CELEX: C2001/173/14
Language: en
Date: 2001-06-16 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 20 February 2001 in Case C-205/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Supremo, Spain): Asociación Profesional de Empresas Navieras de Líneas Regulares (Analir) and Others v Administración General del Estado (Freedom to provide services — Maritime cabotage — Conditions for the grant and continuation of prior administrative authorisation — Concurrent application of the methods of imposing public service obligations and of concluding public service contracts)

16.6.2001                EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                             C 173/9
In order to determine whether a person is a national of the United         1.   The combined provisions of Article 1 and Article 4 of Council
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the purposes of               Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 of 7 December 1992 applying
Community law, it is necessary to refer to the 1982 Declaration by              the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport
the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and                       within Member States (maritime cabotage) permit the provision
Northern Ireland on the definition of the term ‘nationals’ which                of regular maritime cabotage services to, from and between
replaced the 1972 Declaration by the Government of the United                   islands to be made subject to prior administrative authorisation
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the definition of              only if:
the term ‘nationals’, annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty concerning
the Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland and the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the European                   —     a real public service need arising from the inadequacy of
Communities.                                                                          the regular transport services under conditions of free
                                                                                      competition can be demonstrated;
(1) OJ C 226 of 7.8.1999.
                                                                                —     it is also demonstrated that that prior administrative
                                                                                      authorisation scheme is necessary and proportionate to
                                                                                      the aim pursued;
                                                                                —     such a scheme is based on objective, non-discriminatory
                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                                criteria which are known in advance to the undertakings
                                                                                      concerned.
                        of 20 February 2001
in Case C-205/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Tribunal Supremo, Spain): Asociación Profesional de
Empresas Navieras de Lı́neas Regulares (Analir) and                        2.   Community law permits a Member State to include in the
       Others v Administración General del Estado (1)                          conditions for granting and maintaining prior administrative
                                                                                authorisation as a means of imposing public service obligations
                                                                                on a Community shipowner a condition enabling account to be
(Freedom to provide services — Maritime cabotage —
                                                                                taken of his solvency, such as the requirement that he have no
Conditions for the grant and continuation of prior adminis-
                                                                                outstanding tax or social security debts, thus giving the Member
trative authorisation — Concurrent application of the
                                                                                State the opportunity to check the shipowner’s ‘capacity to
methods of imposing public service obligations and of
                                                                                provide the service’, provided that such a condition is applied on
               concluding public service contracts)
                                                                                a non-discriminatory basis.
                           (2001/C 173/14)
                   (Language of the case: Spanish)
                                                                           3.   Article 4(1) of Regulation No 3577/92 is to be interpreted as
                                                                                permitting a Member State to impose public service obligations
                                                                                on some shipping companies and, at the same time, to conclude
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                                                                                public service contracts within the meaning of Article 2(3) of
                    in the European Court Reports)
                                                                                the regulation with others for the same line or route in order to
                                                                                ensure the same regular traffic to, from or between islands,
In Case C-205/99: reference to the Court under Article 234                      provided that a real public service need can be demonstrated
EC from the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court), Spain, for a                      and in so far as that application of the two methods concurrently
preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that                       is on a non-discriminatory basis and is justified in relation to
court between Asociación Profesional de Empresas Navieras                      the public-interest objective pursued.
de Lı́neas Regulares (Analir) and Others and Administración
General del Estado — on the interpretation of Articles 1, 2
and 4 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 of 7 December
1992 applying the principle of freedom to provide services to
maritime transport within Member States (maritime cabotage)
(OJ 1992 L 364, p. 7) — the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodrı́-
                                                                           (1) OJ C 204 of 17.7.1999.
guez Iglesias, President, C. Gulmann and M. Wathelet (Presi-
dents of Chambers), D.A.O. Edward, P. Jann, L. Sevón,
R. Schintgen, F. Macken, N. Colneric, S. von Bahr and
C.W.A. Timmermans (Rapporteur), Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate
General; D. Louterman-Hubeau, Head of Division, for the
Registrar, has given a judgment on 20 February 2001, in
which it has ruled: