CELEX: C2000/122/12
Language: en
Date: 2000-04-29 00:00:00
Title: Case C-4/00: Action brought on 6 January 2000 by the Commission of the European Communities against the French Republic

C 122/8                EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                     29.4.2000
         The Commission failed to address the question, as it          on the control of administrative bodies amount to restrictions
         should have done under Article 95(6), whether the             on the establishment of companies, in particular in the case of
         Danish rules notified are a means of arbitrary discrimi-      branch offices, agencies or subsidiaries of companies estab-
         nation or a disguised restriction on trade between            lished in other Member States where such restrictions do not
         Member States, or whether they constitute an obstacle         exist. In the case of companies or firms managed by nationals
         to the functioning of the internal market.                    of non-Member countries, the restrictions would force them
                                                                       to change the composition of their administrative bodies
     — Defective statement of reasons.                                 should they wish to register a ship and establish themselves
                                                                       in France. Consequently, the requirements laid down in
                                                                       Article 3(2)(a), (b) and (c) infringe Article 48 in that they
                                                                       impose on the holders of capital and on the administrative
                                                                       organs of companies or firms nationality requirements which
                                                                       are not stipulated in Article 48. Those requirements thus cause
                                                                       companies or firms to be treated differently from natural
                                                                       persons as regards freedom of establishment when registering
                                                                       a ship. Although the provisions apply without discrimination
Action brought on 6 January 2000 by the Commission of                  to both French and foreign EEC companies or firms, they
 the European Communities against the French Republic                  nevertheless infringe Article 43 and Article 48, as do
                                                                       Article 3(3) and (4) and Article 3-1(1) and (2) in so far as they
                           (Case C-4/00)                               refer to Article 3(2). Failure by a Member State to fulfil its
                                                                       obligations — Articles 43 and 48 of the EC Treaty —
                                                                       conditions under which commercial vessels may sail under the
                         (2000/C 122/12)                               French flag — nationality requirements for holders of company
                                                                       capital and directors.
An action against the French Republic was brought before the
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 6 January
2000 by the Commission of the European Communities,
represented by Frank Benyon, Legal Adviser, and Bernard
Mongin, of its Legal Service, acting as Agents, with an address
for service in Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la
Cruz, also of its Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
                                                                       Action brought on 14 January 2000 by Commission of
The Commission of the European Communities claims that                 the European Communities against European Central
the Court should:                                                                                     Bank
1. Declare that, by keeping in force Article 3 and Article 3-1                                   (Case C-11/00)
     of Law No 67-5 defining the status of ships and other
     sea-going vessels, and Article 219 of the Customs Code, as                                 (2000/C 122/13)
     amended by Law No 96-151 of 26 February 1996 on
     transport, the French Republic has failed to fulfil its
     obligations under Article 43 and Article 48 of the EC             An action against European Central Bank was brought before
     Treaty;                                                           the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 14 Janua-
                                                                       ry 2000 by Commission of the European Communities,
2. Order the French Republic to pay the costs.                         represented by Christiaan Timmermans, Assistant Director
                                                                       General of the Legal Service, Hans Peter Hartvig and Ulrich
                                                                       Wölker, Legal Advisers, acting as Agents, with an address for
                                                                       service in Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la
Pleas in law and main arguments                                        Cruz, of its Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
Under the third subparagraph, letters (a), (b) and (c), of             The applicant claims that the Court should:
Article 3(2) of Law No 67-5, shipowners who adopt the
form of a company or firm must satisfy certain nationality             — annul the decision of the governors of the European
requirements in regard to both the members of its administrat-             Central Bank of 7 October 1999 on fraud prevention (1);
ive and managerial bodies (paragraph 2(a), (b) and (c)) and the
holders of its capital (paragraph 2(c)). However, the Member           — order the European Central Bank to pay the costs.
States are required to treat any company or firm satisfying the
criteria set out in Article 48 of the Treaty in the same way as
they treat natural persons who are nationals of other Member
States, even where the majority of the members of the board            Pleas in law and main arguments
are not nationals of a Member State of the Community, or
where the company or firm is set up by persons from                    Infringement of Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the Euro-
non-Member countries, or is funded by capital from                     pean Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concern-
non-Member countries, or is a subsidiary of a parent company           ing investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud
established in a non-Member country. The French restrictions           Office (OLAF):