CELEX: C2003/070/11
Language: en
Date: 2003-03-22 00:00:00
Title: Case C-19/03: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Landgericht München by order of that Court of 17 December 2002 in the proceedings between Verbraucher-Zentrale Hamburg e.V. and 02 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG

22.3.2003              EN                       Official Journal of the European Union                                              C 70/7
      —     annul Commission Decision C (1999) 541 of                   1.    Is the first sentence of Article 5 of Regulation 1103/97 (1)
            4 March 1999                                                      to be understood as meaning that, in a private-law
                                                                              contractual relationship, only the final amount of the
      —     annul Commission Decision C (1999) 532 of                         invoice, or an individual amount detailed on the invoice,
            4 March 1999                                                      may or must be rounded, or does a contractually agreed
                                                                              unit price/tariff (in this case a price per minute) constitute
      —     annul Commission Decision C (1999) 533 of                         a monetary amount to be paid or accounted for within
            4 March 1999                                                      the meaning of that provision? In determining whether a
                                                                              tariff is a monetary amount to be paid or accounted for
      in the alternative, reduce the amount of subsidy to repay               within the meaning of Article 5 of Regulation 1103/97,
      to the Commission to a lesser amount as may be decided                  is it decisive whether the tariff relates to a particular
      in the course of proceedings;                                           multiple (in this case six) of a unit on the basis of which
                                                                              the final amount of the invoice is ascertained (in this case
2.    as a measure of inquiry, allow the claims submitted in the              a ten-second unit), or whether it is the tariff as perceived
      present proceedings;                                                    by consumers that represents the relevant amount of the
                                                                              invoice?
3.    in any event, order the Commission to pay the costs.
                                                                        2.    Is Regulation 1103/97(and in particular Article 5) to be
                                                                              understood as constituting an exhaustive rule whereby
                                                                              sums other than monetary amounts to be paid or
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                              accounted for (if any) may not be rounded in the manner
                                                                              described in Article 5, in other words, must they either
The judgment of the Court of First Instance rejected all the                  continue to be displayed in the former national currency,
pleas in law submitted by the appellants and thus dismissed                   or be quoted in the exact amount produced on conver-
the applications in their entirety. As regards the first plea in              sion?
law, the appellant undertakings share the view the Court of
First Instance in its reasoning from the legal point of view.
                                                                        (1 ) OJ L 162 of 19.06.1997, p. 1.
On the other hand, the appellants argue that so far as the
remaining pleas are concerned, the Court of First Instance has
not made clear the reasons for its own view, nor does it
even demonstrate that the Commission’s decisions were well
founded: it merely repeated the arguments used in the
contested decisions.                                                    Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Rechtbank van
                                                                        eerste Aanleg, Bruges by order of that Court of 17 January
                                                                        2003 in the criminal matters brought by the Public
According to the appellants, the judgment of the Court of First         Prosecutor against 1. Marcel Burmanjer, 2. René Alexan-
Instance is vitiated by the inadequacy, inconsistency and                        der van der Linden, and 3. Anthony de Jong
contradictions of the grounds.
                                                                                                   (Case C-20/03)
                                                                                                   (2003/C 70/12)
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Landgericht
                                                                        Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
München by order of that Court of 17 December 2002 in
                                                                        European Communities by order of the Rechtbank van eerste
the proceedings between Verbraucher-Zentrale Hamburg
                                                                        Aanleg (Court of First Instance), Bruges of 17 January 2003,
          e.V. and 02 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG
                                                                        received at the Court Registry on 21 January 2003, for a
                                                                        preliminary ruling in the criminal matters brought by the
                          (Case C-19/03)                                Public Prosecutor against 1. Marcel Burmanjer, 2. René Alex-
                                                                        ander van der Linden, and 3. Anthony de Jong on the following
                          (2003/C 70/11)                                questions:
                                                                        (a)   Because the interests sought to be protected by the
                                                                              legislature could be safeguarded by other less stringent
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                        means, are Articles 30 to 37 (free movement of goods) of
European Communities by order of the Landgericht München                      the EC Treaty, as applicable on 6 September 2001,
(Regional Court, Munich) of 17 December 2002, received at                     Article 48 et seq. of that Treaty (freedom of movement
the Court Registry on 20 January 2003, for a preliminary                      for persons), or Article 59 et seq. thereof (freedom to
ruling in the proceedings between Verbraucher-Zentrale Ham-                   provide services), infringed by Articles 2, 3, 5(3) and 13
burg e.V. and 02 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG on the                              of the Belgian law of 25 June 1993 on the exercise of
following questions:                                                          itinerant activities and the organisation of public markets,