CELEX: C2000/047/24
Language: en
Date: 2000-02-19 00:00:00
Title: Case C-445/99: Action brought on 23 November 1999 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic

C 47/16               EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                        19.2.2000
The appellant claims that the Court should:                             the European Communities, represented by Paolo Stancanelli,
                                                                        of its Legal Service, acting as Agent, with an address for service
1. Set aside the contested judgment;                                    in Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz,
                                                                        Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
2. Annul the contested hardship decision of the Commission
    of 24 October 1997;
                                                                        The applicant claims that the Court should:
3. Order the Commission to pay the costs.
                                                                        — Declare that, by failing to adopt the laws, regulations
                                                                             and administrative provisions necessary to comply with
Pleas in law and main arguments                                              Council Directive 96/34/EC (1) of 3 June 1996 on the
                                                                             framework agreement on parental leave, the Italian Repub-
The appeal is directed against the judgment of 28 September                  lic has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty;
1999 by which the Court of First Instance dismissed the
application for annulment of the decision refusing an appli-            — Order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.
cation for additional ripening licences as a transitional measure
to compensate for a situation of hardship not its own fault
                                                                        Contentions and principal arguments adduced in support
under Article 30 of the organisation of the market in bananas
(Council Regulation No 404/93 (1)). Breach of Community law
is complained of, namely:                                               By virtue of Article 249 EC (ex Article 189 of the EC Treaty),
                                                                        under which a directive is binding on the Member State to
— Article 30 of Regulation No 404/93: The Court of First                which it is addressed as regards the result to be achieved,
    Instance fails to recognise that the case of hardship as            Member States are required to observe time-limits for the
    found by the Court of Justice in Case C-68/95 T. Port is            transposition of directives. The prescribed period expired on
    only one of the cases to which Article 30 is applicable, and        3 June 1998 and the Italian Republic has not yet adopted the
    that the conditions laid down by the Court of Justice for           provisions needed to comply with the directive to which the
    the Commission to be obliged to compensate a case of                Commission refers in its application.
    hardship do not automatically apply. In the present
    case the transitional difficulties did not arise from the
                                                                        (1) OJ 1996 L 145, p. 4.
    applicant’s conduct, but were structural difficulties which
    had arisen for new undertakings such as the applicant
    and had been made worse by the introduction of the
    organisation of the market in bananas. The structural
    disadvantage of the applicant as a new undertaking in the
    former GDR — as that of all other new undertakings —
    consisted in the fact that in 1989 and 1990, the years
    which Regulation No 404/93 determined as the reference              Action brought on 23 November 1999 by the Com-
    period for 1993 and 1994, it had not been able to carry             mission of the European Communities against the Repub-
    out any relevant transactions for reference purposes;                                            lic of Austria
— the principle of equal treatment: For new undertakings in                                        (Case C-446/99)
    the territory of the former GDR — as the only group in
    the Community — the aforesaid reference years were                                              (2000/C 47/25)
    necessarily simply immaterial. The principle of equal
    treatment required the Community institutions to take
                                                                        An action against the Republic of Austria was brought
    account of this exceptional situation, since different situ-
                                                                        before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
    ations were otherwise treated in the same way.
                                                                        23 November 1999 by the Commission of the European
                                                                        Communities represented by Josef Christian Schieferer, a
(1) OJ L 47 of 25.2.1993, p. 1.                                         member of the Legal Service of the European Commission,
                                                                        with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of
                                                                        Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, a member of the Legal Service of the
                                                                        European Commission, Wagner Centre C 254, Kirchberg,
                                                                        Luxembourg.
                                                                        The applicant claims that the Court should:
Action brought on 23 November 1999 by the Com-
mission of the European Communities against the Italian                 1. Declare that, by failing to adopt and communicate to
                             Republic                                        the Commission the laws, regulations and administrative
                                                                             provisions necessary to ensure compliance with
                        (Case C-445/99)                                      Article 9(2), (4) and (6) of Directive 97/13/EC (1) of the
                                                                             European Parliament and of the Council of 10 April 1997
                         (2000/C 47/24)                                      on a common framework for general authorisations and
                                                                             individual licences in the field of telecommunications
An action against the Italian Republic was brought before the                services, the Republic of Austria has failed to fulfil its
Court of Justice on 23 November 1999 by the Commission of                    obligations under that Directive;