CELEX: C2004/059/06
Language: en
Date: 2004-03-06 00:00:00
Title: Case C-516/03: Action brought on 9 December 2003 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic

C 59/4                  EN                          Official Journal of the European Union                                            6.3.2004
Action brought on 9 December 2003 by the Commission                         public waste collector or by an undertaking which carries out
of the European Communities against the Italian Republic                    the operations listed in Annex II A or B of the directive. It
                                                                            follows that the Italian Republic has also failed to fulfil its
                                                                            obligations under Article 8 of the directive.
                          (Case C-516/03)
                           (2004/C 59/06)
An action against the Italian Republic was brought before the
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 9 December
2003 by the Commission of the European Communities,                         Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Sala de lo
represented by M. Konstantinidis, member of its Legal Service,              Social del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad
and R. Amorosi, judge of the District Court on secondment to                Valenciana by order of that Court of 27 November 2003
that Service, acting as Agent.                                              in the case of José Vincente Olaso Valero against Fondo
                                                                                                    de Garantía Salarial
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                                                      (Case C-520/03)
—     Declare that, by not adopting the measures necessary to
      ensure that waste generated in Campolungo (Ascoli
      Piceno) is recovered or disposed of without endangering                                          (2004/C 59/07)
      human health and without using processes or methods
      which could harm the environment and, by not taking
      the measures necessary to ensure that any holder of waste
      so generated has it handled by a private or public waste
      collector or by an undertaking which carries out the                  Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
      operations listed in Annex II A or B of the directive, or             European Communities by order of the Sala de lo Social del
      recovers or disposes of it himself, the Italian Republic has          Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Valenciana
      failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 4 and 8 of            (Chamber for Social and Labour Matters of the High Court of
      Directive 75/442/EEC on waste as amended by Directive                 Justice of the Community of Valencia) of 27 November 2003,
      91/156/EEC;                                                           received at the Court Registry on 12 December 2003, for a
                                                                            preliminary ruling in the case of José Vincente Olaso Valero
—     Order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.                          against Fondo de Garantía Salarial on the following questions:
                                                                            A)    Does the compensation claimed for unfair dismissal fall
                                                                                  within the scope of Directive 80/987/EEC of 20 October
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                   1980 (1) in its version prior to that as amended by
                                                                                  Directive 2000/74/EC (2)?
According to the Commission, the Italian Republic has adopted
                                                                            B)    In the context of respect for the principles of equality and
no measures to ensure that the waste discharged in Campolun-
                                                                                  non-discrimination, can the rules set out in Article 33(2)
go is recovered or disposed of without endangering human
                                                                                  of the consolidated text of the Ley de Estatuto de los
health and without using processes or methods which could
                                                                                  Trabajadores, inasmuch as they require a ruling or an
harm the environment. The Italian authorities submit merely
                                                                                  administrative decision in order for Fogasa to pay the
that the progressive mineralisation of waste raises questions
                                                                                  appropriate compensation, be considered objectively
about the production of 35 m3 of lechate per day, without
                                                                                  unreasonable and, accordingly, inapplicable?
giving any clear observations on the merits, and before
expressly admitting that ‘the production and therefore dif-
fusion of lechate may continue indefinitely’.
                                                                            (1) Council Directive 80/987/EEC of 20 October 1980 on the
                                                                                approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the
                                                                                protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their
The Commission further points out that, according to
                                                                                employer (OJ L 283 of 28.10.1980, p. 23).
Article 175(4) of the EC Treaty, the Member States are                      (2) Directive 2002/74/EC of the European Parliament and of the
responsible for financing and implementing the environment                      Council of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 80/
policy so that the lack of sufficient financial resources cannot                987/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
be used as a justification for the failure to take specific                     relating to the protection of employees in the event of the
measures to make good the site. It must therefore be concluded                  insolvency of their employer (Text with EEA relevance) (OJ L 270
that the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under            of 8.10.2002, p. 10).
Article 4 of the directive. Furthermore, the Italian Republic has
failed to adopt the measures necessary to ensure that any
holder of waste so generated has it handled by a private or