CELEX: C1996/318/07
Language: en
Date: 1996-10-26 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 30 August 1996 by the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark against the Commission of the European Communities (Case C-289/96)

No C 318/4               EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                      26 . 10 . 96
     the fiscal horsepower value of vehicles which results in a          Action brought on 30 August 1996 by the Government of
     higher such value being conferred on certain vehicles,              the Kingdom of Denmark against the Commission of the
     which consumers are therefore deterred from buying,                                     European Communities
     where all the vehicles in the highest tax categories are                                     Case C-289/96 )
     imported vehicles standing in direct competition with
     similar vehicles sold in France which are in more                                              96/C 318/07 )
     favourable tax categories ?
                                                                         An action against the Commission of the European
2 . Is Article 95 of the EC Treaty to be interpreted as                  Communities was brought before the Court of Justice on
     precluding the simultaneous use of two sets of rules for            30 August 1996 by the Government of the Kingdom of
     establishing the fiscal horsepower value of vehicles                Denmark, represented by Peter Biering, Head of
     where the more unfavourable set is applied in particular            Department, with an address for service in Luxembourg at
     to vehicles imported from other Member States which                 the Danish Embassy, 4 boulevard Royal .
     French consumers are consequently deterred from
     buying, to the advantage of similar vehicles sold in
     France ?
                                                                         The applicant claims that the Court should :
                                                                        — partially annul Commission Regulation ( EC )
                                                                             No 1107/96 , of 12 June 1996 on the registration of
                                                                             geographical indications and designations of origin
                                                                             under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the                                  Regulation ( EEC ) No 208 1 /92 ( ] ), in so far as the
Bundesfinanzhof by order of that court of 4 July 1 996 in the                designation 'feta ' is listed in the Annex to the Regulation
 case of Kyritzer Starke GmbH v. Hauptzollamt Potsdam                        under point A ' Cheeses', ' GREECE',
                           Case C-287/96
                            ( 96/C 318/06 )                             •— order the Commission to pay the costs .
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                   Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support
European Communities by order of the Bundesfinanzhof
( Federal Finance Court ) of 4 July 1996 , which was received
at the Court Registry on 26 August 1996 , for a preliminary             — The registration of ' feta ' as a protected designation of
ruling in the case of Kyritzer Starke GmbH v. Hauptzollamt                   origin is contrary to the provisions of Council
( Principal Customs Office ) Potsdam on the following                        Regulation ( EEC ) No 2081 /92 of 14 July 1992 on the
questions :                                                                  protection of geographical indications and designations
                                                                             of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs ( 2 ). The
                                                                             designation ' feta ' does not fulfil the conditions laid
1 . Does the use prescribed in Article 10 ( 1 ) in conjunction               down in the Regulation in order to be considered a
     with Article 14 ( 2 ) of Regulation ( EEC ) No 1722/93 ( 1 )            designation of origin .
     for processed goods falling within CN code 3505 10 50
     constitute a primary requirement within the meaning of
     Article 20 ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) of Regulation ( EEC )                        Pursuant to Article 2 ( 2 ), designation of origin means the
     No 2220/85 ( 2 ), evidence of the fulfilment of which is to             name of a region, a specific place or, in exceptional cases ,
     be produced within the period prescribed by Article 28                  a country, used to describe an agricultural product or a
     ( 2 ) of Regulation ( EEC ) No 2220/85 , so that, in any                foodstuff originating there , the quality or characteristics
     other case , security provided pursuant to Article 22 ( 1 )             of which are due to a particular geographical
     and ( 2 ) of that regulation becomes forfeit ?                          environment with its inherent natural and human
                                                                             factors and the production, processing and preparation
                                                                             of which take place there . 'Feta ' is not, however, the
2 . If the answer to question 1 is in the negative :                         name of a region, place or country . Nor does ' feta '
                                                                             originate from Greece, as a region for protection, but
     is some other prescribed period to be inferred from the                 from all over the Balkans , and its quality or
     applicable Community legislation, within which                          characteristics cannot be due to a particular
     evidence of use is to be produced in accordance with                    geographical environment.
     Article 10 ( 1 ) of Regulation ( EEC ) No 1722/93 , so that
     the security becomes wholly or partially ( to what
     extent ?) forfeit if the evidence is not produced within the            Pursuant     to   Article     2    ( 3 ), certain traditional
     prescribed period ?                                                     geographical or non-geographical names designating an
                                                                             agricultural product or a foodstuff originating in a
                                                                             region or a specific place, the quality or characteristics of
(') OJ No L 159 , 1 . 7 . 1993 , p . 112 .
(-) OJ No L 205 , 3 . 8 . 1995 , p . 5 .
                                                                             which fulfil the above conditions, are also to be
                                                                             considered designations of origin . Under that provision
                                                                             the product's origin may only be a specific place or
                                                                             region , not an entire country .
 ---pagebreak--- 26 . 10 . 96             EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                    No C 318/5
      Article 3(1 ) precludes the registration of generic names .       by the Commission of the European Communities,
      In order to establish whether a name is generic,                  represented by Mr James Macdonald Flett, member of the
      particular account is to be taken of the existing situation       Legal Service, acting as agent, with an address for service in
      in the Member State in which the name originates, the             Luxembourg at the office of Mr Carlos Gomez de la Cruz,
      existing situation in other Member States, and the                member of the Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
      relevant national or Community laws . 'Feta ' has been
      produced in Denmark since 1951 . Since 1963 rules have            The Applicant claims that the Court should :
      governed its production . 'Feta' was known and
      produced in the Community before Greece's accession.              — declare that by failing to adopt the laws, regulations or
      Danish 'feta ' was exported to Greece as ' feta ' until Greek            administrative provisions necessary to comply with
      rules on ' feta ' were introduced in 1987 . A number of                  Council Directive 93/53/EEC of 24 June 1993
      other Member States including, at all events, besides                    introducing minimum Community measures for the
      Denmark, Germany, France and Finland, produce ' feta '.                  control of certain fish diseases (') and Council Directive
      Moreover, since 1975 'feta' has been covered by various                  93/54/EEC of 24 June 1993 amending Directive
      Community rules . When the Council Regulation was                        91 /67/EEC concerning the animal health conditions
      issued, ' feta' was being lawfully produced and marketed                 governing the placing on the market of aquaculture
      in many Member States .                                                  animals and products ( 2 ), Ireland has failed to fulfil its
                                                                               obligations under those Directives and under the Treaty
— The registration of 'feta' as a protected designation of                     establishing the European Community,
      origin is, moreover, contrary to the provisions in
      Articles 30 and 36 of the Treaty. Under the Court's                      and
      case-law, there must be a geographical link between the
      designation and the region before a designation of origin         — order Ireland to pay the costs .
      can lawfully be protected. The region in question may
      not be an entire country and the designation must not be          Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support
      used to protect products indiscriminately, whatever
      their origin .                                                    Article 1 89 of the EC Treaty provides that Directives shall be
                                                                        binding, as to the result to be achieved, on each Member
— In adopting Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/86                   State to which they are addressed . Article 5 of the Treaty
      the   Commission         has  exceeded  the   limits    of its    provides that Member States shall take all appropriate
      discretionary powers .                                            measures, whether general or particular, to ensure
                                                                        fulfilment of the obligations arising out of the Treaty or
                                                                        resulting from action taken by the institutions of the
— Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/96 is, in respect                Community.
      of 'feta', contrary to the principle of proportionality.
      Protection of Greek feta could be achieved by less                Directives 93/53/EEC and 93/54/EEC provide that Member
      onerous means . The Commission regulation is,                     States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
      moreover, contrary to the principle of equal treatment            administrative provisions necessary to comply with the
       because 'feta' is a generic name which should be treated         Directives not later than 1 July 1994, and that they shall
      in the same way as other generic names .                          forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
— Lastly, in adopting Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/96, the                 The Commission has not received any information
       Commission has acted in breach of its duty of fairness,          concerning measures taken by Ireland to comply with the
       since it disregarded considerable opposition on the part         Directives and has received no official reply to its letter of
       of several Member States .                                       formal notice or its reasoned opinion .
                                                                         ( 1 ) OJ No L 175 , 19 . 7 . 1993 , p . 23 .
(') OJ No L 148 , 21 . 6 . 1996 , p . 1 .
( 2 ) OJ No L 208 , 24 . 7. 1992, p . 1 .                                ( 2 ) OJ No L 175 , 19 . 7. 1993 , p . 34 .
                                                                        Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Amtsgericht
                                                                        Reutlingen by judgment of that court of 19 August 1996 in
                                                                        the criminal proceedings against Martino Grado and Shahid
Action brought on 3 September 1996 by the Commission                                                       Bashir
          of the European Communities against Ireland
                                                                                                   ( Case C-291/96 )
                           ( Case C-290/96
                                                                                                      ( 96/C 318/09 )
                             ( 96/C 318/08 )
                                                                         Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
An action against Ireland was brought before the Court of                European Communities by judgment of the Amtsgericht
Justice of the European Communities on 3 September 1996                  ( Local Court ), Reutlingen, of 19 August 1996 , which was