CELEX: C1997/331/20
Language: en
Date: 1997-11-01 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 10 September 1997 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic (Case C-313/97)

1 . 11 . 97              EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                        C 331 /11
7. Does it follow from Article 222 of the EC Treaty, or                    the European Communities in Case T-63/96 between
     from the application by analogy of Article 174                        Augusto Fichtner and the Commission of the European
     thereof, that any right to pay in accordance with                     Communities was brought before the Court of Justice of
     another collective agreement ( between the same                       the European Communities on 8 September 1997 by
     parties ) which may be inferred from Article 119 of the               Augusto Fichtner, represented by Vincenzo Salvatore,
     EC Treaty or from Directive 75/117/EEC exists only                    Avvocato in Pavia (Italy ).
     from the date of a finding to that effect by the Court
     of Justice ? •
                                                                           The appellant claims that the Court should           set aside the
                                                                           order of the Court of First Instance ( Fourth        Chamber) of
(') OJ L 45 , 19 . 2 . 1975 , p . 19 .
                                                                           9 July 1997 in Case T-63/96 H, notified to          the applicant
                                                                           on 11 July 1997, dismissing his application,        and refer the
                                                                           case back to the Court of First Instance .
                                                                           Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Diikitiko
Protodikio Piraeus ( 8th Chamber), by a decision of 30 June
                                                                           Proceedings before the Court of First Instance were
1997, in the case of Royal Bank of Scotland PLC v.
                                Greek State                                brought in good time and in accordance with the proper
                                                                           procedure, by means of an application lodged on 10 May
                            Case C-3 11/97 )                               1996, against the decision adopted on 5 February 1996,
                                                                           which was notified to the applicant through official
                             ( 97/C 331/18 )
                                                                           channels on 20 February 1996 .
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                     That is indisputably the measure concluding the
European Communities by a decision of 30 June 1997 of                      complaints      procedure.           The   character     of the
the Diikitiko Protodikio (Administrative Court of First                    communication from the Director-General of the Rights
Instance ) Piraeus ( 8th Chamber), which was received at the               and Obligations Directorate of DG IX is quite clear and it
Court Registry on 8 September 1997, for a preliminary                      cannot be regarded merely as an express reply, still less as
ruling in the case of Royal Bank of Scotland PLC v. Greek                  a confirmatory act.
State on the following question:
                                                                           In the alternative, the applicant asks the Court, in the
Is Article 109 ( 1 ) ( a ) of the Greek Income Tax Code                    event that his pleas in law are rejected, to acknowledge
contained in Law 2238/1994 ( FEK ( Greek Official                          that his error was excusable. As was pointed out in the
Gazette) 151 A), which imposes a different tax charge                      grounds of the order under appeal, the Court of First
unfavourable to foreign companies by applying a 40 % tax                   Instance has consistently held that failure to comply with
rate on their taxable income, as against domestic                          the time-limits set by Article 91 ( 3 ) of the Staff
companies to which a tax rate of 35% is applied,                           Regulations does not prevent an application from being
permissible under Community law and, in particular, is it                  admissible where the applicant has committed a justifiable
in compliance with Articles 7 and 52 of the Treaty; in                     error.
other words, is the Greek State entitled to impose the said
differential tax treatment which is unfavourable to foreign
companies ?                                                                 H OJ C 233 , 10 . 8 . 1996, p . 9 . ■
Appeal brought on 8 September 1997 by Augusto                               Action brought on 10 September 1997 by the Commission
Fichtner, an official of the Commission of the European                     of the European Communities against the Italian Republic
 Communities, residing at Besozzo, Varese (Italy), against                                          ( Case C-3 13/97)
the order made on 9 July 1997 by the Fourth Chamber of
 the Court of First Instance of the European Communities                                              ( 97/C 331 /20)
 in Case T-63/96 between Augusto Fichtner and the
           Commission of the European Communities
                          ( Case C-3 12/97 P)                               An action against the Italian Republic was brought before
                                                                            the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
                              ( 97/C 331 / 19 )                             10 September 1997 by the Commission of the European
                                                                            Communities, represented by Laura Pignataro, of its Legal
                                                                            Service, acting as Agent, with an address for service in
 An appeal against the order made on 9 July 1997 by the                     Luxembourg at the offices of Carlos Gomez de la Cruz,
 Fourth     Chamber of the             Court of First Instance     of       Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
 ---pagebreak--- C 331/12              r EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                      1 . 11 . 97
The applicant claims that the Court should:                              Appeal brought on 12 September 1997 against the
                                                                         judgment delivered on 9 July 1997 by the Fourth
                                                                         Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the European
— declare that, by failing to adopt and/or communicate                   Communities in Case T- 156/95 between Diego Echauz
     the laws, regulations and administrative provisions                 Brigaldi, José Luis Buendia Sierra, César Montoliu Garcia,
     necessary to comply with Council Directive 94/5 7/EC                María Jesús Ruiz Monroy, Carmen Ochoa de Michelena,
     of 22 November 1994 (') on common rules and                         Victoria Pagadigorria Wicke, Miguel Abellán López,
     standards for ship inspection and survey organizations              Inmaculada Gil Tardón, Antonio García Velázquez, María
     and     for    the     relevant   activities   of    maritime       Carmen Labrador Rubio, Carmen Casado Salinas, Diego
     administrations, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil          González Marín, Eva María Rasines Martín, Julio
     its obligations under that directive and under the                  Vizcarra Soriano and Leopoldo Fabra Utray and
     Treaty,                                                                       Commission of the European Communities
                                                                                                   ( Case C-315/97 P)
— order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.                                                        ( 97/C 331/22 )
                                                                         An appeal against the judgment delivered on 9 July 1997
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                      by the Fourth Chamber of the Court of First Instance of
                                                                         the European Communities in Case T-156/95 between
                                                                         Diego Echauz Brigaldi, Jose Luis Buendia Sierra, Cesar
Article 189 of the EC Treaty, whereby a directive is                     Montoliu Garcia, Maria Jesus Ruiz Monroy, Carmen
binding upon each Member State to which it is addressed                  Ochoa de Michelena, Victoria Pagadigorria Wicke, Miguel
as to the result to be achieved, requires Member States to               Abellan Lopez, Inmaculada Gil Tardón, Antonio Garcia
comply with the time-limits for transposition laid down in               Velazquez, Maria Carmen Labrador Rubio, Carmen
the directive . In respect of the directive cited in the                 Casado Salinas, Diego Gonzalez Marin, Eva Maria
Commission's pleadings, that time-limit expired on                       Rasines Martin, Julio Vizcarra Soriano and Leopoldo
31 December 1995 without the Italian Republic having                     Fabra Utray and the Commission of the European
taken the necessary measures to comply.                                  Communities was brought before the Court of Justice of
                                                                         the European Communities on 12 September 1997 by
(') OJ L 319 , 12 . 12 . 1994, p. 20.                                    Diego Echauz Brigaldi, Cesar Montoliu Garcia, Maria
                                                                         Jesus Ruiz Monroy, Carmen Ochoa de Michelena, Maria
                                                                         Carmen Labrador Rubio, and Leopoldo Fabray Utray,
                                                                         represented by Ramon Garcia-Gallardo, Abogado, with an
                                                                         address for service in Brussels at the Chambers of J. and
                                                                         B. Cremades and Associates, 391 Avenue Louise, Brussels
                                                                         B-1050 .
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the                              The appellant claims that the Court should:
Oberlandesgericht Wien by order of that court of
1 September 1997 in the case of Verein zur Förderung des                 — declare the present appeal brought by the above
freien Wettbewerbs im Medienwesen v. Heinrich Bauer                          officials to be admissible and well-founded,
                 Spezialzeitschriften Verlag KG
                                                                         — set aside the judgment of the CFI of 9 July 1997 in
                          (Case C-3 14/97)                                    Case T-156/95 ('),
                            ( 97/C 331/21 )                              — order the Commission of the European Communities
                                                                             to pay the costs .
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice                          Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
of the European Communities by an order of the                           — Manifest error of interpretation and application of the
Oberlandesgericht Wien (Higher Regional Court, Vienna )                       Community legislation in force, specifically of opinion
of 1 September 1997, which was received at the Court                         201 /92 of the Board of Heads of Administration
Registry on 11 September 1997, for a preliminary ruling                       ( applied by way of the Commission's internal circular
in the case of Verein zur Forderung des freien Wettbewerbs                    of 24 January 1992 ), of Article 128 ( b ) of the Protocol
im Medienwesen v. Heinrich Bauer Spezialzeitschriften                         on Privileges and Immunities of the European
Verlag KG on the following question :                                         Communities         and     of  Article 20 of   the    Staff
                                                                              Regulations of Officials of the European Communities :
                                                                             the Court of First Instance has not taken account of
Is Article 30 of the EC Treaty to be interpreted as
                                                                             the fact that an official who legitimately wishes to
precluding application of legislation of Member State A                       maintain his official residence in Spain has no choice
prohibiting an undertaking established in Member State B                      but to travel to his country of origin in order to
from selling in Member State A a periodically published                      exercise his right to vote .
magazine produced in Member State B if it contains prize
puzzles or competitions which are lawfully organized in                  — Discrimination.
Member State B ?
                                                                         (') OJ C 252 , 16 . 8 . 1997, p. 27.