CELEX: C1996/180/28
Language: en
Date: 1996-06-22 00:00:00
Title: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber) of 2 May 1996 in Case C-18/94 (reference to the Court for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, Queen's Bench Division): Barbara Hopkins and Others v. National Power plc, Powergen plc, third party: British Coal Corporation (ECSC Treaty - Discrimination between producers - Application of Articles 4 and 63 of the Treaty - Direct effect - EC Treaty - Abuse of dominant position - Article 86 of the Treaty - Compensation for damage resulting from infringement of those provisions - Powers of the Commission and of the national court)

No C 180/ 14              EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                   22 . 6 . 96
      prior to that date, initiated proceedings or raised an                              JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
      equivalent claim.                                                                             ( Sixth Chamber)
(M OJ No C 196 , 20 . 7 . 1993 .
                                                                                                     of 2 May 1996
                                                                            in Case C- 1 8/94 ( reference to the Court for a preliminary
                                                                            ruling from the High Court ofJustice of England and Wales,
                                                                            Queen's Bench Division ): Barbara Hopkins and Others v.
                                                                            National Power pic, Powergen pic, third party: British Coal
                                                                                                      Corporation ( 1 )
               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                        (ECSC Treaty — Discrimination between producers —
                           of 30 April 1996                                 Application of Articles 4 and 63 of the Treaty — Direct
in Case C-58/94 : Kingdom of the Netherlands v. Council of                  effect — EC Treaty — Abuse of dominant position —
                       the European Union (')                               Article 86 of the Treaty — Compensation for damage
                                                                            resulting from infringement of those provisions — Powers
 (Action for annulment — Rules on public access to Council                         of the Commission and of the national court)
                               documents)
                                                                                                      ( 96/C 180/28 )
                             ( 96/C 180/27 )
                (Language of tbe case: Dutch)
                                                                                           (Language of the case: English)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
          published in the European Court Reports)
In Case C-58/94 : Kingdom of the Netherlands ( Agents : A.                  In Case C- 1 8/94 , reference to the Court by the High Court
Bos and J. W. de Zwaan ), supported by the European                         of Justice of England and Wales, Queen's Bench Division,
Parliament ( Agents : G. Garzón Clariana , C. Pennera and E.                for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 of the EC Treaty
Vandenbosch ) v. Council of the European Union ( Agents :                   and Article 41 of the ECSC Treaty in the proceedings
J. -P. Jacqué and G. Houttuin ), supported by the                           pending before that court between Barbara Hopkins and
Commission of the European Communities ( Agents : P.                        Others v. National Power pic, Powergen pic, third party:
Vaan Nuffel and S. Van Raepenbusch ) and the French                         British Coal Corporation — on the interpretation of
Republic ( Agents : C. de Salins and H. Renié ) — application               Articles 4 and 63 of the ECSC Treaty and Article 86 of the
for the annulment of Council Decision 93/73 1 /EC of                        EC Treaty — the Court ( Sixth Chamber ) composed of C. N.
20 December 1993 on public access to Council documents                      Kakouris , President of the Chamber, G. Hirsch, G. F.
( OJ No L 340, 1993 , p . 43 ), Article 22 of the Rules of                  Mancini ( Rapporteur ), F. A. Schockweiler and P. J. G.
Procedure of the Council as amended by Council Decision                     Kapteyn, Judges, Advocate-General : N. Fennelly, Registrar:
93/662/EC of 6 December 1993 ( OJ No L 304, 1993 , p . 1 )                  L. Hewlett, Administrator, gave a judgment on 2 May 1 996 ,
and the Code of Conduct ( 93/730/EC ) concerning public                     the operative part of which is as follows :
access to Council and Commission documents ( OJ No
L 340, 1 993 , p . 4 1 ) in so far as that act is to be regarded as an
act having legal effects — the Court, composed of G. C.
Rodriguez Iglesias, President, C. N. Kakouris, D. A. O.                     1 . The provisions of the ECSC Treaty, and in particular
Edward, J. -P. Puissochet and G. Hirsch ( Presidents of                         Articles 4 (b) and 63 (1 ) thereof, constitute the legal
Chambers ), G. F. Mancini , F. A. Schockweiler, J. C.                           framework for dealing with discrimination practised by
Moitinho de Almeida ( Rapporteur ), P. J. G. Kapteyn,                           purchasers against producers as regards price, volume
C. Gulmann, J. L. Murray, P. Jann, H. Ragnemalm, L. Sevón                       and other terms and conditions for the purchase of
and M. Wathelet, Judges; G. Tesauro, Advocate-General;                          coal.
H. A. Rühl , Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, gave
a judgment on 30 April 1996 , the operative part of which is
as follows :
                                                                           2 . Articles 4 (b) and 63 (1 ) of the ECSC Treaty do not
I. The application is dismissed.                                                create rights which individuals may rely on directly
                                                                                before national courts. However, wherever the
2 . The Kingdom of the Netherlands is ordered to pay the                        provisions ofa recommendation based on Article 63 (1 )
     costs .
                                                                                appear, as regards their subject-matter, to be
                                                                                unconditional and sufficiently precise, those provisions
                                                                                may be relied upon directly by individuals before the
3 . The French Republic, the European Parliament and the                        national court.
     Commission of the European Communities are ordered
     to bear their own costs .
() OJ No C 90, 26. 3 . 1994.                                               3 Commission decisions based on Articles 65 and 66 (7) of
                                                                                the ECSC Treaty, which are binding in their entirety
                                                                                pursuant to Article 14 of the ECSC Treaty, are binding
 ---pagebreak--- 22 . 6 . 96            EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 180/ 15
     on the national courts. However, the national courts                   C-45/90 Paletta v. Brennet [1992] ECR 1-3423, does not
     may still ask the Court ofJustice to rule on their validity            imply that employers are barred from adducing evidence
     or interpretation.                                                     to support, where appropriate, a finding by the national
                                                                            court of abuse or fraudulent conduct on the part of the
(') OJ No C 76 , 12 . 3 . 1994 , OJ No C 174, 25 . 6 . 1994 .               worker concerned in that, although he may claim to
                                                                            have become incapacitated for work, such incapacity
                                                                            having been certified in accordance with Article 18 of
                                                                            that Regulation, he was not sick at all.
                                                                       (') OJ No C 275 , 1 . 10 . 1994 .
               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                          of 2 May 1996
in Case C-206/94 ( reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Bundesarbeitsgericht ): Brennet AG v. Vittorio
                              Paletta ( 1 )
   (Social security — Recognition of incapacity for work)                             JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                           ( 96/C 180/29 )                                                      ( Fifth Chamber )
                                                                                                 of 2 May 1996
                (Language of the case: German)
                                                                       in Case C-234/95 : the Commission of the European
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
                                                                                    Communities v. French Republic ( a )
          published in the European Court Reports)                     (Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations —
                                                                                            Directive 92/50/EEC)
In Case C-206/94 : reference to the Court under Article 177                                       ( 96/C 180/30 )
of the EC Treaty from the Bundesarbeitsgericht ( Federal
Labour Court ) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings                             (Language of the case: French)
pending before that court between Brennet AG and Vittorio
Paletta — on the interpretation of Article 22 ( 1 ) of Council
Regulation ( EEC ) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the                   (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
application of social security schemes to employed persons                       published in the European Court Reports)
and their families moving within the Community ( OJ,
English Special Edition 1971 ( II ), p . 416 ), as amended by          In Case C-234/95 : Commission of the European
Council Regulation ( EEC ) No 2001 /83 of 2 June 1983 ( OJ             Communities ( Agent : Hendrik van Lier ) v . French Republic
No L 230, 1983 , p . 6 ), and on the interpretation and validity       ( Agents : Catherine de Salins and Philippe Martinet ) —
of Article 18 ( 1 ) to ( 5 ) of Council Regulation ( EEC )             application for a declaration that, by failing to adopt the
No 574/72 of 21 March 1972 fixing the procedure for                    laws, regulations and administrative provisions needed in
implementing Regulation ( EEC ) No 1408/71 ( OJ, English               order to comply with Council Directive 92/50/EEC of
Special Edition 1972 ( I ), p . 159 ) — the Court, composed of         18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of procedures for
G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, President, C. N. Kakouris, J. -P.            the award of public service contracts ( OJ No L 209, 1992 ,
Puissochet and G. Hirsch ( Presidents of Chambers ), G. F.             p . 1 ) and, in the alternative , by failing to inform the
Mancini, F. A. Schockweiler, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida                 Commission of such measures forthwith, the French
( Rapporteur ), P. J. G. Kapteyn, J. L. Murray, P. Jann and            Republic vhas failed to fulfil its obligations under that
H. Ragnemalm, L. Sevôn and M. Wathelet, Judges; G.                     Directive and, in particular, Article 44 thereof — the Court
Cosmas , Advocate-General; H. A. Riihl , Principal                     ( Fifth Chamber ), composed of D. A. O. Edward, President
Administrator, for the Registrar, gave a judgment on 2 May             of the Chamber, J. -P. Puissochet, P. Jann ( Rapporteur ),
 1996, the operative part of which is as follows:                      L. Sevon and M. Wathelet, Judges; A. La Pergola ,
                                                                       Advocate-General ; R. Grass, Registrar, gave a judgment on
I. Article 22 (1 ) (a) (ii) of Council Regulation (EEC)                2 May 1996 , in which it:
     No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application ofsocial
     security schemes to employed persons and their families           1 . Declares that, by failing to adopt, within the prescribed
     moving within the Community, as amended by Council                     period, the laws, regulations and administrative
     Regulation (EEC) No 2001 /83 of 2 June 1983, is to be                  provisions needed in order to comply with Council
     interpreted as covering national legislation under which               Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the
     an employee is entitled, on becoming incapacitated for                 coordination of procedures for the award of public
     work, to continued payment of his wages for a certain                  service contracts, the French Republic has failed to fulfil
     period, even where those wages are not payable until a                 its obligations under Article 44 (1 ) of that Directive.
     given period has elapsed since the incapacity
     commenced.
                                                                       2 . Orders the French Republic to pay the costs.
2 . The interpretation of Article 18 (1 ) to (5) of Council
                                                                       (') OJ No C 229 , 2 . 9 . 1995 .
     Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 of 21 March 1972 fixing
     the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC)
     No 1408/71 , given by the Court in its judgment in Case