CELEX: C2003/200/25
Language: en
Date: 2003-08-23 00:00:00
Title: Case C-262/03: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per l'Emilia-Romagna, Sezione di Parma by order of that Court of 6 May 2003 in the case of Latteria Sociale Moderna Soc. Coop. a r.l. against AIMA and Servizio Provinciale Agricoltura, Reggio Emilia, Regione Emilia Romagna, and AGEA Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura; Intervener: Allevamenti Associati Soc.r.l.

C 200/14                  EN                       Official Journal of the European Union                                         23.8.2003
Action brought on 17 June 2003 by the Commission of the                    Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale
 European Communities against the Kingdom of Denmark                       Amministrativo Regionale per l'Emilia-Romagna, Sezione
                                                                           di Parma by order of that Court of 6 May 2003 in the
                                                                           case of Allevamenti Associati S.r.l. and Regione Emilia
                             (Case C-260/03)                               Romagna against AGEA e Latteria Sociale Moderna
                                                                                                         S.c.a.r.l.
                             (2003/C 200/23)
                                                                                                    (Case C-261/03)
                                                                                                    (2003/C 200/24)
An action against the Kingdom of Denmark was brought
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
17 June 2003 by the Commission of the European Commu-                      Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
nities, represented by H.P. Hartvig, acting as Agent, with an              European Communities by order of the Tribunale Amministra-
address for service in Luxembourg.                                         tivo Regionale per l'Emilia-Romagna, Sezione di Parma
                                                                           (Regional Administrative Court for Emilia-Romagna, Parma
                                                                           district) of 6 May 2003, received at the Court Registry on
The applicant claims that the Court should:                                17 June 2003, for a preliminary ruling in the case of Alleva-
                                                                           menti Associati S.r.l. and Regione Emilia Romagna against
                                                                           AGEA e Latteria Sociale Moderna S.c.a.r.l. on the following
1.     Declare that the Kingdom of Denmark,                                question:
       —     by not adopting detailed rules for use of the fishing         On a proper construction of Regulation EEC No 3950/92 (1) of
             availabilities allocated to Denmark;                          28 December 1992 (in particular Articles 1, 2 and 9(g)
                                                                           thereof) and Regulation EEC No 536/93 (2) of 9 March 1993
       —     by not ensuring compliance with the EC regulations            (in particular Articles 1, 2 and 3 thereof), is the transfer of a
             on the conservation of fishery resources through              quantity of milk by the producer to a third party, while
             monitoring of fishing activity, through appropriate           retaining the right of property in it, in performance of a
             inspections of landings and registration of catches,          contract for the processing of the milk and in order to
             and through administrative action or criminal                 manufacture cheese, butter and whey, for consideration, to be
             proceedings against the persons responsible for over-         classified as ‘delivery’ or ‘direct sale’ for the purposes of
             fishing;                                                      determining milk quotas and whether the additional levy is to
                                                                           be applied?
       —     by not having provisionally prohibited fishing from
             vessels flying the Danish flag or registered in               (1) OJ L 405 of 31.12.1992, p. 1.
             Denmark when the quota applicable to them is                  (2) OJ L 57 of 10.03.1993, p. 12.
             deemed to have been exhausted;
       has failed to fulfil its obligations under both Article 9(2)
       of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 (1) and
       Articles 2, 21(1) and (2) and 31 of Regulation (EEC)
       No 2847/93 (2);                                                     Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale
                                                                           Amministrativo Regionale per l'Emilia-Romagna, Sezione
                                                                           di Parma by order of that Court of 6 May 2003 in the
2.     Order the Kingdom of Denmark to pay the costs.                      case of Latteria Sociale Moderna Soc. Coop. a r.l. against
                                                                           AIMA and Servizio Provinciale Agricoltura, Reggio Emilia,
                                                                           Regione Emilia Romagna, and AGEA Agenzia per le
                                                                           Erogazioni in Agricoltura; Intervener: Allevamenti Asso-
                                                                                                      ciati Soc.r.l.
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                                     (Case C-262/03)
These pleas correspond essentially to those put forward in the                                      (2003/C 200/25)
application in Case C-259/03 (3) brought concerning exceeding
of fisheries availabilities and insufficient related control
measures for the years 1990 to 1992 and 1994.                              Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                           European Communities by order of the Tribunale Amministra-
                                                                           tivo Regionale per l'Emilia-Romagna, Sezione di Parma
(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992                (Regional Administrative Court for Emilia-Romagna, Parma
    establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (OJ
    1992 L 389, p. 1).                                                     district) of 6 May 2003, received at the Court Registry on
(2) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847 of 12 October 1993 establishing       17 June 2003, for a preliminary ruling in the case of Latteria
    a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (OJ         Sociale Moderna Soc. Coop. a r.l. against AIMA and Servizio
    1993 261, p. 1).                                                       Provinciale Agricoltura, Reggio Emilia, Regione Emilia
(3) See p. 13 of this Official Journal.                                    Romagna, and AGEA Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura;
                                                                           Intervener: Allevamenti Associati Soc.r.l. on the following
                                                                           question:
 ---pagebreak--- 23.8.2003             EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                        C 200/15
On a proper construction of Regulation EEC No 3950/92 (1) of               imports, since it allows the authorities an excessive degree of
28 December 1992 (in particular Articles 1, 2 and 9(g) thereof)            latitude and does not require them to take a decision within a
and Regulation EEC No 536/93 (2) of 9 March 1993 (in parti-                brief and precisely determined period. In the case of parallel
cular Articles 1, 2 and 3 thereof), is the transfer of a quantity of       imports of medicines, that barrier goes well beyond what is
milk by the producer to a third party, while retaining the right           necessary for the protection of public health.
of property in it, in performance of a contract for the proces-
sing of the milk and in order to manufacture cheese, butter and
whey, for consideration, to be classified as ‘delivery’ or ‘direct
sale’ for the purposes of determining milk quotas and whether
the additional levy is to be applied?
(1) OJ L 405 of 31.12.1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 57 of 10.03.1993, p. 12.
                                                                           Action brought on 17 June 2003 by the Commission of
                                                                             the European Communities against the French Republic
                                                                                                    (Case C-264/03)
                                                                                                    (2003/C 200/27)
Action brought on 17 June 2003 by the Commission of
  the European Communities against the French Republic
                                                                           An action against the French Republic was brought before the
                                                                           Court of Justice of the European Communities on 17 June
                         (Case C-263/03)                                   2003 by the Commission of the European Communities,
                                                                           represented by B. Stromsky, K. Wiedner and F. Simonetti,
                                                                           acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg.
                         (2003/C 200/26)
                                                                           The Commission of the European Communities claims that the
                                                                           Court should:
An action against the French Republic was brought before the
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 17 June
2003 by the Commission of the European Communities,                        1.    declare that, by reserving, in Article 4 of the Law of
represented by B. Stromsky, acting as Agent, with an address                     12 July 1985, delegated management contracts to an
for service in Luxembourg.                                                       exhaustive list of legal entities governed by French law,
                                                                                 the French Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations
                                                                                 under Directive 92/50/EEC (1), and in particular
The Commission of the European Communities claims that the                       Articles 8 and 9 thereof, and under Article 49 of the
Court should:                                                                    Treaty establishing the European Community;
1.    declare that, in so far as the French legislation in force           2.    order the French Republic to pay the costs.
      subjects imports of medicines from other Member States
      of the European Community, when they are identical to
      medicines already authorised in France (parallel imports),
      to unreasonable conditions, in particular as regards the
      discretionary power granted to the authorities and the               Pleas in law and main arguments
      absence of a prescribed period within which they must
      take a decision, the French Republic has failed to fulfil its
      obligations under Article 28 of the Treaty establishing the          Reserving delegated management contracts to certain legal
      European Community;                                                  entities governed by French law constitutes a breach of Direc-
                                                                           tive 92/50/EEC and a restriction on the principle of the
2.    order the French Republic to pay the costs.                          freedom to provide services laid down in Article 49 of the
                                                                           Treaty which is not justified under the exception provided for
                                                                           in Article 45 of the Treaty.
                                                                           The management contract is a public service contract within
Pleas in law and main arguments                                            the meaning of Article 1(a) of Directive 92/50. Moreover,
                                                                           management contracts fall within Category No 12 of
                                                                           Annex IA, apart from contracts exclusively or principally
The situation called in question essentially results from the              concerning representative tasks, so that the French legislation
absence of a specific procedure for authorising parallel imports           fails to comply with Article 8 of the Directive. Management
of medicines in French territory. The general procedure for the            contracts which relate exclusively or principally to representa-
prior authorisation of the import of medicines which is there-             tive tasks come under Annex IB of the Directive, so that the
fore applicable constitutes a barrier to imports and a measure             French legislation fails to comply with Article 9 of the Direc-
having equivalent effect to a quantitative restriction on                  tive as well.