CELEX: C1996/046/06
Language: en
Date: 1996-02-17 00:00:00
Title: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT of 12 December 1995 in Case C-399/93 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Arrondissementsrechtbank, Zutphen): H.G. Oude Luttikhuis and Others v. Verenigde Coöperatieve Melkindustrie Coberco BA (Competition - Statutes of dairy cooperative associations - Fee payable on withdrawal or expulsion - Article 85 of the Treaty and Regulation No 26)

No C 46/4              EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                       17. 2 . 96
    does not qualify for exemption pursuant to                        Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a
    Article 85 (3), it is automatically void arid such nullity        judgment on 12 December 1995 , in which it rules :
    has retroactive effect.
                                                                      1 . In order to decide whether fees payable under the
2 . A national court before which a party pleads the nullity                statutes of a cooperative association on withdrawal or
    of a clause in the statutes of an agricultural cooperative              exclusion are compatible with Article 85 (1 ) of the EEC
    on the ground that it infringes Article 85 (1 ) of the                  Treaty, the national court must consider the object of
    Treaty, and before which the cooperative seeks to rely                  the agreement providing for such fees, the effects of that
    on Article 2 (1 ) of Regulation No 26, may continue the                 agreement and whether it affects intra- Community
    proceedings and adjudicate on the dispute if it is clear                trade, taking into account the economic context in
    that the criteria for the application of Article 85 (1) are             which the undertakings operate, the products or services
    not fulfilled, or may declare the clause void under                     covered by the agreement, the structure of the market
    Article 85 (2) if it is certain that that provision does not            concerned and the actual conditions in which it
    fulfil the conditions for application of the exception laid             functions.
    down in Article 2 (1 ) of Regulation No 26 and does not
    qualify for exemption under Article 85 (3). Where there
    is any doubt, the national court may, if it is appropriate        2 . Fees payable under the statutes of a cooperative
    and consistent with the national rules of procedure,                    association on withdrawal or exclusion may fall within
    obtain additional information from the Commission or                    the derogation provided for in Regulation No 26 of the
    allow the parties to seek a decision from the                           Council of 4 April 1962 applying certain rules of
     Commission .                                                           competition to production of and trade in agricultural
                                                                            products only if the agreement providing for them
(•) OJ No C 204 , 28 . 7 . 1993 .
                                                                            concerns a cooperative association belonging to a single
                                                                            Member State, does not cover prices but concerns rather
                                                                            the production or sale ofagricultural products or the use
                                                                            ofjoint facilities for the storage, treatment or processing
                                                                            of such products, and finally does not exclude
                                                                            competition or jeopardize the objectives of the common
                                                                            agricultural policy.
                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                      of 12 December 1995                             (') OJ No C 274 , 12 . 10 . 1993 .
in Case C-3 99/93 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Arrondissementsrechtbank, Zutphen ): H.G. Oude
Luttikhuis and Others v. Verenigde Cooperatieve
                  Melkindustrie Coberco BA (*)
(Competition — Statutes of dairy cooperative associations
— Fee payable on withdrawal or expulsion — Article 85 of
                the Treaty and Regulation No 26)                                      JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                           ( 96/C 46/06 )                                                       ( Sixth Chamber)
                                                                                             of 12 December 1995
                  (Language of the case: Dutch)                        in Case C-469/93 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
                                                                       the Tribunale di Trieste): Amministrazione delle Finanze
 (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be                       dello Stato v. Chiquita Italia SpA ( J )
         published in the European Court Reports)                      (Direct effect of provisions of the GATT and the Lomé
                                                                                     Conventions — Internal taxation)
In Case C-399/93 : reference to the Court under Article 177                                        ( 96/C 46/07 )
of the EEC Treaty from the Arrondissementsrechtbank,
Zutphen ( Zutphen District Court ), ( Holland ), for a                                 (Language of the case: Italian)
preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
court between H.G. Oude Luttikhuis and Others and
Verenigde Cooperatieve Melkindustrie Coberco BA — on                   (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
 the interpretation of Article 85 ( 1 ) of the EEC Treaty and                    published in the European Court Reports)
 Article 2 ( 1 ) of Regulation No 26 of the Council of 4 April
 1962 applying certain rules of competition to production of
 and trade in agricultural products ( OJ, English Special              In Case C-469/93 : reference to the Court under Article 177
 Edition 1959—1962, p. 129 ) — the Court, composed of                  of the EEC Treaty from the Tribunale di Trieste ( District
 G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, President, C. N. Kakouris , D. A. O.        Court, Trieste ) ( Italy ) for a preliminary ruling in the
 Edward ( Rapporteur ), J. -P. Puissochet and G. Hirsch                proceedings pending before that court between
 (Presidents of Chambers ), J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, P. J.           Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato and Chiquita
 G. Kapteyn, C. Gulmann, J. L. Murray, P. Jann and L.                   Italia SpA — on the interpretation of the General Agreement
 Sevón, Judges; G. Tesauro, Advocate General; H. A. Rühl,               on Tariffs and Trade and the ACP-EEC Conventions signed