CELEX: C2000/176/16
Language: en
Date: 2000-06-24 00:00:00
Title: Case C-135/00: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Fourth Chamber of the Consiglio di Stato, sitting in its judicial capacity, by order of that court of 12 November 1999 in the case of ANAS — Ente Nazionale per le Strade and Lauro Cantieri Valsesia SpA against Consorzio Cooperative Costruzioni

24.6.2000             EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                           C 176/9
Pleas in law and main arguments                                         — Since that charge is due even where there is no registration
                                                                             to be made in practice and at the same rate regardless of
                                                                             the number of registrations to be made, the basis for its
In accordance with the third paragraph of Article 249 EC (ex                 payment is not the performance of a single operation
Article 189 of the EC Treaty), directives are binding, as to the             (registration of a single instrument) but a series of activities
result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which they                  (involved in keeping the register of companies) intended
are addressed. Under the first paragraph of Article 10 EC (ex                to enable companies to register instruments whose regis-
Article 5 of the EC Treaty), Member States are to take all                   tration is required by the Civil Code following registration
appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure               of the constituent instrument;
fulfilment of the obligations arising out of the Treaty or
resulting from action taken by the institutions of the Com-             — Moreover, whilst, on the one hand, the amount of the
munity.                                                                      charge appears to be determined on a flat-rate basis
                                                                             according to criteria of reasonableness in the light of its
                                                                             low level (between ITL 750 000 and ITL 90 000 according
It is not disputed by the Hellenic Republic that it must adopt               to the type of operation), on the other hand, considering
measures to comply with the abovementioned directives by                     that registry fees are also payable and given the basis for
drawing up the required waste management plans.                              its payment, it is certainly determined with reference to
                                                                             the cost not of a single registration (of which there may be
                                                                             none) but of keeping the register of companies in general.
The Commission records that until now the Hellenic Republic
has not adopted the appropriate measures for full implemen-
tation of the directives at issue in Greek law, nor has it notified     (1) OJ, English Special Edition, 1969, (II), p. 412.
such measures to the Commission.                                        (2) [1993] ECR I-1915.
                                                                        Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Fourth Chamber
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale di                of the Consiglio di Stato, sitting in its judicial capacity, by
Trento (District Court of Trento) — Insolvency Section                  order of that court of 12 November 1999 in the case of
— by order of that court of 8 February 2000 in the case                 ANAS — Ente Nazionale per le Strade and Lauro Cantieri
       of Ministry of Finance v Merkur Chemical s.r.l.                   Valsesia SpA against Consorzio Cooperative Costruzioni
                        (Case C-134/00)                                                           (Case C-135/00)
                        (2000/C 176/15)                                                           (2000/C 176/16)
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                  Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by an order of the Tribunale di                    European Communities by order of the Fourth Chamber of
Trento (District Court of Trento) — Insolvency Section — of             the Consiglio di Stato, sitting in its judicial capacity, of
8 February 2000, which was received at the Court Registry on            12 November 1999, received at the Court Registry on 10 April
10 April 2000, for a preliminary ruling in the case of Ministry         2000, for a preliminary ruling in the case of ANAS — Ente
of Finance v Merkur Chemical s.r.l. on the following question:          Nazionale per le Strade and Lauro Cantieri Valsesia SpA against
                                                                        Consorzio Cooperative Costruzioni on the following questions:
In an action brought by a capital company before the Italian            (1) In calls for tenders for public works contracts, do clauses
courts for reimbursement of the annual administrative charge                 excluding undertakings which have not submitted with
paid from 1985 to 1992 pursuant to laws incompatible with                    their tenders explanations concerning components of the
Article 10 of Council Directive 69/335/EEC (1) (Joined Cases                 price indicated, amounting to at least 75 % of the figure
C-71/91 and C-178/91 Ponente Carni v Ministry of Finance                     specified in the tender conditions, represent an obstacle to
and Cispadana Costruzioni v Ministry of Finance) (2), is the                 the application of Article 30(4) of Directive 93/37 (1)?
provision in Article 11(1) of Law No 448 of 23.12.1998
introducing the flat-rate charge retrospectively (in amounts            (2) Does the establishment of a mechanism for determining
varying between ITL 750 000 and ITL 90 000 according to                      the threshold indicative of irregularity, below which the
the type of company), for the entry in the register of companies,            validity of tenders falls to be verified, on the basis of an ad
pursuant to the Civil Code, of company instruments other                     hoc criterion and an arithmetical mean, automatically so
than the constituent instrument compatible with Article 10 of                that undertakings are unable to ascertain the threshold in
that directive and with the interpretation of it by the Court of             advance, represent an obstacle to the application of Article
Justice (Ponente Carni), given that:                                         30(4) of Directive 93/37?
 ---pagebreak--- C 176/10               EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                    24.6.2000
(3) Does the fact that the exchange of views is to take place at        Reference for a preliminary ruling by the High Court of
     an earlier stage, without the undertaking which has                Justice (England & Wales), Queen’s Bench Division
     allegedly submitted an irregular tender being assured of an        (Crown Office), by order of that court of 31 March 2000,
     opportunity to state its reasons, after the opening of the         in the cases of The Queen against 1) The Monopolies and
     envelopes and before the adoption of the measure exclud-           Mergers Commission 2) Secretary of State for Trade and
     ing it, represent an obstacle to the application of Article        Industry, Ex parte: Milk Marque Ltd and The Queen
     30(4) of Directive 93/37?                                          against 1) The Competition Commission 2) Secretary of
                                                                        State for Trade and Industry 3) Director General of Fair
(4) Does a provision under which the contracting authority                       Trading, Ex Parte: National Farmers’ Union
     may take account of explanations relating solely to the
     economy of the construction method or the technical                                         (Case C-137/00)
     solutions adopted or the exceptionally favourable con-
     ditions available to the tenderer represent an obstacle to
     the application of Article 30(4) of Directive 93/37?                                        (2000/C 176/18)
(5) Does the [exclusion] of explanations relating exclusively to        Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
     items for which minimum values have been established by            European Communities by an order of the High Court of
     administrative provisions or can be inferred from official         Justice (England & Wales), Queen’s Bench Division (Crown
     lists represent an obstacle to the application of Article          Office) of 31 March 2000, which was received at the Court
     30(4) of Directive 93/37?                                          Registry on 11 April 2000, for a preliminary ruling in the case
                                                                        of The Queen against 1) The Monopolies and Mergers
                                                                        Commission 2) Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Ex
(1) Council Directive 93/37/EEC of 14 June 1993 concerning the          parte: Milk Marque Ltd and The Queen against 1) The
    coordination of procedures for the award of public works            Competition Commission 2) Secretary of State for Trade and
    contracts (OJ L 199 of 9.8.1993, p. 54).                            Industry 3) Director General of Fair Trading, Ex parte: National
                                                                        Farmers’ Union, on the following questions:
                                                                        1. Are Articles 32 to 38 (ex Articles 38 to 46) EC, Council
                                                                            Regulation 26/62/EEC (1) and Council Regulation (EC)
                                                                            No 804/68 (2), as amended, to be interpreted as precluding
                                                                            a Member State from applying national laws such as the
                                                                            Fair Trading Act 1973 and the Competition Act 1998 to
                                                                            the manner in which producers of milk choose to organise
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Kuopion                         themselves into co-operatives and conduct themselves in
Hallinto-oikeus by order of that court of 22 March 2000                     regard to the sale and processing of their milk:
               in the case of Rolf Dieter Danner
                                                                            (a) in all circumstances; or
                         (Case C-136/00)
                                                                            (b) where the intended or actual effect is to deprive such
                         (2000/C 176/17)                                        producers of the ability to increase the price obtained
                                                                                for their milk; or
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                            (c) where the intended or actual effect is to reduce
European Communities by an order of the Kuopion Hallinto-
                                                                                the price that producers obtain for their milk in
oikeus (Administrative Court, Kuopio), Finland, of 22 March
                                                                                circumstances where that price is already below the
2000, which was received at the Court Registry on 10 April
                                                                                target price fixed pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation
2000, for a preliminary ruling in the case of Rolf Dieter
                                                                                804/68; or
Danner on the following question:
                                                                            (d) in a way which is not consistent with any one or more
Is the restriction described above of the right to deduct for                   of the following:
tax purposes pension insurance contributions payable from
Finland to a foreign institution, laid down in the first sentence
of Paragraph 96(9) of the Tuloverolaki (Income Tax Law),                        (i) the objectives set out in Article 33 EC (ex Article
contrary to Article 59 of the EC Treaty referred to in the appeal                     39); and/or
(now Article 49 EC) or to the other articles referred to in the
appeal (Articles 6, 60, 73b, 73d and 92 of the EC Treaty) or                    (ii) the policy, aims or functioning of the common
the corresponding present articles (Articles 12, 50, 56, 58 and                       organisation of the market in milk and milk
87 EC)?                                                                               products; and/or
                                                                                (iii) the policy of Article 36 EC (ex Article 42) and
                                                                                      Regulation 26?