CELEX: C1997/295/25
Language: en
Date: 1997-09-27 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 22 July 1997 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Council of the European Union (Case C-269/97)

27 . 9 . 97           EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 295/ 17
Action brought on 22 July 1997 by the Commission of the              Article 43 of the EC Treaty and adopted, in consequence,
European Communities against the Council of the                      according to the co-decision procedure laid down in
                       European Union                                Article 189b of the EC Treaty.
                        ( Case C-269/97)
                                                                     (') OJ L 117, 7. 5 . 1997, p. 1 .
                          ( 97/C 295/25 )                            ( 2 ) Judgments in Case 68/86 United Kingdom v. Council
                                                                            ( substances having a hormonal action ) and Case 131 /86
                                                                            United Kingdom v. Council [ 1988 ] ECR 855 and 905 ; Case
                                                                            C-131 /87 Commission v. Council [ 1989] ECR 3743 ( trade in
An action against the Council of the European Union was                     animal glands and organs intended for the pharmaceutical
brought before the Court of Justice on 22 July 1997 by                      industry ) and Case C-ll /88 Commission v. Council [ 1989]
the Commission of the European Communities,                                 ECR 3799 and Case C-331 /88 The Queen v. MAFF, ex parte
                                                                            Fedesa and Others [ 1990] ECR 4023 .
represented by Pieter van Nuffel and Gerard Berscheid, of
its Legal Service, acting as Agents, with an address for
service in Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gomez de la
Cruz, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
The Commission of the European Communities claims                    Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Industrial
that the Court should :                                              Tribunal, Bury St Edmunds, by request of that court of
                                                                     25 July 1997, in the case of Mrs A. M. Sirdar against
                                                                          ( 1 ) The Army Board, (2 ) Secretary of State for Defence
— annul Council Regulation ( EC ) No 820/97 of 21 April                                          ( Case C-273/97 )
      1997 (') establishing a system for the identification
     and registration of bovine animals and regarding the                                          ( 97/C 295/26 )
     labelling of beef and beef products,
                                                                     Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                     European Communities by request of the Industrial
— preserve the effects of the annulled regulation until              Tribunal, Bury St Edmunds, of 25 July 1997, which was
     new rules on the subject, adopted by the Community              received at the Court Registry on 29 July 1997, for a
     legislature on the proper legal basis, enter into force,        preliminary ruling in the case of Mrs A. M. Sirdar against
                                                                     ( 1 ) The Army Board, ( 2 ) Secretary of State for Defence,
                                                                     on the following questions:
— order the Council to pay the costs .
                                                                      1 . Are policy decisions which a Member State takes
                                                                              during peace time and/or in preparation for war in
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                           relation to access to employment in, vocational
                                                                              training for, working conditions in, or the deployment
                                                                              of its armed forces, where such policy decisions are
Absence of correct legal basis : the choice of the legal basis                taken for the purposes of combat effectiveness, outside
of an act should be based in particular on the purpose and                    the scope of the EC Treaty and/or its subordinate
content of the act. Regulation ( EC ) No 820/97 is a                          legislation in particular Council Directive 76/207/
measure which does indeed concern the production and                          EEC 0 )?
marketing of beef, but was adopted for the purpose of
ensuring a high level of health protection. The
Commission considers that where such an act has at its               2 . Are the decisions which a Member State may take in
principal objective the protection of human health, it must                   preparation for war and during peace time with regard
be based on Article 100a of the EC Treaty, even though                        to the engagement, training and deployment of
                                                                              soldiers in marine commando units of its armed forces
the act concerns a product included in Annex II of the
Treaty and might make a contribution, ancillary to the                        designed for close engagement with enemy forces in
principal objective, to the attainment of one or more                         the event of war outside the scope of the EC Treaty or
objectives of the common agricultural policy. The                             its subordinate legislation where such decisions are
Commission considers that the development of the                              taken for the purpose of ensuring combat effectiveness
                                                                              in such units ?
provisions of the EC Treaty relating to public health
warrant a reconsideration of the interpretation given by
the Court in the past of the relationship between Article 43         3 . Does Article 224 of the EC Treaty, on its proper
and Article 100 of the EC Treaty ( 2).                                        construction, permit member states to exclude from
                                                                              the    ambit    of      Council  Directive  76/207/EEC
                                                                              discrimination on grounds of sex in relation to access
In the alternative, should the Court hold that Regulation                     to employment vocational training working conditions
 ( EC ) No 820/97 does not primarily pursue a public health                   including the conditions governing dismissal in the
objective but equally pursues common agricultural policy                      armed forces during peace time and/or in preparation
objectives, the Commission considers that logically the                       for war for the purpose of ensuring combat
regulation should be based both on Article 100a and                           effectiveness ?