Reisebüro Broede v Gerd Sandker.
Date: 1996-12-12
14 It has consistently been held that the provisions of the Treaty on freedom to provide services cannot apply to activities all of whose relevant elements are confined within a single Member State.  Whether that is so in a particular case depends on findings of fact which are for the national court to make (Case C-23/93 TV10 v Commissariaat voor de Media [1994] ECR I-4795, paragraph 14).
19 It should be recalled that the provisions of the chapter on services are subordinate to those of the chapter on freedom of establishment (Case C-55/94 Gebhard v Consiglio dell'Ordine degli Avvocati e Procuratori di Milano [1995] ECR I-4165, paragraph 22).
20 The concept of establishment within the meaning of Articles 52 to 58 of the Treaty is a very broad one, allowing a Community national to participate, on a stable and continuous basis, in the economic life of a Member State other than his State of origin and to profit therefrom, so contributing to economic and social interpenetration within the Community in the sphere of activities as self-employed persons (judgment in Gebhard, cited above, paragraph 25).
21 By contrast, the provisions of the chapter on services, in particular the third paragraph of Article 60, envisage that the provider of services is to pursue his activity in another Member State on a temporary basis, although the fact that the provision of services is temporary does not mean that the provider of services may not equip himself with some form of infrastructure, such as an office, chambers or consulting rooms, in so far as such infrastructure is necessary for the purposes of performing the services in question (judgment in Gebhard, paragraphs 26 and 27).
25 It has consistently been held that Article 59 requires not only the elimination of all discrimination on grounds of nationality against providers of services who are established in another Member State but also the abolition of any restriction, even if it applies without distinction to national providers of services and to those of other Member States, which is liable to prohibit, impede or render less advantageous the activities of a provider of services established in another Member State where he lawfully provides similar services (Case C-272/94 Guiot [1996] ECR I-1905).
28 Consequently, in accordance with settled case-law, if it is to fall outside the prohibition laid down by Article 59, the restriction imposed by the RBerG must fulfil four conditions: it must be applied in a non-discriminatory manner; it must be justified by imperative requirements in the general interest; it must be suitable for securing the attainment of the objective which it pursues; and it must not go beyond what is necessary in order to attain it (see Gebhard, paragraph 37).  The Court has also stated in that connection that freedom to provide services may be restricted only by rules which are justified by overriding reasons in the general interest, in so far as that interest is not safeguarded by the rules to which the provider of the service is subject in the Member State where he is established (see, to that effect, Case C-180/89 Commission v Italy [1991] ECR I-709, paragraph 17, Case C-198/89 Commission v Greece [1991] ECR I-727, paragraph 18, and Case C-43/93 Vander Elst v Office des Migrations Internationales [1994] ECR I-3803, paragraph 16).
31 As to the second condition, the German Government maintains, without being contradicted in that regard, that Article 1(1) of the RBerG is intended, first, to protect the recipients of the services in question against the harm which they could suffer as a result of legal advice given to them by persons who did not possess the necessary professional or personal qualifications and, second, to safeguard the proper administration of justice (Case C-76/90 Saeger v Dennemeyer [1991] ECR I-4221, paragraph 16, and Case 33/74 Van Binsbergen v Bedrijfsvereniging Metaalnijverheid [1974] ECR 1299).
36 Consequently, the fact, pointed out by the Commission, that a creditor or a non-professional adviser acting on his behalf can lodge an application for an attachment order does not preclude legislative provisions such as those at issue in the main proceedings from being regarded as justified in the general interest on the ground that they protect creditors or safeguard the sound administration of justice in relation to the provision of litigation services on a professional basis.
37 Second, it has consistently been held that, in the absence of specific Community rules in the matter, each Member State is free to regulate the exercise of the legal profession in its territory (Case 107/83 Ordre des Avocats au Barreau de Paris v Klopp [1984] ECR 2971, paragraph 17).
38 As the Court has repeatedly observed, the application of professional rules to lawyers, in particular those relating to organization, qualifications, professional ethics, supervision and liability, ensures that the ultimate consumers of legal services and the sound administration of justice are provided with the necessary guarantees in relation to integrity and experience (see to that effect, the judgments in Case 292/86 Gullung v Conseils de l'Ordre des Avocats du Barreau de Colmar et de Saverne [1988] ECR 111 and Van Binsbergen, cited above).
42 Whilst it is true that debt-collection agencies are not subject to legal regulation in France, the fact that one Member State imposes less strict rules than another Member State does not mean that the latter's rules are disproportionate and hence incompatible with Community law (Case C-348/93 Alpine Investments v Minister van Financiën [1995] ECR I-1141, paragraph 51).