CELEX: C1999/281/07
Language: en
Date: 1999-10-02 00:00:00
Title: Case C-267/99: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunal d'arrondissement de Luxembourg by judgment of that court of 15 July 1999 in the case of Urbing (née Adam) against the Administration de l'Enregistrement et des Domaines

C 281/4                EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                     2.10.1999
     The new legislation enacted in 1998 will produce effects              — Infringement of Article 4(2) of Directive 75/440/EEC: the
     only in relation to the future, and does not put an end to                Commission states that there has been a considerable delay
     the discriminatory taxation suffered by the vehicles the                  (from 1977 to 1993, namely 17 years) on the part of the
     subject-matter of the proceedings which had already been                  French authorities in adopting measures pursuant to their
     placed in circulation in France prior to 1 July 1998.                     obligations under Directive 75/440/EEC, despite the fact
                                                                               that, on the French authorities’ own admission, the prob-
(Vehicles given type-approval on an isolated basis between                     lems concerning pollution of surface water have been
1 January 1978 and 12 January 1988)                                            apparent since the 1980s. The continuing degradation of
                                                                               the quality of surface water by pollution caused by nitrates
— Infringement of Article 90 EC: the Commission considers                      proves the ineffectiveness of the measures constituting
     that the fact that the French authorities limited changes to              the systematic plan of action submitted by the French
     the power rating for administrative purposes of the foreign               authorities.
     vehicles discriminated against, by issuing new registration
     documents only for vehicles which had been given type-                — Infringement of Article 4(3) of Directive 75/440/EEC: the
     approval, with immediate tax consequences, shows that                     use of poor-quality water for the abstraction of drinking
     they only partially took into consideration the judgment                  water, which is in principle prohibited, is possible only if
     in Feldain (1).                                                           the two cumulative conditions are complied with; those
                                                                               conditions have not been fulfilled. In numerous cases, the
                                                                               drinking water thus abstracted exceeds the maximum
(1) Case 433/85 Feldain v Services Fiscaux du Département du Haut-Rhin         permissible nitrate content; for this reason, the French
    (1987) ECR 3521.                                                           authorities state that ‘women who are pregnant or breast-
                                                                               feeding are strongly advised not to drink this water during
                                                                               the period of non-conformity’. Moreover according to the
                                                                               Commission’s findings, the French authorities have failed
                                                                               to establish management plans within the meaning of
                                                                               Article 4(3) where these have proved necessary.
                                                                           (1) OJ L 194 of 25.7.1975, p. 26.
Action brought on 16 July 1999 by the Commission of
 the European Communities against the French Republic
                         (Case C-266/99)
                         (1999/C 281/06)
                                                                           Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunal d’ar-
An action against the French Republic was brought before the               rondissement de Luxembourg by judgment of that court
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 16 July                    of 15 July 1999 in the case of Urbing (née Adam) against
1999 by the Commission of the European Communities,                         the Administration de l’Enregistrement et des Domaines
represented by Michel Nolin, of its Legal Service, acting as
Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office
of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.                                              (Case C-267/99)
The Commission of the European Communities claims that                                              (1999/C 281/07)
the Court should:                                                          Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                           European Communities by judgment of the Tribunal d’arron-
— declare that, by failing to take the necessary measures to               dissement de Luxembourg (District Court, Luxembourg) of
     ensure that surface water intended for the abstraction of             15 July 1999, received at the Court Registry on 19 July 1999,
     drinking water conforms to the values laid down pursuant              for a preliminary ruling in the case of Urbing (née Adam)
     to Article 3, the French Republic has failed to fulfil its            against the Administration de l’Enregistrement et des Domai-
     obligations under Directive 75/440/EEC (1), in particular             nes (Land Registration and Estates Department) on the follow-
     Article 4 thereof;                                                    ing questions:
— order the French Republic to pay the costs.                              1. Is the concept of a liberal profession as referred to
                                                                               in point 2 of Annex F to the Sixth Council Directive
                                                                               77/388/EEC on the harmonisation of the laws of the
Pleas in law and main arguments                                                Member States relating to turnover taxes (1) an autonomous
                                                                               concept of Community law?
The infringement found by the Commission in its reasoned
opinion to have been committed relates exclusively to the                  2. If so, does that concept cover the profession of property
failure properly to apply the directive in the region of Brittany              agent?
alone.
— Infringement of Article 4(1) of Directive 75/440/EEC: in                 (1) OJ L 145 of 13.6.77, p. 1.
     the 4 departments concerned, the surface water fails,
     constantly and on a wide scale, to conform to the values
     laid down pursuant to Article 3.