CELEX: C2003/264/18
Language: en
Date: 2003-11-01 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 9 September 2003 in Case C-285/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour administrative d'appel de Douai): Isabel Burbaud v Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité (Recognition of diplomas — Hospital managers in the public service — Directive 89/48/EEC — Definition of "diploma" — Entrance examination — Article 48 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 39 EC))

1.11.2003                EN                            Official Journal of the European Union                                                C 264/11
for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that                       provision relating to substantial equivalence within the meaning
court between Monsanto Agricoltura Italia SpA and Others                              of the first subparagraph of Article 3(4) of the Regulation.
and Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri and Others, on
the interpretation and validity of the first subparagraph of
Article 3(4) and the first paragraph of Article 5 of Regulation                (1) OJ C 259 of 15.9.2001.
(EC) No 258/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 27 January 1997 concerning novel foods and novel food
ingredients (OJ 1997 L 43, p. 1), and on the interpretation of
Article 12 thereof, the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodríguez
Iglesias, President, J.-P. Puissochet and C.W.A. Timmermans
(Rapporteur) (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gulmann,
D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann, V. Skouris, S. von Bahr,                                    JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
J.N. Cunha Rodrigues and A. Rosas, Judges; S. Alber, Advocate
General; L. Hewlett, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar,                                        of 9 September 2003
has given a judgment on 9 September 2003, in which it has
ruled:
                                                                               in Case C-285/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
                                                                               the Cour administrative d’appel de Douai): Isabel Burbaud
                                                                                         v Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité (1)
                                                                               (Recognition of diplomas — Hospital managers in the public
                                                                               service — Directive 89/48/EEC — Definition of ‘diploma’
1.    The first subparagraph of Article 3(4) of Regulation (EC)                — Entrance examination — Article 48 of the EC Treaty
      No 258/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of                             (now, after amendment, Article 39 EC))
      27 January 1997 concerning novel foods and novel food
      ingredients must be interpreted as meaning that the mere                                             (2003/C 264/18)
      presence in novel foods of residues of transgenic protein at
      certain levels does not preclude those foods from being considered
      substantially equivalent to existing foods and, consequently, use                               (Language of the case: French)
      of the simplified procedure for placing those foods on the
      market. However, that is not the case where the existence of a           (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
      risk of potentially dangerous effects on human health can be                                   in the European Court Reports)
      identified on the basis of the scientific knowledge available at
      the time of the initial assessment. It is for the national court to
      determine whether that condition is satisfied.
                                                                               In Case C-285/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234
                                                                               EC by the Cour administrative d’appel de Douai (France) for a
                                                                               preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
                                                                               court between Isabel Burbaud and Ministère de l’Emploi et de
                                                                               la Solidarité, on the interpretation of Article 48 of the EC
2.    In principle, the issue of the validity of the use of the simplified     Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 39 EC) and of Council
      procedure laid down in Article 5 of Regulation No 258/97 for             Directive 89/48/EEC of 21 December 1988 on a general
      the placing of novel foods on the market does not affect the             system for the recognition of higher-education diplomas
      power of the Member States to adopt measures falling under               awarded on completion of professional education and training
      Article 12 of the Regulation, such as the Decree of 4 August             of at least three years’ duration (OJ 1989 L 19, p. 16), the
      2000 at issue in the main proceedings. Since the simplified              Court, composed of: G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President,
      procedure does not imply any consent, even tacit, by the                 J.-P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet, R. Schintgen and C.W.A. Timm-
      Commission, a Member State is not required to challenge the              ermans (Rapporteur) (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gulmann,
      lawfulness of such a consent before adopting such measures.              D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, P. Jann, V. Skouris, F. Macken,
      Nevertheless, those measures can be adopted only if the Member           N. Colneric, S. von Bahr, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues and A. Rosas,
      State has first carried out a risk assessment which is as complete       Judges; C. Stix-Hackl, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Principal
      as possible given the particular circumstances of the individual         Administrator, for the Registrar, subsequently H. von Holstein,
      case, from which it is apparent that, in the light of the                Deputy Registrar, has given a judgment on 9 September 2003,
      precautionary principle, the implementation of such measures is          in which it has ruled:
      necessary in order to ensure that novel foods do not present a
      danger for the consumer, in accordance with the first indent of
      Article 3(1) of Regulation No 258/97.                                    1.     Confirmation of passing the final examination of the École
                                                                                      nationale de la santé publique, which leads to permanent
                                                                                      appointment to the French hospital public service, must be
                                                                                      regarded as a ‘diploma’ within the meaning of Council Directive
                                                                                      89/48/EEC of 21 December 1988 on a general system for
                                                                                      the recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on
3.    Consideration of the fourth question has disclosed no factor                    completion of professional education and training of at least
      such as to affect the validity of Article 5 of Regulation No 258/               three years’ duration. It is for the national court to determine,
      97 as regards, inter alia, the condition for application of that                for the purposes of applying point (a) of the first paragraph of
 ---pagebreak--- C 264/12                EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                             1.11.2003
     Article 3 of that directive, whether a qualification obtained in        for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
     another Member State by a national of a Member State wishing            court between Albacom SpA (C-292/01), Infostrada SpA
     to pursue a regulated profession in the host Member State can           (C-293/01) and Ministero del Tesoro, del Bilancio e della
     be regarded as a diploma within the meaning of that provision           Programmazione Economica, Ministero delle Comunicazioni,
     and, if so, to determine the extent to which the training courses       on the interpretation of Directive 97/13/EC of the European
     whose successful completion leads to the award of those                 Parliament and of the Council of 10 April 1997 on a common
     diplomas are similar with regard to both their duration and the         framework for general authorisations and individual licences
     matters covered. If it is apparent from that court’s examination        in the field of telecommunications services (OJ 1997 L 117,
     that both qualifications constitute diplomas within the meaning         p. 15), the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of: M. Wathelet,
     of that directive and that those diplomas are awarded on the            President of the Chamber, C.W.A. Timmermans, A. La Pergola,
     completion of equivalent education or training, the directive           P. Jann and S. von Bahr (Rapporteur), Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo
     precludes the authorities of the host Member State from making          Colomer, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a
     access by that national of a Member State to the profession of          judgment on 18 September 2003, in which it has ruled:
     manager in the hospital public service subject to the condition
     that he complete the training given by the École nationale de la
     santé publique and pass the final examination at the end of             Directive 97/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
                                                                             of 10 April 1997 on a common framework for general authorisations
     that training.
                                                                             and individual licences in the field of telecommunications services
                                                                             and, in particular, Article 11 thereof, prohibit Member States from
2.   Where a national of a Member State holds a diploma obtained
                                                                             imposing financial charges other than and in addition to those
     in one Member State which is equivalent to the diploma
                                                                             allowed by the directive, such as the contested charge in the main
     required in another Member State in order to take up
                                                                             proceedings, on undertakings which hold individual licences in the
     employment in the hospital public service, Community law
                                                                             telecommunications sector solely because they hold such licences.
     precludes the authorities of the second Member State from
     making that national’s access to the employment in question
     subject to his passing a competition such as the entrance
                                                                             (1) OJ C 275 of 29.9.2001 and OJ C 289 of 13.10.2001.
     examination of the École nationale de la santé publique.
(1) OJ C 275 of 29.9.2001.
                                                                                              JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                                                 (First Chamber)
                          (Fifth Chamber)                                                          of 11 September 2003
                      of 18 September 2003                                   in Case C-331/01: Kingdom of Spain v Commission of the
                                                                                                European Communities (1)
In Joined Cases C-292/01 and C-293/01 (Reference for a
preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato): Albacom
                                                                             (EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Additional payments
SpA (C-292/01), Infostrada SpA (C-293/01) v Ministero
                                                                             granted to producers of bovine animals in 1996 — Time-
del Tesoro, del Bilancio e della Programmazione Econ-
          omica, Ministero delle Comunicazioni (1)                                      limits for notification of results of checks)
(Telecommunications services — General authorisations and                                              (2003/C 264/20)
individual licences — Directive 97/13/EC — Fees and
                 charges for individual licences)                                               (Language of the case: Spanish)
                          (2003/C 264/19)                                    (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                                                                                                in the European Court Reports)
                    (Language of the case: Italian)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                   in the European Court Reports)                            In Case C-331/01, Kingdom of Spain (Agent: initially by
                                                                             M. López-Monís Gallego and subsequently by L. Fraguas
                                                                             Gadea) v Commission of the European Communities (Agent:
                                                                             S. Pardo Quintillán): Application for the annulment of Com-
In Joined Cases C-292/01 and C-293/01: Reference to the                      mission Decision 2001/557/EC of 11 July 2001 excluding
Court under Article 234 EC by the Consiglio di Stato (Italy)                 from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by