CELEX: C2002/144/02
Language: en
Date: 2002-06-15 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) 23 April 2002 in Case C-290/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Vestre Landsret): Niels Nygård v Svineafgiftsfonden, intervener: Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri (National levy on pigs — Charge having an equivalent effect — Internal taxation — Levy scheme authorised by the Commission as State aid compatible with the common market — Levy incompatible with provisions of the EC Treaty other than Articles 92 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 87 EC) and 93 of the EC Treaty (now Article 88 EC) — Discretion of the national courts)

C 144/2                  EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                         15.6.2002
6.    Annuls note 2 to the 9th heading concerning anchovy in               Nygård and Svineafgiftsfonden, intervener: Ministeriet for
      Annex I D to Council Regulation (EC) No 2848/2000 of                 Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri, on the interpretation of
      15 December 2000 fixing for 2001 the fishing opportunities           Article 9 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 23
      and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of      EC), Article 12 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment,
      fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Com-            Article 25 EC), Article 16 of the EC Treaty (repealed by the
      munity vessels, in waters where limitations in catch are required;   Treaty of Amsterdam), Article 93 of the EC Treaty (now
                                                                           Article 88 EC), and Article 95 of the EC Treaty (now, after
                                                                           amendment, Article 90 EC), the Court (Sixth Chamber),
7.    Orders the Council of the European Union to pay the costs;           composed of: N. Colneric, President of the Second Chamber,
                                                                           acting for the President of the Sixth Chamber, C. Gulmann,
                                                                           R. Schintgen, V. Skouris (Rapporteur) and J. N. Cunha Rodri-
8.    Orders the Commission of the European Communities to bear            gues, Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar,
      its own costs.                                                       has given a judgment on 23 April 2002, in which it has ruled:
(1) OJ C 133 of 4.5.1996.
                                                                           1.   A levy charged by a body established under public law according
                                                                                to identical criteria on pigs produced in a Member State for
                                                                                slaughter on the domestic market or for live export to other
                                                                                Member States, the revenue from which is allocated to activities
                                                                                benefiting the two types of production, does not fall under the
                                                                                prohibition of charges having equivalent effect to customs duties
                                                                                on exports within the meaning of Article 9 of the EC Treaty
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                         (now, after amendment, Article 23 EC), Article 12 of the EC
                                                                                Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 25 EC) and Article 16
                                                                                of the EC Treaty (repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam). Such
                          (Sixth Chamber)                                       a levy may, however, be classified as discriminatory internal
                                                                                taxation prohibited by Article 95 of the EC Treaty (now, after
                                                                                amendment, Article 90 EC) if and to the extent to which the
                            23 April 2002                                       advantages deriving from the use made of its revenue compensate
                                                                                in part the charge imposed on pigs produced for slaughter in
                                                                                the Member State concerned, thereby placing at a disadvantage
in Case C-290/00 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
                                                                                the production of pigs for live export to other Member States.
the Vestre Landsret): Niels Nygård v Svineafgiftsfonden,
intervener: Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fis-
                                keri (1)
(National levy on pigs — Charge having an equivalent effect
                                                                           2.   The fact that a national levy is intended to finance an aid
— Internal taxation — Levy scheme authorised by the
                                                                                scheme authorised by the Commission pursuant to the Treaty
Commission as State aid compatible with the common
market — Levy incompatible with provisions of the EC                            provisions on State aid does not preclude a national court from
                                                                                examining whether such a levy is compatible with other directly
Treaty other than Articles 92 of the EC Treaty (now, after
                                                                                effective Treaty provisions.
amendment, Article 87 EC) and 93 of the EC Treaty (now
     Article 88 EC) — Discretion of the national courts)
                           (2002/C 144/02)
                    (Language of the case: Danish)
                                                                           (1) OJ C 246 of 28.8.1999.
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                    in the European Court Reports)
In Case C-234/99: Reference to the Court under Article 234
EC by the Vestre Landsret (Denmark) for a preliminary ruling
in the proceedings pending before that court between Niels