CELEX: C1998/234/32
Language: en
Date: 1998-07-25 00:00:00
Title: Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof by order of that court of 30 April 1998 in the case of Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, Gewerkschaft öffentlicher Dienst v Republic of Austria (Case C-195/98)

C 234/16                EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                         25.7.98
     (mentioned in category 6 of Annex IA) contracts for               Does the amount of the charge payable under Article 8(1)
     financial services in connection with the issue, sale,             of the Agreement depend solely on the number of axles
     purchase or transfer of securities or other financial              fitted to the motor vehicle or articulated vehicle
     instruments'.                                                      combination in question, regardless of the distance
                                                                        between them and irrespective of whether an axle is used
(1) OJ L 209 of 24.7.1992, p. 1.                                        or raised during the journey, or are tandem axles/raisable
(2) Translator's note: it would appear, from the words quoted,          axles to be left out of account in calculating the charge?
    that the provision referred to is actually Article 1(b)(vii), not
    Article 2(a)(viii).                                                 (1) Concerning the interpretation of Article 8(1) of the Agreement
                                                                            of 9 February 1994 on the levying of charges for the use of
                                                                            certain roads by heavy commercial vehicles (Bundesgesetzblatt
                                                                            [Federal Gazette], Part II, p. 1768).
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberlandes-
gericht Köln, by order of that court of 8 May 1998 in
proceedings concerning an administrative fine imposed on
                        Alois Pfennigmann                               Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster
                         (Case C-193/98)                                Gerichtshof by order of that court of 30 April 1998 in the
                                                                        case of Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, Gewerkschaft
                          (98/C 234/30)
                                                                                   öffentlicher Dienst v Republic of Austria
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                                           (Case C-195/98)
European Communities by order of the Oberlandesgericht                                            (98/C 234/32)
Köln (Higher Regional Court, Cologne) of 8 May 1998,
received at the Court Registry on 20 May 1998, for a                    Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
preliminary ruling in the proceedings concerning an                     European Communities by an order of the Oberster
administrative fine imposed on Alois Pfennigmann, on the                Gerichtshof (Austrian Supreme Court) of 30 April 1998,
following question (1):                                                 which was received at the Court Registry on 20 May
                                                                        1998, for a preliminary ruling in the case of
Is the answer to the question whether a motor vehicle or
                                                                        Österreichischer        Gewerkschaftsbund,          Gewerkschaft
articulated vehicle combination within the meaning of                   öffentlicher Dienst v Republic of Austria on the following
Article 2(1) of the Agreement in conjunction with the
                                                                        questions:
fourth indent of Article 2 of Council Directive 93/89/
EEC (2) is intended exclusively for the carriage of goods by            1. May a preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the
road conditional on the time at which, and the manner in                     European Communities under Article 177 of the EC
which, it is used, or does the answer to that question                       Treaty be sought in proceedings in which the Oberster
depend Ð irrespective of the purpose for which such a                        Gerichtshof has to decide, as a court of first and final
vehicle or combination is used in an individual case Ð on                    instance, on the basis of a factual situation
whether the general purpose for which the use of that                        independent of particular named persons, alleged by
vehicle or combination is intended is the carriage of goods                  one party and presumed to be true, on an application
by road?                                                                     by that party for a declaration that rights or legal
                                                                             relationships in the field of employment law, which
(1) Concerning the interpretation of Article 2(1) of the Agreement           according to the submissions of that party, which are
    of 9 February 1994 on the levying of charges for the use of
                                                                             presumed to be true, are of importance for at least
    certain roads by heavy commercial vehicles (Bundesgesetzblatt
    [Federal Gazette], Part II, p. 1768).                                    three employers or employees, do or do not exist?
(2) OJ L 279 of 12.11.1993, p. 32.
                                                                             If Question 1 is answered in the affirmative,
                                                                        2. Does Article 48 of the EC Treaty or any other
                                                                             provision of Community law, in particular Article 7 of
                                                                             Council Regulation No 1612/68 (1), preclude the
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Oberlandes-                      material date of advancement for classification in the
gericht Köln, by order of that court of 8 May 1998 in                        relevant pay scheme of contractual teachers and
proceedings concerning an administrative fine imposed on                     contractual teaching assistants employed by the
                         Eckard Pörschke                                     respondent from being determined differently, in that
                                                                             the periods completed by such persons in employment,
                         (Case C-194/98)
                                                                             to at least one half of the extent prescribed for full-
                          (98/C 234/31)                                      time employees, in the service of an Austrian local
                                                                             authority or in a teaching post at an Austrian public
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                       school, university, college or academy of the visual
European Communities by order of the Oberlandesgericht                       arts or at an Austrian publicly recognised private
Köln (Higher Regional Court, Cologne) of 8 May 1998,                         school are treated as preceding in full the date on
received at the Court Registry on 20 May 1998, for a                         which those persons were engaged, whereas periods
preliminary ruling in the proceedings concerning an                          completed at comparable institutions of Member
administrative fine imposed on Eckard Pörschke, on the                       States are taken into account only with the consent of
following question (1):                                                      the Federal Minister for Financial Affairs, in full if
 ---pagebreak--- 25.7.98                EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                       C 234/17
    they are of special importance for the successful                          conditions such as those imposed in Great Britain for
    deployment of the contractual employee, otherwise to                       Reduced Earnings Allowance from 1988Ð89 onwards
    the extent of one half if the service started not later                    are necessary to ensure coherence between schemes or
    than 30 April 1995, and if it started later to the extent                  otherwise fall within the permitted exclusion in
    of one half but only in so far as they do not exceed a                     Article 7?
    total of three years?
                                                                         3.    If those unequal age conditions are not within the
    If Questions 1 and 2 are answered in the affirmative,
                                                                               permittd exclusion in Article 7, then does the doctrine
                                                                               of direct effect require the national court (in the
3. Are periods completed in institutions in Member                             absence of national legislation to comply with the
    States comparable to the said institutions to be taken                     Directive) to rectify the inequality by awarding an
    into account without temporal limitation?                                  additional payment to each individual concerned in
                                                                               any week when the payment prescribed under the
                                                                               occupational accident and disease scheme for him or
(1) OJ, English Special Edition 1968 (II), p. 475.                             her is lower than for a person of the other sex but in
                                                                               otherwise similar circumstances (the comparator'),
                                                                               without regard to:
                                                                               (a) any converse advantage in other weeks when, for
                                                                                   the same individual, a higher payment is
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Social Security                          prescribed than for the comparator; and/or
Commissioner, by order of 8 May 1998, in the cases of
Regina Virginia Hepple, Anna Stec, Patrick Vincent Lunn,
Oliver Kimber and Sybil Spencer against the Adjudication                       (b) the existence or exercise of sex-differentiated
                              Officer                                              options under the pension scheme to choose the
                                                                                   pension starting age, the effect of which in
                        (Case C-196/98)
                                                                                   conjunction with the unequal conditions under the
                          (98/C 234/33)                                            occupational accident and disease scheme may be
                                                                                   to cause altered (and unequal) weekly payments
                                                                                   under that scheme: in some weeks to the
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                             advantage of the individual, in others to the
European Communities by an order of the Social Security                            comparator?
Commissioner of 8 May 1998, which was recevied at the
Court Registry on 22 May 1998, for a preliminary ruling
in the cases of Regina Virginia Hepple, Anna Stec, Patrick                     Or should some account be taken of such matters,
Vincent Lunn, Oliver Kimber and Sybil Spencer against                          and if so what are the principles to be applied in
the Adjudication Officer, on the following questions:                          relation to them in giving direct effect to Article 4?
1.   Does Article 7 of Council Directive 79/7/EEC (1)                    (1) Council Directive 79/7/EEC of 19 December 1978 on the
                                                                             progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment
     permit a Member State to impose unequal age
                                                                             for men and women in matters of social security (OJ L 6 of
     conditions linked to the different pension ages for                     10.1.1979, p. 24).
     men and women under its statutory old-age pension
     scheme, on entitlement to a benefit having the
     characteristics of Reduced Earnings Allowance under
     a statutory occupational accident and disease scheme,
     so as to produce different weekly cash payments
     under that scheme for men and women in otherwise
     similar circumstances, in particular where the
     inequality:                                                         Action brought on 20 May 1998 by the Commission of
                                                                          the European Communities against the Hellenic Republic
     (a) is not necessary for any financial reason connected                                    (Case C-197/98)
         with either scheme; and
                                                                                                 (98/C 234/34)
     (b) never having been imposed before, is imposed for
         the first time many years after the inception of the
         two schemes and also after 23 December 1984,                    An action against the Hellenic Republic was brought
         the latest date for the Directive to be given full              before the Court of Justice of the European Communities
         effect under Article 8?                                         on 20 May 1998 by the Commission of the European
                                                                         Communities, represented by M. Patakia and B. Mongin,
                                                                         both of its Legal Service, with an address for service in
2.   If the answer to Question I is Yes, what are the                    Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, of
     considerations that determine whether unequal age                   its Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.