CELEX: C1996/354/33
Language: en
Date: 1996-11-23 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 25 September 1996 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of Belgium (Case C-313/96)

23 . 11 . 96              EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 354/ 17
        Republic has in any event failed to fulfil its obligations        Reference for a preliminary ruling by the 0stre Landsret by
        under the said Directive;                                         a decision of that court of 4 September 1996 in the case of
                                                                             Brinkmann Tabakfabriken GmbH v. Skatteministeriet
— order the French Republic to pay the costs .                                                     ( Case C-3 19/96 )
                                                                                                     ( 96/C 354/34 )
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
The pleas in law and main arguments are the same as in Case               Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
C-3 1 1 /96 ( 2 ); the time-limit laid down in Article 34 of              European Communities by a decision of the 0stre Landsret
Directive 93/36/EEC expired on 14 June 1994 .                             [Eastern Regional Court] of 4 September 1996 , which was
                                                                          received at the Court Registry on 1 October 1996 , for a
(') OJ No L 199 , 9 . 8 . 1993 , p . 1 .                                  preliminary ruling in the case of Brinkmann Tabakfabriken
( 2 ) See Case C-3 11 /96 above .                                         GmbH against Skatteministeriet ( Ministry of Fiscal Affairs )
                                                                          on the following questions :
                                                                          1.   Should the definitions in the Council 's second Directive
                                                                               79/32/EEC of 18 December 1978 on taxes other than
                                                                               turnover taxes which affect the consumption of
Action brought on 25 September 1996 by the Commission                          manufactured tobacco ('), in the version in force on
of the European Communities against the Kingdom of                             14 May 1990 , be interpreted to the effect that a product
                                  Belgium                                      with the following characteristics should be classified as
                            ( Case C-3 13/96 )                                 cigarettes or as smoking tobacco :
                              ( 96/C 354/33
                                                                               — there is a packet containing 25 g of fine-cut smoking
                                                                                    tobacco divided up into 30 rolls of tobacco,
An action against the Kingdom of Belgium was brought                                industrially manufactured , each roll being of the
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on                          same size, consistency and uniformity;
25 September 1996 by the Commission of the European
Communities, represented by Henrik van Lier, Legal                             — each roll of tobacco is 68,6 mm long and consists of
Adviser, and Jean-Francis Pasquier, a national civil servant                        approximately 833 mg of fine-cut smoking tobacco
on secondment to the Legal Service pursuant to the scheme                           wrapped in cellulose , and pressed out into a thin
for the secondment of national experts, acting as Agents ,                          block;
with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of
 Carlos Gomez de la Cruz, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.                            — the wrapping is porous, and the roll of tobacco
                                                                                    cannot be smoked as it is but must be inserted into a
The Commission of the European Communities claims that                              cigarette-paper tube or wrapped in ordinary
 the Court should :                                                                 cigarette paper, which in both cases can be done
                                                                                    without the use of implements ?
— declare that, by failing to adopt the laws, regulations and
        administrative measures ( with the exception of those                  If the answer to Question 1 is that the product should be
        applicable to mobile gas cylinders containing butane,                  classified as smoking tobacco, the Court is asked to
        propane or liquid petroleum gas ) necessary in order to                 reply to the following questions :
        comply with Commission Directive 93/21 /EEC of
        27 April 1 993 ( 1 ) adapting to technical progress for the       2 . Under Community law is an undertaking entitled to
        18th time Council Directive 67/548/EEC (2 ) on the                     compensation for every loss suffered by it as a
        approximation of the laws , regulations and                             consequence of a Member State's infringement of
        administrative provisions relating to the classification,               Community law, consisting in the fact that an authority
        packaging and labelling of dangerous substances, and by                 responsible for the final administrative decision as to
        failing in any event to communicate such measures, the                  which tax group a tobacco product should fall under has
        Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations                 reached a decision which conflicts with Article 3 ( 1 ) of
        under that directive;                                                   Directive 79/32/EEC and, if so , what are the conditions
                                                                                governing such liability ?
 — order the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs .
                                                                           3 . ( a ) Are the definitions of manufactured tobacco
  Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                                 products in Directive 79/32/EEC properly
                                                                                      implemented in a Member State if the Minister for
  The pleas in law and main arguments are the same as in Case                         Fiscal Affairs is, by law, empowered to lay down
  C 311 /96 ( 3 ); the time-limit laid down in Article 2 of                           provisions concerning the definitions of tobacco
  Directive 93/21 /EEC expired on 1 July 1994 .                                       products in compliance with the provisions laid
                                                                                      down by the European Communities, where no
  (') OJ No L 110 , 4 . 5 . 1993 , p . 20 .                                           legal provisions have been adopted pursuant to the
  ( 2 ) OJ, English Special Edition 1967, p. 234 .                                    Law .
  ( 3 ) See Case C-311 /96 above .
                                                                                If Question 3 ( a ) is answered in the negative , the Court
                                                                                 of Justice is asked to reply to the following question :