CELEX: C2003/146/39
Language: en
Date: 2003-06-21 00:00:00
Title: Case C-135/03: Action brought on 26 March 2003 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of Spain

C 146/24               EN                      Official Journal of the European Union                                           21.6.2003
Action brought on 26 March 2003 by the Commission of                   Pleas in law and main arguments
the European Communities against the Kingdom of Spain
                                                                       Article 2 of Regulation No (EEC) 2092/91 prohibits the use of
                         (Case C-135/03)                               derivatives of the term designating organic agricultural
                                                                       methods in any of the official languages of the European
                                                                       Community for products which have not been obtained by
                         (2003/C 146/39)                               means of organic production methods. Accordingly, use of the
                                                                       term ‘bio’, cited expressly in Article 2 as an example of a
                                                                       derived term indicating organic agriculture, is prohibited.
An action against the Kingdom of Spain was brought before              National legislation which allows the use of the term ‘bio’ in
the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 26 March           the labelling, advertising material or commercial documents
2003 by the Commission of the European Communities,                    for a product which has not been manufactured in accordance
represented by Gérard Berscheid, Legal Adviser, and Sara Pardo         with Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91, such as Real Decreto
Quintillán, of its Legal Service, with an address for service in       (Royal Decree) 1852/1993 following the amendments inserted
Luxembourg.                                                            by Real Decreto 506/2001, infringes Regulation (EEC)
                                                                       No 2092/91.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                       Such national legislation also infringes Article 2(1)(a)(i) of
                                                                       Directive 2000/13/EC, according to which the labelling and
—    Declare that:                                                     methods used must not be such as could mislead the purchaser,
                                                                       particularly as to the characteristics of the foodstuff and, in
     —    by maintaining in its domestic legal system and in           particular, as to its nature, identity, properties, composition,
          current usage the term ‘bio’, on its own or in               quantity, durability, origin or provenance, method of manufac-
          combination with other terms, for products which             ture or production.
          have not been obtained in accordance with organic
          production methods, thereby infringing Article 2 in
          conjunction with Article 5 of Council Regulation             (1 ) OJ 1991 L 198, p. 1.
          (EEC) No 2092/91 ( 1) of 24 June 1991 on organic             (2 ) Council Regulation (EC) No 1935/95 of 22 June 1995 amending
                                                                            Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricul-
          production of agricultural products and indications               tural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural
          referring thereto on agricultural products and food-              products and foodstuffs OJ 1995 L 186, p. 1.
          stuffs, as amended by Regulations (EC) No 1935/              (3 ) Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999 of 19 July 1999 sup-
          95 (2) and (EC) No 1804/1999 (3);by failing to adopt              plementing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production
          the necessary measures to prevent misleading use of               of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on
          that word, thereby infringing Article 2 in conjunc-               agricultural products and foodstuffs to include livestock pro-
          tion with Article 10a of the abovementioned                       duction OJ 1999 L 222, p. 1.
          amended regulation; and by failing to adopt                  (4 ) OJ 2000 L 109, p. 29.
          measures to prevent purchasers from being misled
          as to the method of manufacture or production
          of foodstuffs, thereby infringing Article 2 of the
          abovementioned amended regulation in conjunction
          with Article 2(1)(a)(i) of Directive 2000/13/EC of
          the European Parliament and of the Council of
          20 March 2000 on the approximation of the laws
          of the Member States relating to the labelling,              Action brought on 27 March 2003 by the Commission of
          presentation and advertising of foodstuffs ( 4); and         the European Communities against the Federal Republic
                                                                                                   of Germany
     —    by maintaining in the Comunidad Foral de Navarra,
          contrary to the same provisions, use of the term                                       (Case C-139/03)
          ‘bio’, on its own or in combination with other terms,
          for dairy products in respect of which that term has
          been customarily and continuously used when they                                       (2003/C 146/40)
          have not been obtained in accordance with organic
          production methods,
                                                                       An action against the Federal Republic of Germany was
     the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations
                                                                       brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communi-
     under the abovementioned regulation and directive, in
                                                                       ties on 27 March 2003 by the Commission of the European
     particular the provisions thereof as indicated above;
                                                                       Communities, represented by Josef Christian Schieferer and
                                                                       Hans Støvlbæk, of its Legal Service, with an address for service
—    order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.                      in Luxembourg.