CELEX: C2003/158/09
Language: en
Date: 2003-07-05 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 15 May 2003 in Case C-300/01 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Landesgericht Feldkirch): Doris Salzmann (Free movement of capital — Article 73b of the EC Treaty (now Article 56 EC) — Prior authorisation procedure for the acquisition of building plots — Purely internal situation — Article 70 of the Act of Accession of the Republic of Austria — Concept of "existing legislation" — Point 1(e) of Annex XII to the EEA Agreement)

C 158/6                  EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                                5.7.2003
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                            to enable a third person to supply a guarantee required and
                                                                                   defined by that State, in so far as the legal relationship between
                           (Fifth Chamber)                                         the creditor and the guarantor, under the guarantee contract,
                                                                                   does not entail the exercise by the State of powers going beyond
                           of 15 May 2003                                          those existing under the rules applicable to relations between
                                                                                   private individuals;
in Case C-266/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
                                                                             —     ‘customs matters’, within the meaning of the second sentence of
the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden): Préservatrice foncière
                                                                                   that provision, does not cover a claim by which a contracting
              TIARD SA v Staat der Nederlanden ( 1)
                                                                                   State seeks to enforce a guarantee contract intended to guarantee
                                                                                   the payment of a customs debt, where the legal relationship
(Brussels Convention — Article 1 — Scope — Concept of                              between the State and the guarantor, under that contract, does
‘civil and commercial matters’ — Concept of ‘customs                               not entail the exercise by the State of powers going beyond
matters’ — Action based on a guarantee contract between                            those existing under the rules applicable to relations between
the State and an insurance company — Contract entered                              private individuals, even if the guarantor may raise pleas in
into in order to satisfy a condition imposed by the State on                       defence which necessitate an investigation into the existence and
associations of carriers, principal debtors, under Article 6 of                    content of the customs debt.
                        the TIR Convention)
                           (2003/C 158/08)                                   (1 ) OJ C 275 of 29.9.2001.
                     (Language of the case: Dutch)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                    in the European Court Reports)
                                                                                               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
In Case C-266/01: Reference to the Court under the Protocol
                                                                                                       (Sixth Chamber)
of 3 June 1971 on the interpretation by the Court of Justice of
the Convention of 27 September 1968 on Jurisdiction and the
Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters                                                of 15 May 2003
by the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands) for a
preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that                    in Case C-300/01 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
court between Préservatrice foncière TIARD SA and Staat                            the Landesgericht Feldkirch): Doris Salzmann ( 1)
der Nederlanden, on the interpretation of Article 1 of the
abovementioned Convention of 27 September 1968 (OJ 1972                      (Free movement of capital — Article 73b of the EC Treaty
L 299, p. 32), as amended by the Convention of 9 October
                                                                             (now Article 56 EC) — Prior authorisation procedure for the
1978 on the Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland                     acquisition of building plots — Purely internal situation —
and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland                 Article 70 of the Act of Accession of the Republic of
(OJ 1978 L 304, p. 1, and — amended text — p. 77), by the
                                                                             Austria — Concept of ‘existing legislation’ — Point 1(e) of
Convention of 25 October 1982 on the Accession of the                                        Annex XII to the EEA Agreement)
Hellenic Republic (OJ 1982 L 388, p. 1) and by the Convention
of 26 May 1989 on the Accession of the Kingdom of Spain
and the Portuguese Republic (OJ 1989 L 285, p. 1), the Court                                            (2003/C 158/09)
(Fifth Chamber), composed of: M. Wathelet, President of the
Chamber, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann (Rapporteur)                                      (Language of the case: German)
and A. Rosas, Judges; P. Léger, Advocate General; L. Hewlett,
Principal Administrator, Registrar, has given a judgment on                  (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
15 May 2003, in which it has ruled:                                                              in the European Court Reports)
The first paragraph of Article 1 of the Convention of 27 September
1968 on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and
Commercial Matters, as amended by the Convention of 9 October                In Case C-300/01, reference to the Court under Article 234
1978 on the Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the             EC by the Landesgericht Feldkirch (Austria) for a preliminary
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, by the                 ruling in the land registration case brought before that court
Convention of 25 October 1982 on the Accession of the Hellenic               by Doris Salzmann — on the interpretation of Article 73b of
Republic and by the Convention of 26 May 1989 on the Accession               the EC Treaty (now Article 56 EC) and of point 1(e) of
of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic, must be                 Annex XII to the Agreement on the European Economic Area
interpreted as follows:                                                      of 2 May 1992 (OJ 1994 L 1, p. 3) — the Court (Sixth
                                                                             Chamber), composed of: J.-P. Puissochet (Rapporteur), Presi-
—     ‘civil and commercial matters’, within the meaning of the first        dent of the Chamber, R. Schintgen, V. Skouris, F. Macken and
      sentence of that provision, covers a claim by which a contracting      J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges; P. Léger, Advocate General; M.-
      State seeks to enforce against a person governed by private law        F. Contet, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given
      a private-law guarantee contract which was concluded in order          a judgment on 15 May 2003, in which it has ruled:
 ---pagebreak--- 5.7.2003                 EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                               C 158/7
1.    Article 73b(1) of the EC Treaty (now Article 56(1) EC)                 1.    Declares that, by failing to identify sensitive areas in the
      precludes an administrative authorisation procedure prior to                 intracommunal catchment area of the Autonomous Community
      acquisition of land, such as that established by the Vorarlberger            of Catalonia and the coastal waters of the Autonomous
      Grundverkehrsgesetz (Vorarlberg Land Transfer Law) of                        Communities of the Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencia, the
      23 September 1993, as amended in LGBl. 1997/85. It is for                    Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, and of the autonomous
      the national court to determine whether such a procedure is                  city of Ceuta, the Kingdom of Spain failed to fulfil its
      covered by the derogation established by Article 70 of the Act               obligations under Article 5 of Council Directive 91/271/EEC
      concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of                    of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment;
      Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden
      and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European              2.    Dismisses the remainder of the application;
      Union is founded.
                                                                             3.    Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.
2.    The Court of Justice of the European Communities has no
      jurisdiction to answer the third question submitted.
                                                                             (1 ) OJ C 348 of 8.12.2001.
( 1) OJ C 303 of 27.10.2001.
                                                                                               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                                                (Fourth Chamber)
                          (Sixth Chamber)                                                               of 15 May 2003
                           of 15 May 2003                                    in Case C-483/01: Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                                                   ties v French Republic ( 1)
in Case C-419/01: Commission of the European Communi-                        (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive
                    ties v Kingdom of Spain ( 1)
                                                                             96/29/Euratom — Protection of the health of workers and
                                                                             the general public against the dangers arising from ionising
(Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations —                                   radiation — Incomplete implementation)
Directive 91/271/EEC — Article 5 — Urban waste water
        treatment — Failure to identify sensitive areas)                                                (2003/C 158/11)
                           (2003/C 158/10)                                                        (Language of the case: French)
                    (Language of the case: Spanish)                          (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-483/01, Commission of the European Communities
                                                                             (Agent: R. Tricot) v French Republic (Agents: G. de Bergues
                                                                             and C. Isidoro): Application for a declaration that by failing to
In Case C-419/01, Commission of the European Communities                     adopt and, in any event, by failing to communicate to
(Agent: G. Valero Jordana) v Kingdom of Spain (Agent:                        the Commission the laws, regulations and administrative
L. Fraguas Gadea): Application for a declaration that, by                    provisions necessary to comply with Council Directive 96/29/
identifying sensitive areas in only some regions of its territory,           Euratom of 13 May 1996 laying down basic safety standards
the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under              for the protection of the health of workers and the general
Article 5 of Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991                     public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation (OJ
concerning urban waste water treatment (OJ 1991 L 135,                       1996 L 159, p. 1), the French Republic has failed to fulfil its
p. 40), the Court (Sixth Chamber), composed of: J.-P. Puisso-                obligations under that directive, the Court (Fourth Chamber),
chet, President of the Chamber, R. Schintgen, C. Gulmann,                    composed of: C.W.A. Timmermans (Rapporteur), President of
F. Macken (Rapporteur) and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges;                     the Chamber, D.A.O. Edward and A. La Pergola, Judges;
F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a              A. Tizzano, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a
judgment on 15 May 2003, in which it has ruled:                              judgment on 15 May 2003, in which it: