Lars Ivansson and Others.
Date: 2014-07-10
16. According to the Court’s settled case-law, it follows from Article 1(11) of Directive 98/34 that the concept of ‘technical regulation’ covers three categories, namely, first, the ‘technical specification’ within the meaning of Article 1(3) of the directive, second, ‘other requirements’, as defined in Article 1(4) of the directive, and third, that set out in Article 1(11) of that directive, which concerns the laws, regulations or administrative provisions prohibiting the manufacture, importation, marketing or use of a product or prohibiting the provision or use of a service, or establishment as a service provider (see, to that effect, judgment in Fortuna and Others , C‑213/11, C‑214/11 and C‑217/11, EU:C:2012:495, paragraph 27 and the case-law cited).
19. It is necessary to state that, in accordance with the case-law, that notion presupposes that the national measure must necessarily refer to the product or its packaging as such and thus lay down one of the characteristics required of a product (see, to that effect, judgment in Fortuna and Others , EU:C:2012:495, paragraph 28).
20. In addition, with regard to agricultural products, the Court has stated that a technical specification is one contained in a document which lays down the characteristics required of a product or its production methods and procedures (see, to that effect, judgment in Donkersteeg , C‑37/99, EU:C:2000:636, paragraph 30).
26. In that regard, the Court has already held that, in order to be classified as ‘other requirements’ within the meaning of Article 1(4) of Directive 98/34, the national measures at issue must constitute ‘conditions’ which can significantly influence the composition or nature of the product concerned or its marketing (see judgment in Fortuna and Others , EU:C:2012:495, paragraph 35 and the case-law cited).
27. The Court has also held that, where the provisions of a national measure are general in nature, they cannot amount to such conditions or, consequently, be classified as ‘other requirements’, within the meaning of Article 1(4) of the directive (see, to that effect, judgment in Intercommunale Intermosane and Fédération de l’Industrie et du gaz , EU:C:2011:382, paragraph 21).
40. It is therefore appropriate to recall that, in accordance with settled case-law, the wording used in one language version of a provision of EU law cannot serve as the sole basis for the interpretation of that provision, or be made to override the other language versions in that regard. Provisions of EU law must be interpreted and applied uniformly in the light of the versions existing in all EU languages. Where there is divergence between the various language versions of an EU legislative text, the provision in question must be interpreted by reference to the purpose and general scheme of the rules of which it forms part (see, to that effect, judgment in Kurcums Metal , C‑558/11, EU:C:2012:721, paragraph 48 and the case-law cited).
41. It is clear that Directive 98/34 is designed to protect, by means of preventive monitoring, the free movement of goods, which is one of the foundations of the European Union, and that this control serves a useful purpose in that technical regulations falling within the scope of that directive may constitute obstacles to trade in goods between Member States, such obstacles being permissible only if they are necessary to satisfy compelling requirements relating to the public interest (see judgment in Fortuna and Others , EU:C:2012:495, paragraph 26 and the case-law cited).
48. In that regard, it must be borne in mind that the Court has held that a failure to observe the obligation to notify the Commission constitutes a procedural defect in the adoption of the technical regulations concerned, and renders those technical regulations inapplicable and therefore unenforceable against individuals (see, in particular, judgment in CIA Security International , C‑194/94, EU:C:1996:172, paragraph 54, and judgment in Schwibbert , C‑20/05, EU:C:2007:652, paragraph 44). Individuals may rely on that inapplicability before the national court which must decline to apply a national technical regulation which has not been notified in accordance with Directive 98/34 (see, in particular, judgment in Schwibbert , EU:C:2007:652, paragraph 44 and the case-law cited).