CELEX: C2006/143/26
Language: en
Date: 2006-06-17 00:00:00
Title: Case C-456/04: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of  6 April 2006  (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per la Sicilia) — Agip Petroli SpA v Capitaneria di porto di Siracusa, Capitaneria di porto di Siracusa — Sezione staccato di Santa Panagia, Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti (Maritime cabotage — Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 — Law applicable to the manning of vessels over 650 gt carrying out island cabotage — Meaning of  voyage which follows or precedes  a voyage to or from another State)

17.6.2006   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 143/15
            
         Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 6 April 2006 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per la Sicilia) — Agip Petroli SpA v Capitaneria di porto di Siracusa, Capitaneria di porto di Siracusa — Sezione staccato di Santa Panagia, Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti
   (Case C-456/04) (1)
   
   (Maritime cabotage - Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 - Law applicable to the manning of vessels over 650 gt carrying out island cabotage - Meaning of ‘voyage which follows or precedes’ a voyage to or from another State)
   (2006/C 143/26)
   Language of the case:Italian
   Referring court
   Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per la Sicilia
   Parties to the main proceedings
   
      Applicant: Agip Petroli SpA
   
      Defendants: Capitaneria di porto di Siracusa, Capitaneria di porto di Siracusa — Sezione staccato di Santa Panagia, Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti
   Re:
   Reference for a preliminary ruling — Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per la Secilia — Interpretation of Article 3(3) 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) — Law applicable to the manning of vessels over 650 gt carrying out island cabotage –Meaning of voyage which follows or precedes a voyage to or from another Member State
   Operative part of the judgment
   A ‘voyage which follows or precedes’ the cabotage voyage, as referred to in Article 3(3) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 of 7 December applying the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport within Member States (maritme cabotoge), means in principle any voyage to or from another State, whether or not the vessel has cargo on board. However, sham voyages without cargo on board carried out to circumvent Regulation (EC) No 3577/92 cannot be permitted. Such an abuse can be found to exist only if, first, notwithstanding that technically the conditions laid down by Article 3(3) of the regulation apply, the result of the international voyage in ballast is that the shipowner benefits, in respect of all matters relating to manning from the application of the law of the flag State, frustrating the aim of Article 3(2) of the regulation, which is to allow the application of the law of the host State to all matters relating to manning in the case of island cabotage. Second, there must also be objective evidence to show that the essential aim of the international voyage in ballast is to avoid the application of Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 3577/92, in favour of Article 3(3).
   
      (1)  OJ C 19, 22.1.2005.