CELEX: C2000/163/05
Language: en
Date: 2000-06-10 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 30 March 2000 in Case C-266/97 P: Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenigde Bloemenveilingen Aalsmeer BA (VBA) v Vereniging van Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerĳproducten (VGB), Florimex BV (Appeal — Competition — Closure of procedure on a complaint in the absence of a response by the complainants within the time-limit notified to them — Compatibility with Article 85(1) of the Treaty of a fee levied on suppliers who have concluded agreements relating to the delivery of floricultural products to undertakings established on the premises of a cooperative auction society — Compatibility with Article 85(1) of the EC Treaty of an exclusive purchase obligation accepted by certain wholesalers reselling such products to retailers in a specific trading area forming part of the same premises — Discrimination — Effect on trade between Member States — Assessment by reference to a body of rules taken as a whole — Lack of appreciable effect)

10.6.2000               EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                            C 163/3
2. So long as it has not been withdrawn or declared invalid, an E          B.J. Drijber) — the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed of:
    101 certificate, issued in accordance with Article 11a of Council      J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, President of the Sixth Chamber,
    Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 of 21 March 1972, fixing                    acting as President of the Fifth Chamber, L. Sevón,
    the procedure for implementing Regulation No 1408/71,                  J.-P. Puissochet, P. Jann (Rapporteur) and M. Wathelet, Judges;
    as amended and updated by Regulation No 2001/83 and                    A. Saggio, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Administrator, for
    subsequently by Regulation No 3811/86, is binding both upon            the Registrar, has given a judgment on 30 March 2000, in
    the competent institution of the Member State to which a self-         which it:
    employed person goes in order to carry out a work assignment
    and the person who calls upon the services of that worker.             1. Dismisses the appeal;
3. The E 101 certificate, issued in accordance with Article 11a of         2. Orders Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenigde Bloemenveilingen
    Regulation No 574/72, may have retroactive effect.                          Aalsmeer BA (VBA) to bear its own costs and to pay those of
                                                                                Florimex BV and Vereniging van Groothandelaren in Bloem-
                                                                                kwekerijprodukten (VGB) relating to the proceedings before the
(1) OJ C 212 of 12.7.1997.                                                      Court of Justice;
                                                                           3. Orders the Commission to bear its own costs.
                                                                           (1) OJ C 295 of 30.3.2000.
                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                          (Fifth Chamber)
                         of 30 March 2000                                                    JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
in Case C-265/97 P: Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenig-                                               (Fifth Chamber)
de Bloemenveilingen Aalsmeer BA (VBA) v Florimex BV
                           and Others (1)
                                                                                                    of 30 March 2000
(Appeal — Competition — Decision rejecting a complaint
— Compatibility with Article 2 of Regulation No 26 of a                    in Case C-266/97 P: Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenig-
fee charged to external suppliers on floricultural products                de Bloemenveilingen Aalsmeer BA (VBA) v Vereniging
supplied to wholesalers established on the premises of a                   van Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijproducten (VGB),
 cooperative society of auctioneers — Statement of reasons)                                            Florimex BV (1)
                          (2000/C 163/04)                                  (Appeal — Competition — Closure of procedure on a
                                                                           complaint in the absence of a response by the complainants
                                                                           within the time-limit notified to them — Compatibility with
                    (Language of the case: Dutch)                          Article 85(1) of the Treaty of a fee levied on suppliers
                                                                           who have concluded agreements relating to the delivery of
                                                                           floricultural products to undertakings established on the
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published     premises of a cooperative auction society — Compatibility
                   in the European Court Reports)                          with Article 85(1) of the EC Treaty of an exclusive purchase
                                                                           obligation accepted by certain wholesalers reselling such
                                                                           products to retailers in a specific trading area forming part
In Case C-265/97 P: Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenigde                   of the same premises — Discrimination — Effect on trade
Bloemenveilingen Aalsmeer BA (VBA), established in Aalsmeer                between Member States — Assessment by reference to a
(Netherlands), represented by G. van der Wal, of the Brussels              body of rules taken as a whole — Lack of appreciable effect)
Bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the
Chambers of A. May, 31 Grand-Rue — Appeal against the
judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European                                               (2000/C 163/05)
Communities (Second Chamber, Extended Composition) of
14 May 1997 in Joined Cases T-70/92 and T-71/92 Florimex
and VGB v Commission [1997] ECR II-693, seeking to have                                         (Language of the case: Dutch)
that judgment set aside, the other parties to be proceedings
being: Florimex BV and Others and Vereniging van Groothan-
delaren in Bloemkwekerijprodukten (VGB), established in                    (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
Aalsmeer (Netherlands), represented by J.A.M.P. Keijser, of the                                in the European Court Reports)
Nijmegen Bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at
the Chambers of A. Kronshagen, 22 Rue Marie-Adélaïde and                   In Case C-266/97 P: Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenigde
Commission of the European Communities, (Agent:                            Bloemenveilingen Aalsmeer BA (VBA), established in Aalsmeer
 ---pagebreak--- C 163/4               EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                          10.6.2000
(Netherlands), represented by G. van der Wal, of the Brussels                            JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the
Chambers of A. May, 398 Route d’Esch — Appeal against the
judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European                                           (Sixth Chamber)
Communities (Second Chamber, Extended Composition) of
14 May 1997 in Case T-77/94 VGB and Others v Commission
[1997] ECR II-759, seeking to have that judgment set aside,                                      of 30 March 2000
the other parties to the proceedings being Vereniging van
Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijproducten (VGB), Florimex               in Case C-236/98 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
BV, Inkoop Service Aalsmeer BV and M. Verhaar BV, estab-                the Arbetsdomstolen): Jämställdhetsombudsmannen v
lished in Aalsmeer (Netherlands), represented by J.A.M.P.                                    Örebro läns landsting (1)
Keijser, of the Nijmegen Bar, with an address for service in
Luxembourg at the Chambers of A. Kronshagen, 22 Rue
Marie-Adélaïde and Commission of the European Communi-                  (Social policy — Male and female workers — Equal pay for
ties, (Agent: B.J. Drijber) — the Court (Fifth Chamber),                work of equal value — Article 119 of the EC Treaty (Articles
composed of: J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, acting for the President         117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Articles
of the Chamber, L. Sevón, J.-P. Puissochet, P. Jann (Rapporteur)       136 EC to 143 EC) — Directive 75/117/EEC — Comparison
and M. Wathelet, Judges; A. Saggio, Advocate General;                   of a midwife’s pay with that of a clinical technician —
L. Hewlett, Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a               Taking into account a supplement and a reduction in
judgment on 30 March 2000, in which it:                                         working time for inconvenient working hours)
                                                                                                  (2000/C 163/06)
1. Dismisses the main appeal and the cross-appeal;
                                                                                           (Language of the case: Swedish)
2. Orders Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenigde Bloemenveilingen
     Aalsmeer BA (VBA) to bear its own costs and to pay those of        (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
     Vereniging van Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijproducten                              in the European Court Reports)
     (VGB), Florimex BV, Inkoop Services Aalsmeer BV and
     M. Verhaar BV relating to the appeal;
                                                                        In Case C-236/98: Reference to the Court under Article 177 of
                                                                        the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) by the Arbetsdomstolen,
                                                                        Sweden, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending
                                                                        before that court between Jämställdhetsombudsmannen and
3. Orders Vereniging van Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijpro-           Örebro läns Landsting — on the interpretation of Article 119
     ducten (VGB), Florimex BV, Inkoop Services Aalsmeer BV and         of the EC Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have
     M. Verhaar BV to bear their own costs and to pay those             been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) and of Council
     of Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenigde Bloemenveilingen           Directive 75/117/EEC of 10 February 1975 on the approxi-
     Aalsmeer BA (VBA) relating to the cross-appeal;                    mation of the laws of the Member States relating to the
                                                                        application of the principle of equal pay for men and women
                                                                        (OJ 1975 L 45, p. 19) — the Court (Sixth Chamber), composed
                                                                        of: J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, President of the Chamber,
                                                                        R. Schintgen (Rapporteur), C. Gulmann, J.-P. Puissochet and
4. Orders the Commission of the European Communities to bear its        F. Macken, Judges; F. G. Jacobs, Advocate General ; H.A. Rühl,
     own costs.                                                         Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment
                                                                        on 30 March 2000, in which it ruled:
                                                                        1. The inconvenient-hours supplement is not to be taken into
                                                                            account in calculating the salary which serves as the basis for a
                                                                            pay comparison for the purposes of Article 119 of the EC Treaty
(1) OJ C 318 of 18.10.1997.                                                 (Articles 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty were replaced by Articles
                                                                            136 EC to 143 EC) and Council Directive 75/117/EEC of
                                                                            10 February 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the
                                                                            Member States relating to the application of the principle of
                                                                            equal pay for men and women. If a difference in pay between the
                                                                            two groups compared is found to exist, and if the available
                                                                            statistical data indicate that there is a substantially higher
                                                                            proportion of women than men in the disadvantaged group,
                                                                            Article 119 of the Treaty requires the employer to justify the
                                                                            difference by objective factors unrelated to any discrimination on
                                                                            grounds of sex.