CELEX: C2002/144/06
Language: en
Date: 2002-06-15 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) 18 April 2002 in Case C-9/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Korkein hallinto-oikeus): Palin Granit Oy v Vehmassalon kansanterveystyön kuntayhtymän hallitus (Harmonisation of laws — Directives 75/442/EEC and 91/156/EEC — Concept of "waste" — Production residue — Quarry — Storage — Use of waste — No risk to health or the environment — Possibility of recovery of waste)

C 144/4                  EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                            15.6.2002
Replacement packaging of pharmaceutical products is objectively            2.     Orders the Commission of the European Communities to pay
necessary within the meaning of the Court’s case-law if, without such             the costs;
repackaging, effective access to the market concerned, or to a
substantial part of that market, must be considered to be hindered as
the result of strong resistance from a significant proportion of           3.     Orders the Kingdom of Denmark and the Republic of Finland
consumers to relabelled pharmaceutical products.                                  to bear their own costs.
(1) OJ C 34 of 5.2.2000.                                                   (1) OJ C 63 of 4.3.2000.
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                                              JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                           (Fifth Chamber)
                                                                                                      (Sixth Chamber)
                             7 May 2002
                                                                                                        18 April 2002
in Case C-478/99: Commission of the European Communi-
                  ties v Kingdom of Sweden (1)                             in Case C-9/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
                                                                           the Korkein hallinto-oikeus): Palin Granit Oy v Vehmassa-
                                                                                 lon kansanterveystyön kuntayhtymän hallitus (1)
(Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations —
Directive 93/13/EEC — Unfair terms in consumer contracts
— Obligation to reproduce in national legislation the list of              (Harmonisation of laws — Directives 75/442/EEC and 91/
terms which may be regarded as unfair contained in the                     156/EEC — Concept of ‘waste’ — Production residue —
                     annex to Directive 93/13)                             Quarry — Storage — Use of waste — No risk to health or
                                                                                 the environment — Possibility of recovery of waste)
                           (2002/C 144/05)
                                                                                                       (2002/C 144/06)
                    (Language of the case: Swedish)
                                                                                                (Language of the case: Finnish)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                    in the European Court Reports)                         (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                                                                                                in the European Court Reports)
In Case C-478/99, Commission of the European Communities
(Agents: L. Parpala and P. Stancanelli) v Kingdom of Sweden                In Case C-9/00: Reference to the Court under Article 234 EC
(Agents: L. Nordling and A. Kruse), supported by Kingdom of                by the Korkein hallinto-oikeus (Finland) for a preliminary
Denmark (Agent: J. Molde), and by Republic of Finland                      ruling in the proceedings pending before that court instituted
(Agents: T. Pynnä and E. Bygglin): Application for a declaration           by Palin Granit Oy and Vehmassalon kansanterveystyön
that, by failing to adopt the laws, regulations and administrative         kuntayhtymän hallitus, on the interpretation of Article 1(a) of
provisions necessary to implement in its national legal system             Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (OJ
the annex referred to in Article 3(3) of Council Directive 93/             1975 L 194, p. 39), as amended by Council Directive 91/156/
13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts               EEC of 18 March 1991 (OJ 1991 L 78, p. 32), the Court (Sixth
(OJ 1993 L 95, p. 29), the Kingdom of Sweden has failed to                 Chamber), composed of: F. Macken, President of the Chamber,
fulfil its obligations under that directive, the Court (Fifth              J.-P. Puissochet (Rapporteur), R. Schintgen, V. Skouris and
Chamber), composed of: P. Jann (Rapporteur), President of                  J. N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges; F. G. Jacobs, Advocate General;
the Chamber, D. A. O. Edward and M. Wathelet, Judges;                      R. Grass, Registrar, has given a judgment on 18 April 2002, in
L. A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; H. A. Rühl, Principal                    which it has ruled:
Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
7 May 2002, in which it:
                                                                           1.     The holder of leftover stone resulting from stone quarrying
                                                                                  which is stored for an indefinite length of time to await possible
1.    Dismisses the application;                                                  use discards or intends to discard that leftover stone, which is
 ---pagebreak--- 15.6.2002                 EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                            C 144/5
      accordingly to be classified as waste within the meaning of           —    by including damage of less than EUR 500 in Article 3 of
      Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste.                     Law No 98-389 of 19 May 1998 on liability for defective
                                                                                 products (JORF of 21 May 1998, p. 7744);
2.    The place of storage of leftover stone, its composition and the
      fact, even if proven, that the stone does not pose any real risk to   —    by providing in Article 8 thereof that the supplier of a
      human health or the environment are not relevant criteria for              defective product is to be liable in all cases and on the
      determining whether the stone is to be regarded as waste.                  same basis as the producer, and
                                                                            —    by providing in Article 13 thereof that the producer must
                                                                                 prove that he has taken appropriate steps to avert the
(1) OJ C 102 of 8.4.2000.
                                                                                 consequences of a defective product in order to be able
                                                                                 to rely on the grounds of exemption from liability
                                                                                 provided for in Article 7(d) and (e) of Council Directive
                                                                                 85/374/EEC of 25 July 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 French Republic has failed to
                                                                                 fulfil its obligations under Articles 9, 3(3) and 7 of the
                                                                                 aforementioned directive,
                                                                            the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: P. Jann (Rapporteur),
                                                                            President of the Chamber, S. von Bahr and C. W. A. Timmer-
                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                    mans, Judges; L. A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; H. von
                                                                            Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on 25 April
                                                                            2002, in which it:
                            (Fifth Chamber)
                                                                            1.   Declares that
                             25 April 2002
                                                                                 —      by including damage of less than EUR 500 in
                                                                                        Article 1386-2 of the French Civil Code;
in Case C-52/00: Commission of the European Communi-
                      ties v French Republic (1)                                 —      by providing in the first paragraph of Article 1386-7
                                                                                        thereof that the supplier of a defective product is to be
                                                                                        liable in all cases and on the same basis as the producer,
                                                                                        and
(Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations —
Directive 85/374/EEC — Product liability — Incorrect
                              transposition)                                     —      by providing in the second paragraph of Article 1386-
                                                                                        12 thereof that the producer must prove that he has taken
                                                                                        appropriate steps to avert the consequences of a defective
                            (2002/C 144/07)                                             product in order to be able to rely on the grounds of
                                                                                        exemption from liability provided for in Article 7(d) and
                                                                                        (e) of Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985
                                                                                        on the approximation of the laws, regulations and
                      (Language of the case: French)                                    administrative provisions of the Member States concerning
                                                                                        liability for defective products,
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published           the French Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under
                     in the European Court Reports)                              Articles 9(b), 3(3) and 7 of the aforementioned directive;
                                                                            2.   Orders the French Republic to pay the costs.
In Case C-52/00, Commission of the European Communities                     (1) OJ C 163 of 10.6.2000.
(Agents: M. Patakia and B. Mongin) v French Republic (Agents:
initially K. Rispal-Bellanger and R. Loosli-Surrans, subsequently
R. Loosli-Surrans and J.-F. Dobelle): Application for a declar-
ation that: