CELEX: C2004/007/10
Language: en
Date: 2004-01-10 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 6 November 2003 in Case C-243/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale di Ascoli Piceno): Piergiorgio Gambelli and Others (Right of establishment — Freedom to provide services — Collection of bets on sporting events in one Member State and transmission by internet to another Member State — Prohibition enforced by criminal penalties — Legislation in a Member State which reserves the right to collect bets to certain bodies)

10.1.2004               EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                                   C 7/7
      the product that it designates is accorded protection in the           ruling in the criminal proceedings before that court against
      importing Member State, whether or not there is any risk of            Piergiorgio Gambelli and Others on the interpretation of
      consumers being misled, and the import of a product lawfully           Articles 43 EC and 49 EC, the Court, composed of: V. Skouris,
      marketed in another Member State may be prevented.                     President, P. Jann, C.W.A. Timmermans and J.N. Cunha
                                                                             Rodrigues (Presidents of Chambers), D.A.O. Edward (Rappor-
3.    The first paragraph of Article 307 EC is to be interpreted as          teur), R. Schintgen, F. Macken, N. Colneric and S. von Bahr,
      permitting a court of a Member State, subject to the findings to       Judges; S. Alber, Advocate General; H.A. Rühl, Principal
      be made by that court having regard inter alia to the criteria set     Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
      out in this judgment, to apply the provisions of bilateral             6 November 2003, in which it has ruled:
      agreements such as those at issue in the main proceedings,
      concluded between that State and a non-member country and
      according protection to a name from the non-member country,            National legislation which prohibits on pain of criminal penalties the
      even where those provisions prove to be contrary to the EC             pursuit of the activities of collecting, taking, booking and forwarding
      Treaty rules, on the ground that they concern an obligation            offers of bets, in particular bets on sporting events, without a licence
      resulting from agreements concluded before the date of the             or authorisation from the Member State concerned constitutes a
      accession of the Member State concerned to the European                restriction on the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide
      Union. Pending the success of one of the methods referred to in        services provided for in Articles 43 and 49 EC respectively. It is for
      the second paragraph of Article 307 EC in eliminating any              the national court to determine whether such legislation, taking
      incompatibilities between an agreement predating that accession        account of the detailed rules for its application, actually serves the
      and the Treaty, the first paragraph of that article permits that       aims which might justify it, and whether the restrictions it imposes
      State to continue to apply such an agreement in so far as it           are disproportionate in the light of those objectives.
      contains obligations which remain binding on that State under
      international law.
                                                                             (1) OJ C 245 of 1.9.2001.
(1) OJ C 245 of 1.9.2001.
                                                                                                JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                       of 6 November 2003                                                            of 25 November 2003
in Case C-243/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from                    in Case C-278/01: Commission of the European Communi-
the Tribunale di Ascoli Piceno): Piergiorgio Gambelli and                                         ties v Kingdom of Spain (1)
                              Others (1)
                                                                             (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Judgment
(Right of establishment — Freedom to provide services —                      of the Court establishing such failure — Non-compliance —
Collection of bets on sporting events in one Member State                    Article 228 EC — Financial penalties — Penalty payment
and transmission by internet to another Member State —                           — Quality of bathing water — Directive 76/160/EEC)
Prohibition enforced by criminal penalties — Legislation in
a Member State which reserves the right to collect bets to
                           certain bodies)                                                                (2004/C 7/11)
                           (2004/C 7/10)
                                                                                                  (Language of the case: Spanish)
                    (Language of the case: Italian)
                                                                             (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-278/01, Commission of the European Communities
In Case C-243/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234 EC                (Agent: G. Valero Jordana) v Kingdom of Spain (Agent: S. Ortiz
by the Tribunale di Ascoli Piceno (Italy) for a preliminary                  Vaamonde): Application, first, for a declaration that, by not