CELEX: C2002/118/08
Language: en
Date: 2002-05-18 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) 21 March 2002 in Case C-451/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Handelsgericht Wien): Cura Anlagen GmbH v Auto Service Leasing GmbH (ASL) (Vehicle leasing — Prohibition on using in a Member State for longer than a certain time a vehicle registered in another Member State — Obligations to register the vehicle and to pay a consumption tax in the Member State of use — Obligation to insure with an insurer authorised in the Member State of use — Obligation to undergo roadworthiness testing — Restrictions on the freedom to provide services — Justifications)

C 118/6                 EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                          18.5.2002
No 1408/71 of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application                                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-
employed persons and to members of their families moving
within the Community, as amended and updated by Council                                                (Fifth Chamber)
Regulation (EEC) No 2001/83 of 2 June 1983 (OJ 1983 L 230,
p. 6), and as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3811/
86 of 11 December 1986 (OJ 1986 L 355, p. 5), the Court,
composed of: G.C. Rodrı́guez Iglesias, President, P. Jann,                                              21 March 2002
F. Macken and N. Colneric (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gul-
mann, D.A.O. Edward, J.-P. Puissochet (Rapporteur), M. Wathe-
let and V. Skouris, Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate General;                 in Case C-451/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on                 the Handelsgericht Wien): Cura Anlagen GmbH v Auto
19 March 2002, in which it has ruled:                                                       Service Leasing GmbH (ASL) (1)
                                                                           (Vehicle leasing — Prohibition on using in a Member State
                                                                           for longer than a certain time a vehicle registered in another
Examination of the questions referred has not disclosed any factor of      Member State — Obligations to register the vehicle and to
such a kind as to affect the validity:                                     pay a consumption tax in the Member State of use —
                                                                           Obligation to insure with an insurer authorised in the
                                                                           Member State of use — Obligation to undergo roadworthi-
                                                                           ness testing — Restrictions on the freedom to provide
—     of Article 14c(1)(b) of and Annex VII to Regulation No 1408/                               services — Justifications)
      71 of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application of social
      security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons
      and to members of their families moving within the Community,                                    (2002/C 118/08)
      as amended and updated by Council Regulation (EEC)
      No 2001/83 of 2 June 1983.
                                                                                               (Language of the case: German)
—     of Article 14(b) of and Annex VII to that regulation, as
      amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3811/86 of                    (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
      11 December 1986.                                                                         in the European Court Reports)
However, it is, where appropriate, for the national court hearing          In Case C-451/99: Reference to the Court under Article 234
disputes in the context of the application of that provision, first, to    EC by the Handelsgericht Wien (Austria) for a preliminary
ascertain that the legislation of the States concerned applied in that     ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
context is applied in accordance with Articles 48 and 52 of the            Cura Anlagen GmbH and Auto Service Leasing GmbH (ASL),
Treaty (now, after amendment, Articles 39 EC and 43 EC), and in            on the interpretation of Articles 49 EC to 55 EC and Article 28
particular that the national legislation whose conditions for appli-       EC,the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: S. von Bahr,
cation are at issue does afford social security cover for the person       President of the Fourth Chamber, acting for the President of
concerned, and, second, to determine whether that provision should,        the Fifth Chamber, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, M. Wathelet
exceptionally, be disapplied at the request of the worker concerned        (Rapporteur) and C.W.A. Timmermans, Judges; F.G. Jacobs,
where it would cause him to lose a social security advantage which he      Advocate General; H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has
originally enjoyed under a social security convention in force between     given a judgment on 21 March 2002, in which it has ruled:
two or more Member States.
                                                                           The provisions of the EC Treaty on the freedom to provide services
                                                                           (Articles 49 EC to 55 EC) preclude legislation of a Member State,
                                                                           such as that at issue in the main proceedings, requiring an
(1) OJ C 366 of 18.12.1999.                                                undertaking established in that Member State which takes a lease of
                                                                           a vehicle registered in another Member State to register it in the first
                                                                           Member State in order to be able to use it there beyond a period that
                                                                           is so short, in this case three days, that it makes it impossible or
                                                                           excessively difficult to comply with the requirements imposed. The
                                                                           same provisions of the Treaty preclude legislation of a Member State,
                                                                           such as that at issue in the main proceedings, requiring an
                                                                           undertaking established in that Member State which takes a lease of
 ---pagebreak--- 18.5.2002               EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                               C 118/7
a vehicle registered in another Member State to register in the first                          JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
Member State and imposing on it one or more of the following
conditions:
                                                                                                         19 March 2002
—    a requirement that the person in whose name the vehicle is             in Case C-476/99 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
     registered in the Member State of use reside or have a place of        the Centrale Raad van Beroep): H. Lommers v Minister
     business there, in so far as it obliges a leasing undertaking                    van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij (1)
     either to have a principal place of business in that Member
     State or to accept registration of the vehicle in the name of the
     lessee and the consequent limitation of its rights over the vehicle;
                                                                            (Social policy — Equal treatment of men and women —
                                                                            Derogations — Measures to promote equality of opportunity
                                                                            between men and women — Subsidised nursery places made
                                                                            available by a Ministry to its staff — Places reserved only
                                                                            for children of female officials, save in cases of emergency,
—    a requirement to insure the vehicle with an authorised insurer                          to be determined by the employer)
     in the Member State of use, if that requirement implies that the
     insurer must have its principal place of business in that Member
     State, as the home State within the meaning of the non-life
     insurance directives, and have ‘official authorisation’ there;                                     (2002/C 118/09)
                                                                                                  (Language of the case: Dutch)
—    a requirement of a roadworthiness test when the vehicle has
     already undergone such testing in the Member State where the           (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
     leasing company is established, save where that requirement is                              in the European Court Reports)
     aimed at verifying that the vehicle satisfies the conditions
     imposed on vehicles registered in the Member State of use that
     are not covered by the tests carried out in the Member State
     where the leasing company is established and/or, if the vehicle
     has in the meantime been used on the public highway, that its
     condition has not deteriorated since it was tested in that latter
     Member State, provided similar testing is imposed where a              In Case C-476/99: Reference to the Court under Article 234
     vehicle previously tested in the Member State of use is presented      EC by the Centrale Raad van Beroep (Netherlands) for a
     for registration in that State;                                        preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
                                                                            court between H. Lommers and Minister van Landbouw,
                                                                            Natuurbeheer en Visserij, on the interpretation of Article 2(1)
                                                                            and (4) of Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976
                                                                            on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for
                                                                            men and women as regards access to employment, vocational
—    payment, in the Member State of use, of a consumption tax the          training and promotion, and working conditions (OJ 1976
     amount of which is not proportionate to the duration of the            L 39, p. 40), the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodrı́guez Iglesias,
     registration of the vehicle in that State.                             President, P. Jann, F. Macken and N. Colneric (Presidents of
                                                                            Chambers), C. Gulmann, A. La Pergola (Rapporteur),
                                                                            J.-P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen and V. Skouris, Judges; S. Alber,
                                                                            Advocate General; H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, has
                                                                            given a judgment on 19 March 2002, in which it has ruled:
(1) OJ C 34 of 5.2.2000.                                                    Article 2(1) and (4) of Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February
                                                                            1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for
                                                                            men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training
                                                                            and promotion, and working conditions does not preclude a scheme
                                                                            set up by a Minister to tackle extensive under-representation of
                                                                            women within his Ministry under which, in a context characterised
                                                                            by a proven insufficiency of proper, affordable care facilities, a limited
                                                                            number of subsidised nursery places made available by the Ministry
                                                                            to its staff is reserved for female officials alone whilst male officials
                                                                            may have access to them only in cases of emergency, to be determined