CELEX: C2002/180/07
Language: en
Date: 2002-07-27 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 6 June 2002 in Case C-159/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour de cassation): Sapod Audic v Eco-Emballages SA (Directive 83/189/EEC — Procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations — Obligation to communicate draft technical regulations — Directives 75/442/EEC and 91/156/EEC — Waste — Obligation to make notification of planned measures — National regulations on disposal of packaging waste — Obligation on producers or importers to identify packaging to be disposed of by an approved undertaking — Obligation on the approved undertaking to ensure that packaging for which it is responsible meets technical requirements)

C 180/4                  EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                          27.7.2002
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                                       JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                           (Fifth Chamber)                                                             (Fifth Chamber)
                                                                                                        of 6 June 2002
                           of 13 June 2002
                                                                            in Case C-159/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
in Case C-158/00: Grand Duchy of Luxembourg v Com-                          the Cour de cassation): Sapod Audic v Eco-Emballages
           mission of the European Communities (1)                                                           SA (1)
(Clearance of accounts — EAGGF — 1996 to 1998 financial                     (Directive 83/189/EEC — Procedure for the provision of
years — Arable crops — Procedure to be followed by the                      information in the field of technical standards and regu-
                             Commission)                                    lations — Obligation to communicate draft technical regu-
                                                                            lations — Directives 75/442/EEC and 91/156/EEC — Waste
                                                                            — Obligation to make notification of planned measures —
                           (2002/C 180/06)                                  National regulations on disposal of packaging waste —
                                                                            Obligation on producers or importers to identify packaging
                                                                            to be disposed of by an approved undertaking — Obligation
                     (Language of the case: French)                         on the approved undertaking to ensure that packaging for
                                                                                which it is responsible meets technical requirements)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                    in the European Court Reports)                                                     (2002/C 180/07)
                                                                                                 (Language of the case: French)
In Case C-158/00, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Agent:                         (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
M. F. Hoffstetter, assisted by R. Nothar) v Commission of the                                   in the European Court Reports)
European Communities (Agents: P. Oliver and G. Berscheid):
Application for partial annulment of Commission Decision
2000/216/EC of 1 March 2000 excluding from Community
financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States                 In Case C-159/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234
under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural                    EC by the Cour de Cassation (France) for a preliminary ruling
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ 2000 L 67, p. 37),                  in the proceedings pending before that court between Sapod
in so far as it excluded from Community financing, for the                  Audic and Eco-Emballages SA on the interpretation of
1996 to 1998 ;financial years, expenditure of LUF 56 106 800                Articles 1 and 10 of Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March
;incurred by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the arable                    1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information
crops sector, the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: P. Jann,              in the field of technical standards and regulations (OJ 1983
President of the Chamber, S. von Bahr (Rapporteur),                         L 109, p. 8), as amended by Council Directive 88/182/EEC of
D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola and M. Wathelet, Judges;                       22 March 1988 (OJ 1988 L 81, p. 75), Article 3(2) of Council
A. Tizzano, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a              Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (OJ 1975
judgment on 13 June 2002, in which it:                                      L 194, p. 39), as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC
                                                                            of 18 March 1991 (OJ 1991 L 78, p. 32), and Article 30 of
                                                                            the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 28 EC), the
1.    Annuls Commission Decision 2000/216/EC of 1 March                     Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: P. Jann, President of the
      2000 excluding from Community financing certain expenditure           Chamber, S. von Bahr and C.W.A. Timmermans (Rapporteur),
      incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of          Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General; H. von Holstein, Deputy
      the European Agricultural Guidance Fund (EAGGF), in so far            Registrar, has given a judgment on 6 June 2002, in which it
      as it excludes from Community financing expenditure incurred          has ruled:
      by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the arable crops sector
      prior to 26 May 1996;
                                                                            1.    A provision of national law such as the second paragraph of
2.    Dismisses the remainder of the application;                                 Article 4 of Decree No 92-377 of 1 April 1992 implementing,
                                                                                  in respect of packaging waste, Law No 75-633 of 15 July
                                                                                  1975 relating to the disposal of waste and the recovery of
3.    Orders each of the parties to bear its own costs.                           materials, as amended, could constitute a technical regulation
                                                                                  within the meaning of Council Directive 83/189/EEC of
                                                                                  28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of
(1) OJ C 176 of 24.6.2000.                                                        information in the field of technical standards and regulations,
                                                                                  as amended by Council Directive 88/182/EEC of 22 March
                                                                                  1988, only if the national court were to hold that it had to be
                                                                                  interpreted as requiring a mark or label to be applied.
 ---pagebreak--- 27.7.2002               EN                        Official Journal of the European Communities                                             C 180/5
2.   Article 10 of Directive 83/189, as amended by Directive 88/                               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
     182, is to be interpreted as meaning that, where a provision of
     national law such as the second paragraph of Article 4 of
     Decree No 92-377 must be understood as requiring a mark or                                         (Fifth Chamber)
     label to be applied, that provision is not exempted from the
     notification requirement under Article 8 of Directive 83/189.
                                                                                                       of 25 April 2002
3.   In the event that a national provision such as the second
     paragraph of Article 4 of Decree No 92-377 were to be                   in Case C-183/00 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
     interpreted as requiring a mark or label to be applied, an              the Juzgado de Primera Instancia e Instrucción no 5 de
     individual may invoke the failure to make notification of that          Oviedo): Marı́a Victoria González Sánchez v Medicina
     national provision in accordance with Article 8 of Directive                                       Asturiana SA (1)
     83/189. It is then for the national court to refuse to apply that
     provision, the question of the conclusions to be drawn from the
     inapplicability of that national provision as regards the severity
                                                                             (Approximation of laws — Directive 85/374/EEC — Product
     of the sanction under the applicable national law, such as
                                                                                liability — Relationship with other systems of liability)
     nullity or unenforceability of the contract, being a question
     governed by national law. That conclusion is, however, subject
     to the condition that the applicable rules of national law are
     not less favourable than those governing similar domestic                                          (2002/C 180/08)
     actions and are not framed in such a way as to render impossible
     in practice the exercise of rights conferred by Community law.
                                                                                                 (Language of the case: Spanish)
4.   If Directive 83/189 does not apply to the provisions of Decree
     No 92-377, the Member State concerned ought to have                     (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
     informed the Commission of the proposed national provisions                                 in the European Court Reports)
     in accordance with Article 3(2) of Council Directive 75/442/
     EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste, as amended by Council
     Directive 91/156/EEC of 18 March 1991.
                                                                             In Case C-183/00: reference to the Court under Article 234
5.   Article 3(2) of Directive 75/442, properly construed, does not          EC by the Juzgado de Primera Instancia e Instrucción no 5 de
     give individuals any right which they may enforce before                Oviedo (Spain), for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings
     national courts in order to obtain the annulment or suspension          pending before that court between Marı́a Victoria González
     of national rules falling within the scope of that provision on         Sánchez and Medicina Asturiana SA — on the interpretation
     the ground that the rules were adopted without having been              of Article 13 of Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July
     previously communicated to the Commission.                              1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and
                                                                             administrative provisions of the Member States concerning
                                                                             liability for defective products (OJ 1985 L 210, p. 29) — the
6.   If the national court were to interpret a provision such as the         Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: P. Jann (Rapporteur),
     second paragraph of Article 4 of Decree No 92-377 as not                President of the Chamber, S. von Bahr and C. W. A. Timmer-
     requiring a mark or label to be applied but as imposing only a          mans, Judges; L. A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; H. von
     general obligation to identify the packaging collected for              Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on 25 April
     disposal by an approved undertaking, that provision may be              2002, in which it ruled:
     regarded as a selling arrangement. It is for the national court
     to verify whether the relevant conditions under the case-law of
     the Court for exempting such an obligation from the scope of            Article 13 of Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on
     application of Article 30 of the EC Treaty (now, after                  the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative
     amendment, Article 28 EC) are met, namely that the provision            provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective
     at issue applies to all relevant traders operating within the           products must be interpreted as meaning that the rights conferred
     national territory and that it affects in the same manner, in law       under the legislation of a Member State on the victims of damage
     and in fact, the marketing of domestic products and of those            caused by a defective product under a general system of liability
     from other Member States.                                               having the same basis as that put in place by the Directive may be
                                                                             limited or restricted as a result of the Directive’s transposition into
                                                                             the domestic law of that State.
(1) OJ C 176 of 24.6.2000.
                                                                             (1) OJ C 192, 8.7.2000.