CELEX: C2002/169/42
Language: en
Date: 2002-07-13 00:00:00
Title: Case C-182/02: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Conseil d'Etat by judgment of that Court of 25 January 2002 in the case of Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux, the Association pour la protection des animaux sauvages, Rassemblement des opposants à la chasse, Union nationale des fédérations départementales de chasseurs and Association nationale des chasseurs de gibier d'eau against République française

C 169/24                 EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                     13.7.2002
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Conseil d’Etat                   The applicant claims that the Court should:
by judgment of that Court of 25 January 2002 in the case
of Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux, the Association
pour la protection des animaux sauvages, Rassemblement
des opposants à la chasse, Union nationale des fédérations                 —     annul Directive 2002/15/EC (1) of the European Parlia-
départementales de chasseurs and Association nationale                           ment and of the Council on the organisation of the
des chasseurs de gibier d’eau against République française                       working time of persons performing mobile road trans-
                                                                                 port activities; and
                           (Case C-182/02)
                                                                           —     order the Council to pay the costs.
                           (2002/C 169/42)
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by judgment of the Conseil d’Etat
(Council of State) of 25 January 2002, received at the Court               Pleas in law and main arguments
Registry on 15 May 2002, for a preliminary ruling in the case
of Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux, the Association pour
la protection des animaux sauvages, Rassemblement des
opposants à la chasse, Union nationale des fédérations départe-
mentales de chasseurs and Association nationale des chasseurs
de gibier d’eau against République française on the following              Breach of the right to professional and commercial freedom:
questions:
—      Does Article 9(1)(c) of Council Directive 79/409 of
       2 April 1979 (1) permit a Member State to derogate from             —     Bringing self-employed carriers within the scope of the
       the opening and closing dates for hunting set in the light                directive at issue infringes the fundamental right to
       of the objectives specified in Article 7(4) thereof?                      exercise freely a professional or commercial occupation,
                                                                                 one of the general principles of law respect for which is
                                                                                 safeguarded by the Court of Justice.
—      If so, what are the criteria which make it possible to
       establish the limits of that derogation?
                                                                           —     Breach of the principle of non-discrimination: bringing
( 1) Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conser-                 self-employed carriers within the scope of the directive
     vation of wild birds (OJ L 103 of 25.4.1979, p. 1).                         amounts to unjustified discrimination against those car-
                                                                                 riers as compared with carriers who are employed by
                                                                                 other persons, since situations which are quite different
                                                                                 are being treated in the same way without there being
                                                                                 any objective justification for doing so; in addition, it
                                                                                 involves a failure to observe the terms of reference of
                                                                                 Article 74 EC, which requires the Council, when it takes
                                                                                 measures in respect of transport rates and conditions, to
                                                                                 take account of the economic circumstances of carriers.
Action brought on 16 May 2002 by the Kingdom of Spain
          against the Council of the European Union                              Furthermore, bringing self-employed drivers within the
                                                                                 scope of the directive operates as a disincentive to
                                                                                 the creation of transport undertakings and limits their
                           (Case C-184/02)                                       capacity to expand by making the legal framework
                                                                                 unclear. Small operators will not know whether their
                           (2002/C 169/43)                                       actions are within the ambit of the law relating to self-
                                                                                 employed persons or are within a labour relationship like
                                                                                 that of any employee, or, perhaps worse, will not know
                                                                                 whether they are subject to the limitations but not the
                                                                                 rights imposed or granted to the latter. In short, bringing
An action against the Council of the European Union was                          self-employed carriers within the scope of the directive
brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communi-                     discriminates against them as compared with carriers
ties on 16 May 2002 by the Kingdom of Spain represented by                       who operate through persons working for others, making
Rosario Silva de Lapuerta, Abogada del Estado, with an address                   it impossible for them to carry on business in a normal
for service in Luxembourg at the Spanish Embassy,                                way, reducing their competitiveness and leading to their
4-6 Boulevard Emmanuel Servais.                                                  gradual exclusion from the market.