CELEX: C1996/247/19
Language: en
Date: 1996-08-24 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 28 June 1996 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic (Case C-225/96)

No C 247/ 10           EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                      24 . 8 . 96
 3 . Whether the NBU laid down by the ABI for its members                      points 8 and 9 of the Annex thereto, save in respect of
      in relation to the 'all-embracing' guarantee covering the                mercury and lead,
      credit facility — since they are applied in a uniform and
      binding manner by the member banks — are, taken as a            — order the Italian Republic to pay the costs of the
      whole, compatible with Article 85 of the Treaty, in                  proceedings .
      relation to the individual clauses discussed in the
      grounds of this order, in that they are liable adversely to
      affect trade between the Member States and have as              Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
      their object and effect the prevention , restriction or
      distortion of competition within the Common                     Article 189 of the EC Treaty, in providing that a directive is
      Market;                                                         binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon the Member
                                                                      State to which it is addressed , places Member States under
4 . What effects any finding of incompatibility in                    an obligation to comply with the time-limits set by directives
      accordance with point 3 may have on the corresponding           for their implementation . In the present case, when the
     clauses of the ' all-embracing' guarantee agreements and         time-limit expired on 5 November 1981 , the Italian
     on the agreements themselves concluded 'downstream '             Republic had not adopted the measures necessary to comply
                                                                      in full with Directive 79/923/EEC .
      by individual banks, since, as a group, the banks
      belonging to the ABI may be regarded , within the
     meaning and for the purposes of Article 86 of the Treaty,        (') OJ No L 281 , 10 . 11 . 1979 , p . 47 .
     as holding a joint dominant position in the national
     credit market, whose specific application of the rules in
     question is regarded as an abuse .
(') Associazione Bancaria Italiana .
                                                                     Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunale di
                                                                     Genova by order of that court of 1 8 June 1 996 EDIS-Edilizia
                                                                     Industriale Siderurgica Sri ( formerly EDIS SpA ) v. Ministero
                                                                                                  delle Finanze
                                                                                               ( Case C-231 /96 )
Action brought on 28 June 1996 by the Commission of the                                          ( 96/C 247/20 )
    European Communities against the Italian Republic
                         ( Case C-225/96 )                           Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                           ( 96/C 247/19 )                           European Communities by order of 18 June 1996 of the
                                                                     Tribunale di Genova ( District Court, Genoa ), which was
                                                                     received at the Court Registry on 8 July 1996 , for a
An action against the Italian Republic was brought before            preliminary ruling in the case of EDIS-Edilizia Industriale
the Court of Justice of the European Communities on                  Siderurgica Sri ( formerly EDIS SpA ) v. Ministero delle
28 June 1996 by the Commission of the European                       Finanze on the following questions :
Communities, represented by Antonio Aresu of its Legal
Service, acting as Agent, with an address for service in             1 . For the purposes of amplifying and clarifying the ruling
Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gomez de la Cruz, also                 given in the judgment of 20 April 1 993 in Joined Cases
of the Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg .                          C-71 /91 and C-178/91 Ponente Carni SpA v.
                                                                          Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato ('), must the
The applicant claims that the Court should :                              provisions of the Treaty be interpreted as precluding the
                                                                          introduction and/or the retention by a Member State of
                                                                          a national provision such as that introduced by the
— declare that the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its
                                                                          Italian legislature in paragraph 2 of Article 13 of Decree
     obligations under the EC Treaty, by :
                                                                          No 641 of the President of the Republic of 26 October
                                                                          1972 where the effect of the application of that
     — not designating waters as needing protection or                    provision is to limit the temporal effects of a judgment
         improvement in order to support shellfish life and               given by the Court of Justice ?
         growth, in accordance with Article 4 of Directive
         79/923/EEC ('), and/or not communicating such               2 . Is Article 5 of the EC Treaty, as interpreted in the
         designations to the Commission , pursuant to                     Court's case-law, compatible with a national provision
         Article 13 of that Directive,
                                                                          ( Article 1 3 of Presidential Decree No 641 /72 ), which, as
                                                                          regards the procedural rules relating to judicial actions
     — not establishing programmes for the reduction of                   seeking to secure repayment of charges paid in breach of
         pollution, in accordance with Article 5 of Directive             Council Directive 69/335/EEC ( 2 ), provides for a
         79/923/EEC ,                                                     three-year prescription period running from the date of
                                                                          payment, where such prescription period is not laid
     — not setting values, in accordance with Article 3 of                down by national law for claims for the recovery of sums
         Directive 79/923/EEC, for the parameters listed at               undulv paid as between private persons ?