CELEX: C1996/336/39
Language: en
Date: 1996-11-09 00:00:00
Title: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, by order of that court of 16 November 1995, in the case of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise against T. P. Madgett and R. M. Baldwin trading as The Howden Court Hotel (Case C-308/96)

No C 336/20           EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                     9 . 11 . 96
    and Chemnitz, in the form of investment subsidies                 de Versailles ( Versailles Court of Appeal ) of 8 September
    amounting to DM 90,7 million, the Federal Republic of             1995 , which was received at the Court Registry on
    Germany has infringed the decision of the Commission              23 September 1996 , for a preliminary ruling in the case of
    of 26 June 1996 on the grant of aid by Germany to the             Javico International and Jafico AG v. Yves Saint Laurent
    Volkswagen group for works in Mosel and Chemnitz                  Parfums on the following questions :
    and the third sentence of Article 93 ( 3 ) of the EC
    Treaty,                                                           1 . Where an undertaking ( the supplier ) situated in a
                                                                           Member State of the European Union by contract
— order the Federal Republic of Germany to pay the                         entrusts another undertaking ( the distributor ) situated
    costs .                                                                in another Member State with the distribution of its
                                                                           products in a territory outside the Union, must
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                        Article 85 ( 1 ) of the Treaty establishing the European
                                                                           Community be interpreted as prohibiting provisions in
Infringement of Community law, in particular the third                     that contract which preclude the distributor from
sentence of Article 93 ( 3 ) of the EC Treaty: the legality of the         effecting any sales in a territory other than the
decision of the Commission is a matter to be determined by                 contractual territory, and hence any sale in the Union,
the Court of First Instance, in which the Free State of Saxony             either by direct marketing or by redirection from the
has in the meantime lodged an application for a declaration                contractual territory ?
of nullity pursuant to Article 173 of the EC Treaty ( Case
T-126/96 ). Until such time as a final judgment has been              2 . In the event that the said Article 85 ( 1 ) prohibits such
delivered in that action, Germany and, consequently, the                   contractual provisions, must it be interpreted as not
Free State of Saxony are obliged to comply fully with the                  being applicable where the supplier otherwise
decision of the Commission .
                                                                           distributed his products on the territory of the Union by
                                                                           means of a selective distribution network which has
                                                                           been the subject of an exemption decision under
                                                                           Article 85 ( 3 )?
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale
Amministrativo Regionale della Liguria in the case Fiera
SpA against Unità Sanitaria Locale No 3 ( Genoa ) and
                    Impresa Romagnoli SpA
                        ( Case C-304/96 )                             Reference for a preliminary ruling by the High Court of
                          ( 96/C 336/37 )                             Justice, Queen's Bench Division, by order of that court of
                                                                      16 November 1995 , in the case of the Commissioners of
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                Customs and Excise against T. P. Madgett and R. M.
European Communities by an order of the Tribunale                             Baldwin trading as The Howden Court Hotel
Amministrativo Regionale della Liguria ( Regional                                              ( Case C-308/96 )
Administrative Court of Liguria ), First Civil Chamber, of                                       ( 96/C 336/39 )
4 July 1 996 , received at the Court Registry on 1 9 September
1996 , for a preliminary ruling in the case of Hera SpA
against Unita Sanitaria Locale No 3 ( Genoa ) and Impresa             Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
Romagnoli SpA, on the question :                                      European Communities by an order of the High Court of
                                                                      Justice, Queen's Bench Division, of 16 November 1995 ,
whether or not the Community rules allow — and if so in               which was received at the Court Registry on 23 September
what cases — a Member State to make temporary                          1996 , for a preliminary ruling in the case of the
exceptions regarding the entry into force of directives where         Commissioners of Customs and Excise against T. P.
the latter prescribe an appropriate time-limit.                       Madgett and R. M. Baldwin trading as The Howden Court
                                                                      Hotel , on the following questions:
                                                                       1 . What are the criteria for determining whether the
                                                                           operations of a taxable person are the operations of a
                                                                           'travel agent' or 'tour operator' to which the provisions
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour d'Appel de                of Article 26 of Council Directive 77/388/EEC ( ! ) of
Versailles by judgment of that court of 8 September 1995 in                 17 May 1977 on the harmonization of the laws of the
the case of Javico International and Javico AG v. Yves Saint               Member States relating to turnover tax ( the sixth
                        Laurent Parfums                                     Directive on value added tax ) apply ? In particular, do
                        ( Case C-306/96 )                                  the said provisions apply to the operations of a person
                                                                           who, though not a 'travel agent' or 'tour operator' in the
                           ( 96/C 336/38 )                                  ordinary English meanings of those expressions ,
                                                                            provides for the benefit of travellers services of a kind
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                      commonly provided by travel agents or tour
European Communities by a judgment of the Cour d'Appel                      operators ?
 ---pagebreak--- 9. 11 . 96            I EN I               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 336/21
2 . Having regard to the answer to the first question, do the         Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht
     said provisions apply to operations of the kind at issue in      Hamburg by order of that court of 12 August 1996
     the present case, where the owners of a hotel in the south       in the case of Lopex Export GmbH v. Hauptzollamt
     of England, as part of their business as hoteliers, offers                                Hamburg-Jonas
     to customers at a single inclusive charge a week's stay at                               ( Case C-3 15/96 )
     the hotel , transport by coach between the hotel and
                                                                                                 ( 96/C 336/41 )
     points in the north of England, and a local sight-seeing
     trip by coach during their stay at the hotel ( the transport
     elements being bought in by the owners of the hotel from         Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
     a coach hire company )?                                          European Communities by an order of the Joint Senate of
                                                                      the Finanzgericht Hamburg ( Hamburg Finance Court) for
                                                                      the     Lander of Hamburg, Niedersachsen and
(>) OJ No L 145 , 13 . 6 . 1977, p . 1 .                              Schleswig-Holstein, Fourth Senate, of 12 August 1996 ,
                                                                      which was received at the Court Registry on 26 September
                                                                       1996 , for a preliminary ruling in the case of Lopex Export
                                                                      GmbH v. Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas on the following
                                                                      questions :
                                                                      1 . Is the first indent of the first paragraph of Article 13 of
                                                                          Regulation ( EEC ) No 171 5/90 ( 1 ) in so far as it
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Pretura                         prescribes that binding tariff information ceases to be
Circondariale di Roma, Sezione Distaccata di Tivoli, by                   valid immediately as a result of the adoption of a
order of that court of 9 September 1996 in the case of                    regulation amending the customs nomenclature, with
Daniele Annibaldi against 1 . Municipality of Guidonia and                no transitional period, compatible with Community law
             2 . the President of the Lazio Region                        from the points of view of protection of legitimate
                                                                          expectations and legal certainty ?
                         ( Case C-309/96 )
                           ( 96/C 336/40 )                            2 . If not, what are the consequences in particular in a case
                                                                          where binding tariff information, differing from the
                                                                          amended nomenclature, has been issued and/or there is
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                    an export licence with an advance fixing certificate
European Communities by order of the Pretura                              which is still valid for a further six months ?
Circondariale di Roma, Sezione Distaccata di Tivoli ( Rome
District Magistrates ' Court, Tivoli Division ), of 9 September           Is a decision on the limited continuing validity of
1996 , which was received at the Court Registry on                        binding tariff information to be measured against the
23 September 1996 , for a preliminary ruling in the case of               general conditions which have been developed on
Daniele Annibaldi against 1 . Municipality of Guidonia and                protection of legitimate expectations, and in particular
2 . the President of the Lazio Region on the following                    does it presuppose an expectation of the exporter to that
questions:                                                                effect which deserves protection as against the
                                                                          Community interest ? Does that also apply with respect
1 . Is a national law which requires undertakings                         to the third indent of Article 14 ( 4 ) of Regulation ( EEC )
     incorporated within a nature and archaeological park to              No 1715/90, under which the advance fixing certificate
     refrain from any activity whatsoever in the area                     must have been 'issued on the basis of the said binding
     concerned     —     which    amounts   to   a    substantial         tariff information '
     expropriation of the undertakings incorporated within
     the park itself without any provision being made for             (M OJ No L 160 , 26 . 6 . 1990, p . 1 .
     payment of compensation to the individuals whose
     property is expropriated — in breach of the
     fundamental right to property, to carry on business and
     to equal treatment by the national authorities ?
2 . Irrespective of the answer which the Court of Justice
     may consider appropriate in response to the first                Action brought on 26 September 1996 by the Commis­
     question, are the measures provided for by Article 7 of          sion of the European Communities against the Italian
     the regional law in question ( equivalent, for the                                             Republic
     purposes of proceedings under Community law, to any                                     ( Case C-3 16/96 )
     other national legislation ) in breach of the principle of                                 ( 96/C 336/42 )
     equal treatment and the related prohibition of
     discrimination laid down in the second subparagraph of
     Article 40 ( 3 ) of the Treaty of Rome ?                                         (Language of the case: Italian)
                                                                      An action against the Italian Republic was brought before
                                                                      the Court of Justice of the European Communities on