C 281/04)                                                          (1999/C 281/05)
An action against the Italian Republic was brought before the              An action against the French Republic was brought before the
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 16 July                    Court of Justice of the European Communities on 16 July
1999 by the Commission of the European Communities,                        1999 by the Commission of the European Communities,
represented by Antonio Aresu and Maria Patakia, both of its                represented by Enrico Traversa, Legal Adviser, and Hélène
Legal Service, acting as Agents, with an address for service in            Michard, of its Legal Service, acting as Agents, with an address
Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, Wagner               for service in Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la
Centre, Kirchberg.                                                         Cruz, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
The Commission of the European Communities claims that                     The Commission of the European Communities claims that
the Court should:                                                          the Court should:
a) Declare that, by maintaining legislation which requires                 — declare that, by maintaining and applying rules providing
     Community nationals who pursue an activity as hauliers                    for the application of an unfavourable formula for calculat-
     in Italy as service providers to register with Chambers                   ing the power rating for administrative purposes of vehicles
     of Commerce, following authorisation by the Ministero                     fitted with six-speed manual gearboxes and automatic
     dell’Interno, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its               five-speed gearboxes, which produces discriminatory or
     obligations under Articles 6, 52 and 59 of the EC Treaty                  protectionist effects vis-à-vis vehicles manufactured in
     (now, after amendment, Articles 12 EC, 43 EC and 49 EC);                  other Member States by comparison with similar or
                                                                               competing national vehicles, and
b) Order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.
                                                                           — by maintaining provisions limiting the K factor for the
                                                                               purposes of calculating the power rating for tax purposes
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                of vehicles for which type-approval was issued on an
                                                                               isolated basis between 1 January 1978 and 12 January
                                                                               1988 and which are regarded as equivalent to type-
                                                                               approved vehicles having an actual power in excess of
a) I n f r i n g e m e n t o f   Article 59 of the EC                          100 kW,
    Treaty           (now,          after          amendment,
    Article 49 EC)                                                         — the French Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under
                                                                               Article 95 of the EC Treaty (now Article 90 EC);
The requirement that any natural or legal person pursuing an               — order the French Republic to pay the costs.
activity as haulier should register in the appropriate register
held by the regional chamber of commerce does not appear to
be compatible with the principle of freedom to provide
services. Although such obligation to register is not directly             Pleas in law and main arguments
discriminatory, it does constitute an obstacle for economic
operators established in a Member State other than Italy
seeking to pursue their activities in that State.                          (Vehicles fitted with six-speed manual gearboxes or automatic
                                                                           five-speed gearboxes)
                                                                           — Infringement of Article 90 EC: the use, in relation to the
b) I n f r i n g e m e n t o f A r t i c l e s 6 a n d 5 2 o f t h e           models referred to, of the formula for calculating their
     EC Treaty (now, after amendment,                                          power rating for administrative purposes resulting from
     Articles 12 and 43 EC)                                                    the 1956 circular, produces discriminatory or protectionist
                                                                               effects by comparison with similar national vehicles to
                                                                               which the generally more favourable 1977 circular applies.
Article 6 of Law No 1442 lays down rules governing regis-
                                                                               The models in question which are produced in other
tration and provides in particular that, so far as concerns
                                                                               Member States seek to achieve the best performance in
foreign firms and companies and firms in general represented
                                                                               terms of fuel consumption and pollution emission levels.
by foreign nationals, the applicant must produce the authoris-
                                                                               These are parameters which the French legislature expressly
ation issued by the Ministero dell’Interno. That provision
                                                                               sought to take into account in 1977, and which prompted
appears to be incompatible with the fundamental principles
                                                                               it to adopt a more complex new formula for calculating
laid down in Articles 12 EC and 43 EC.
                                                                               vehicle power ratings for administrative purposes. Accord-
                                                                               ing to the information in the Commission’s possession,
                                                                               national production of such vehicles is limited to a single
                                                                               vehicle having an automatic five-speed gearbox.
 ---pagebreak--- C 281/4                EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                     2.10.1999
     The new legislation enacted in 1998 will produce effects              — Infringement of Article 4(2) of Directive 75/440/EEC: the
     only in relation to the future, and does not put an end to                Commission states that there has been a considerable delay
     the discriminatory taxation suffered by the vehicles the                  (from 1977 to 1993, namely 17 years) on the part of the
     subject-matter of the proceedings which had already been                  French authorities in adopting measures pursuant to their
     placed in circulation in France prior to 1 July 1998.                     obligations under Directive 75/440/EEC, despite the fact
                                                                               that, on the French authorities’ own admission, the prob-
(Vehicles given type-approval on an isolated basis between                     lems concerning pollution of surface water have been
1 January 1978 and 12 January 1988)                                            apparent since the 1980s. The continuing degradation of
                                                                               the quality of surface water by pollution caused by nitrates
— Infringement of Article 90 EC: the Commission considers                      proves the ineffectiveness of the measures constituting
     that the fact that the French authorities limited changes to              the systematic plan of action submitted by the French
     the power rating for administrative purposes of the foreign               authorities.
     vehicles discriminated against, by issuing new registration
     documents only for vehicles which had been given type-                — Infringement of Article 4(3) of Directive 75/440/EEC: the
     approval, with immediate tax consequences, shows that                     use of poor-quality water for the abstraction of drinking
     they only partially took into consideration the judgment                  water, which is in principle prohibited, is possible only if
     in Feldain (1).                                                           the two cumulative conditions are complied with; those
                                                                               conditions have not been fulfilled. In numerous cases, the
                                                                               drinking water thus abstracted exceeds the maximum
(1) Case 433/85 Feldain v Services Fiscaux du Département du Haut-Rhin         permissible nitrate content; for this reason, the French
    (1987) ECR 3521.                                                           authorities state that ‘women who are pregnant or breast-
                                                                               feeding are strongly advised not to drink this water during
                                                                               the period of non-conformity’. Moreover according to the
                                                                               Commission’s findings, the French authorities have failed
                                                                               to establish management plans within the meaning of
                                                                               Article 4(3) where these have proved necessary.
                                                                           (1) OJ L 194 of 25.7.1975, p. 26.
Action brought on 16 July 1999 by the Commission of
 the European Communities against the French Republic
                         (Case C-266/99)
                         (1999/C 281/06)
                                                                           Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunal d’ar-
An action against the French Republic was brought before the               rondissement de Luxembourg by judgment of that court
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 16 July                    of 15 July 1999 in the case of Urbing (née Adam) against
1999 by the Commission of the European Communities,                         the Administration de l’Enregistrement et des Domaines
represented by Michel Nolin, of its Legal Service, acting as
Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office
of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.                                              (Case C-267/99)
The Commission of the European Communities claims that                                              (1999/C 281/07)
the Court should:                                                          Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                           European Communities by judgment of the Tribunal d’arron-
— declare that, by failing to take the necessary measures to               dissement de Luxembourg (District Court, Luxembourg) of
     ensure that surface water intended for the abstraction of             15 July 1999, received at the Court Registry on 19 July 1999,
     drinking water conforms to the values laid down pursuant              for a preliminary ruling in the case of Urbing (née Adam)
     to Article 3, the French Republic has failed to fulfil its            against the Administration de l’Enregistrement et des Domai-
     obligations under Directive 75/440/EEC (1), in particular             nes (Land Registration and Estates Department) on the follow-
     Article 4 thereof;                                                    ing questions:
— order the French Republic to pay the costs.                              1. Is the concept of a liberal profession as referred to
                                                                               in point 2 of Annex F to the Sixth Council Directive
                                                                               77/388/EEC on the harmonisation of the laws of the
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                Member States relating to turnover taxes (1) an autonomous
                                                                               concept of Community law?
The infringement found by the Commission in its reasoned
opinion to have been committed relates exclusively to the                  2. If so, does that concept cover the profession of property
failure properly to apply the directive in the region of Brittany              agent?
alone.
— Infringement of Article 4(1) of Directive 75/440/EEC: in                 (1) OJ L 145 of 13.6.77, p. 1.
     the 4 departments concerned, the surface water fails,
     constantly and on a wide scale, to conform to the values
     laid down pursuant to Article 3.