CELEX: C2003/184/28
Language: en
Date: 2003-08-02 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 19 June 2003 in Case C-34/02 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale ordinario di Roma): Sante Pasquini v Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS) (Social security — Old-age pensions — Recalculation — Recovery of sums paid though not due — Limitation — Law applicable — Detailed procedural rules — Concept)

2.8.2003                  EN                            Official Journal of the European Union                                                   C 184/15
1.    Declares that, by failing to adopt the measures necessary to              of the payment of sums not due, made to a person in receipt of more
      ensure, as regards the waste-disposal sites at Torreblanca, San           than one pension by virtue of his belonging to social security schemes
      Lorenzo de Tormes, Santalla del Bierzo, Sa Roca and Campello              in various Member States, in the form of a pension supplement where
      (Spain), the implementation of Articles 4 and 9 of Council                the maximum authorised income is exceeded. The two year time-limit
      Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste, as amended                 referred to in Articles 94, 95, 95a and 95b of Regulation No 1408/
      by Council Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991, and, as                 71 cannot be applied by analogy to such a situation.
      regards the first two disposal sites, the implementation of
      Article 13 thereof, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil             National law must, however, observe the Community principle of
      its obligations under that directive;                                     equivalence, in accordance with which the detailed procedural rules
                                                                                governing the treatment of situations arising out of the exercise of a
2.    Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.                             Community freedom must be no less favourable than those governing
                                                                                purely internal situations, and the principle of effectiveness, in
                                                                                accordance with which those procedural rules must not render
(1) OJ C 31 of 2.2.2002.
                                                                                virtually impossible or excessively difficult the exercise of rights arising
                                                                                out of the situation of Community origin.
                                                                                Those principles apply to all the procedural rules governing the
                                                                                treatment of situations arising out of the exercise of a Community
                                                                                freedom, whether those rules are administrative or judicial, such as
                    JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                       the provisions of national law applicable to the limitation of actions
                                                                                and the recovery of sums paid though not due or those requiring the
                             (Fifth Chamber)                                    competent institutions to take account of the good faith of the
                                                                                persons concerned or to carry out proper checks of their situation
                                                                                with regard to pensions.
                            of 19 June 2003
in Case C-34/02 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                        (1) OJ C 84 of 6.4.2002.
the Tribunale ordinario di Roma): Sante Pasquini v Isti-
      tuto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS) (1)
(Social security — Old-age pensions — Recalculation —
Recovery of sums paid though not due — Limitation —
   Law applicable — Detailed procedural rules — Concept)
                                                                                                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                             (2003/C 184/28)
                                                                                                           of 24 June 2003
                      (Language of the case: Italian)
                                                                                in Case C-72/02: Commission of the European Commu-
                                                                                                 nities v Portuguese Republic (1)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published in
                       the European Court Reports)
                                                                                (Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations —
                                                                                Directives 92/43/EEC and 79/409/EEC — Conservation of
                                                                                                  natural habitats and wild birds)
In Case C-34/02: Reference to the Court under Article 234 EC
by the Tribunale Ordinario di Roma (Italy) for a preliminary
                                                                                                            (2003/C 184/29)
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Sante Pasquini and Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale
(INPS), on the interpretation of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71                                       (Language of the case: Portuguese)
of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application of social
security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed                          (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published in
persons and to members of their families moving within the                                             the European Court Reports)
Community, as amended and updated by Council Regulation
(EC) No 118/97 of 2 December 1996 (OJ 1997 L 28, p. 1) and
Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 laying down the procedure for                        In Case C-72/02, Commission of the European Communities
implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, the Court (Fifth                      (Agent: A. Caeiros) v Portuguese Republic (Agents:
Chamber), composed of: M. Wathelet, President of the                            L. Fernandes and M. Telles Romão and M. João Lois): Applica-
Chamber, C.W.A. Timmermans, D.A.O. Edward, P. Jann and                          tion for a declaration that,
A. Rosas (Rapporteur), Judges; S. Alber, Advocate General;
H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on                      by failing to implement in national law:
19 June 2003, in which it has ruled:
                                                                                —      Article 3(3), Article 10, Article 11 and Article 12(4) of
Since Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of the Council of 14 June 1971                       Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the
on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to                  conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and
self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within                   flora (OJ 1992 L 206, p. 7), and
the Community, as amended and updated by Council Regulation (EC)
No 118/97 of 2 December 1996, does no more than ensure                          —      Article 7, Article 8 and Article 12 of Council Directive
coordination of provisions of national legislation in the field of social              79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild
security, it is national law which is applicable to a situation arising out            birds (OJ 1979 L 103, p. 1), and