CELEX: C1996/318/09
Language: en
Date: 1996-10-26 00:00:00
Title: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Amtsgericht Reutlingen by judgment of that court of 19 August 1996 in the criminal proceedings against Martino Grado and Shahid Bashir (Case C-291/96)

26 . 10 . 96             EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                    No C 318/5
      Article 3(1 ) precludes the registration of generic names .       by the Commission of the European Communities,
      In order to establish whether a name is generic,                  represented by Mr James Macdonald Flett, member of the
      particular account is to be taken of the existing situation       Legal Service, acting as agent, with an address for service in
      in the Member State in which the name originates, the             Luxembourg at the office of Mr Carlos Gomez de la Cruz,
      existing situation in other Member States, and the                member of the Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
      relevant national or Community laws . 'Feta ' has been
      produced in Denmark since 1951 . Since 1963 rules have            The Applicant claims that the Court should :
      governed its production . 'Feta' was known and
      produced in the Community before Greece's accession.              — declare that by failing to adopt the laws, regulations or
      Danish 'feta ' was exported to Greece as ' feta ' until Greek            administrative provisions necessary to comply with
      rules on ' feta ' were introduced in 1987 . A number of                  Council Directive 93/53/EEC of 24 June 1993
      other Member States including, at all events, besides                    introducing minimum Community measures for the
      Denmark, Germany, France and Finland, produce ' feta '.                  control of certain fish diseases (') and Council Directive
      Moreover, since 1975 'feta' has been covered by various                  93/54/EEC of 24 June 1993 amending Directive
      Community rules . When the Council Regulation was                        91 /67/EEC concerning the animal health conditions
      issued, ' feta' was being lawfully produced and marketed                 governing the placing on the market of aquaculture
      in many Member States .                                                  animals and products ( 2 ), Ireland has failed to fulfil its
                                                                               obligations under those Directives and under the Treaty
— The registration of 'feta' as a protected designation of                     establishing the European Community,
      origin is, moreover, contrary to the provisions in
      Articles 30 and 36 of the Treaty. Under the Court's                      and
      case-law, there must be a geographical link between the
      designation and the region before a designation of origin         — order Ireland to pay the costs .
      can lawfully be protected. The region in question may
      not be an entire country and the designation must not be          Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support
      used to protect products indiscriminately, whatever
      their origin .                                                    Article 1 89 of the EC Treaty provides that Directives shall be
                                                                        binding, as to the result to be achieved, on each Member
— In adopting Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/86                   State to which they are addressed . Article 5 of the Treaty
      the   Commission         has  exceeded  the   limits    of its    provides that Member States shall take all appropriate
      discretionary powers .                                            measures, whether general or particular, to ensure
                                                                        fulfilment of the obligations arising out of the Treaty or
                                                                        resulting from action taken by the institutions of the
— Commission Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/96 is, in respect                Community.
      of 'feta', contrary to the principle of proportionality.
      Protection of Greek feta could be achieved by less                Directives 93/53/EEC and 93/54/EEC provide that Member
      onerous means . The Commission regulation is,                     States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
      moreover, contrary to the principle of equal treatment            administrative provisions necessary to comply with the
       because 'feta' is a generic name which should be treated         Directives not later than 1 July 1994, and that they shall
      in the same way as other generic names .                          forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
— Lastly, in adopting Regulation ( EC ) No 1107/96, the                 The Commission has not received any information
       Commission has acted in breach of its duty of fairness,          concerning measures taken by Ireland to comply with the
       since it disregarded considerable opposition on the part         Directives and has received no official reply to its letter of
       of several Member States .                                       formal notice or its reasoned opinion .
                                                                         ( 1 ) OJ No L 175 , 19 . 7 . 1993 , p . 23 .
(') OJ No L 148 , 21 . 6 . 1996 , p . 1 .
( 2 ) OJ No L 208 , 24 . 7. 1992, p . 1 .                                ( 2 ) OJ No L 175 , 19 . 7. 1993 , p . 34 .
                                                                        Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Amtsgericht
                                                                        Reutlingen by judgment of that court of 19 August 1996 in
                                                                        the criminal proceedings against Martino Grado and Shahid
Action brought on 3 September 1996 by the Commission                                                       Bashir
          of the European Communities against Ireland
                                                                                                   ( Case C-291/96 )
                           ( Case C-290/96
                                                                                                      ( 96/C 318/09 )
                             ( 96/C 318/08 )
                                                                         Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
An action against Ireland was brought before the Court of                European Communities by judgment of the Amtsgericht
Justice of the European Communities on 3 September 1996                  ( Local Court ), Reutlingen, of 19 August 1996 , which was
 ---pagebreak--- No C 318/6               EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                    26 . 10 . 96
 received at the Court Registry on 3 September 1996, for a              Action brought on 9 September 1996 by the Federal
preliminary ruling in the criminal proceedings against                  Republic of Germany against the Commission of the
Martino Grado and Shahid Bashir on the following                                           European Communities
 question:                                                                                     ( Case C-293/96
                                                                                                 ( 96/C 318/11 )
 Is it compatible with European Community law or is it
 contrary to the prohibition on discrimination laid down in
 Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union for a
 Staatsanwalt ( Public Prosecutor ) expressly to refuse to use          An action against the Commission of the European
 the courtesy title 'Herr' in an application, which he has              Communities was brought before the Court of Justice of the
 drafted and subsequently placed before the court for                   European Communities on 9 September 1996 by the Federal
 signature, for a summary punishment order in the case of a             Republic of Germany, represented by Dr Ernst Roder, of the
 foreign employee ( for the purposes of Articles 48 to 51 of the        Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, D-53107 Bonn, and
Treaty on European Union ) from another Member State of                 Dr Alfred Dittrich, of the Federal Ministry of Justice,
the European Union, particularly where this is contrary to              D-53175 Bonn .
the custom of the Staatsanwaltschaft ( Public Prosecutor's
 Office ) and to the Staatsanwalt's own usual practice ?
                                                                        The applicant claims that the Court should :
                                                                        — declare void Article 1 ( 1 ) of Commission Regulation
                                                                            ( EC ) No 1 107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht                   geographical indications and designations of origin
Diisseldorf made by order of that court of 14 August 1996                   under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council
in the case of Goritz Intransco International GmbH v.                       Regulation ( EEC) No 2081 /92 (') in so far as it is laid
                     Hauptzollamt Diisseldorf                               down in the Annex thereto that for cheeses from Greece
                          ( Case C-292/96 )                                 the designation ' feta ' is to be registered as a protected
                                                                            designation of origin (PDO ) in the 'Register of protected
                             96/C 318/ 10 )
                                                                            designations of origin and protected geographical
                                                                            indications' maintained by the Commission,
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by order of the Fourth Senate of the
Finanzgericht ( Finance Court ) Diisseldorf of 14 August               — order the defendant to pay the costs of the
 1996 , which was received at the Court Registry on                         proceedings.
4 September 1996 , for a preliminary ruling in the case of
Goritz Intransco International GmbH v. Hauptzollamt
( Principal Customs Office ) Diisseldorf on the following
questions :                                                            Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support
 1 . Is Article 76 ( 1 ) of Council Regulation ( EEC )
      No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs                    The designation 'feta' does not constitute a designation of
      Code ( 1 ), in conjunction with Article 398 et seq. of            origin within the meaning of Article 2 ( 3 ) of Council
      Commission Regulation (EEC ) No 2454/93 laying                   Regulation (EEC ) No 2081 /92 (2 ). ' Feta ' is not a
      down provisions for the implementation of Council                geographical name . Nor is it a traditional name designating
      Regulation ( EEC ) No 2913/92 establishing the                   an agricultural product or foodstuff originating in a specific
      Community Customs Code ( 2 ), the legal basis for grant          region or place; cheeses marketed under the name ' feta ' have
      of 'authorized consignor' status, or is such                      been produced for a long time in numerous countries
      authorization, pursuant to Article 76 ( 4 ) of Regulation        outside Greece, for example Denmark, Germany, France ,
      ( EEC ) No 2913/92, to be based only on the said                 the Balkans, Iran and the USA. Moreover, feta cheeses are
      Article 398 et seq.}                                             not products, the quality or characteristics of which are
                                                                       essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical
2 . Does Article 398 of Regulation ( EEC ) No 2454/93                  environment with its inherent natural and human factors
      preclude authorization as an 'authorized consignor'              and the production, processing and preparation of which
      where, as a result of goods having already been                  take place in a defined geographical area . According to the
      presented to customs, the exemption from the                     specification submitted by the competent Greek body, the
      obligation to present them is no longer possible ?               administrative district of Lesbos is the only possible area of
                                                                       origin in the Aegean Sea ; pursuant to Regulation ( EEC )
(') OJ No L 302 , 19 . 10 . 1992 , p . 1 .                             No 2019/93 ( 3 ) Community law provides for aid for the
( 2 ) OJ No L 253 , 11 . 10 . 1993 , p . 1 .                           production of feta on such islands as are not referred to in
                                                                       the abovementioned specification . The Federal Government
                                                                       takes the view that ' feta ' is a generic name which by virtue of
                                                                       Article 17 ( 2 ), third sentence, of Regulation No 2081/92