larimo/cjeu-paragraph-retrieval huggingface dataset:
Francisco Bastos Moriana, Cristóbal Aguilera Reyes, Cristóbal Gordo Valle, Fernando Romero Ramos, Rosa Moscato and Ana Muñoz Abato v Bundesanstalt für Arbeit.
Date: 1997-02-27
5 The plaintiffs applied to the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit for German dependent child allowances in respect of their children, inasmuch as those allowances are granted for longer periods, or in a higher sum, than those granted by their State of residence.  The plaintiffs are therefore seeking an additional amount (`benefit supplement') equal to the difference between the German allowance and that of their State of residence.
15 It should be recalled in that regard that the rules laid down in Articles 77 and 78 are designed to determine the Member State whose legislation governs the grant of benefits for dependent children of pensioners and for orphans, which are then granted, in principle, in accordance with the legislation of that Member State alone. It follows from Articles 77(2)(b)(i) and 78(2)(b)(i) that where a pensioner or a deceased worker has been subject to the laws of more than one Member State, the benefits in question are to be paid in accordance with those of the State in whose territory the pensioner, or the orphan of the deceased worker, resides.
17 That interpretation of Articles 77 and 78 of the regulation is based on the principle, frequently recalled by the Court, that the objective of Articles 48 to 51 of the Treaty would not be achieved if, as a consequence of the exercise of their right to freedom of movement, workers were to lose social security advantages guaranteed to them in any event by the laws of a single Member State (see, in particular, Case 24/75 Petroni v ONPTS [1975] ECR 1149, paragraph 13).  It follows that the provisions of the regulation cannot apply if their effect is to diminish the benefits which the person concerned may claim by virtue of the laws of a single Member State on the basis solely of the insurance periods completed under those laws (Petroni, cited above, paragraph 16).
18 To apply the provisions of Articles 77 and 78 of the regulation specifying the Member State of residence as having sole competence to grant the family benefits in question may result, however, in the persons concerned being deprived of their entitlement to benefit under the laws of another Member State alone.  It was for that reason that, in its judgments in Laterza and Gravina, the Court interpreted those provisions as meaning that the principle of a single State responsible for payment is subject, as regards family benefits, to an exception requiring the other Member State to grant a supplement.
19 Having regard to the reasoning underlying that exception, its scope cannot be widened in such a way that a supplement must also be granted where the entitlement of the pensioner or orphan exists only by virtue of the application of the aggregation rules provided for by the regulation.  In that situation, the application of Articles 77 and 78 does not deprive the persons concerned of the benefits granted under the laws of another Member State alone.
Ebony Maritime SA and Loten Navigation Co. Ltd v Prefetto della Provincia di Brindisi and others.
Date: 1997-02-27
30 However, as the Court has already indicated on several occasions, the need for a uniform interpretation of Community regulations precludes considering a given piece of legislation in isolation and requires that, in case of doubt, it should be interpreted and applied in the light of the versions existing in the other official languages (Case C-64/95 Lubella v Hauptzollamt Cottbus [1996] ECR I-5105, paragraph 17).
35 In this connection, it should be noted that the Court has consistently held that where a Community regulation does not specifically provide any penalty for an infringement or refers for that purpose to national laws, regulations and administrative provisions, Article 5 of the EC Treaty requires the Member States to take all measures necessary to guarantee the application and effectiveness of Community law.  For that purpose, while the choice of penalties remains within their discretion, they must ensure in particular that infringements of Community law are penalized under conditions, both procedural and substantive, which are analogous to those applicable to infringements of national law of a similar nature and importance and which, in any event, make the penalty effective, proportionate and dissuasive (Case 68/88 Commission v Greece [1989] ECR 2965, paragraphs 23 and 24; Case C-326/88 Anklagemyndigheden v Hansen [1990] ECR I-2911, paragraph 17; Case C-36/94 Siesse v Director da Alfândega de Alcântara [1995] ECR I-3573, paragraph 20).
36 The Court has, moreover, already accepted that a system of strict criminal liability penalizing breach of a regulation is not in itself incompatible with Community law (Hansen, cited above, paragraph 19).
38 In making that determination, the national court must take account, in particular, of the fact that the objective pursued by the Regulation, which is to bring to an end the state of war in the region concerned and the massive violations of human rights and humanitarian international law in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, is one of fundamental general interest for the international community (Case C-84/95 Bosphorus Hava Yollari Turizm ve Ticaret v Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Ireland and the Attorney General [1996] ECR I-3953, paragraph 26).
Antonius van den Boogaard v Paula Laumen.
Date: 1997-02-27
16 As a preliminary point, it must be observed that at the hearing it was asserted that Mr Van den Boogaard had lodged an appeal after the two-month period laid down in Article 36 of the Brussels Convention for appealing against decisions authorizing enforcement had expired.  That fact does not affect in any way the Court's jurisdiction to give a preliminary ruling since, according to settled case-law, it is solely for national courts before which disputes are brought and which must assume responsibility for the subsequent judicial decision, to determine in the light of the particular circumstances of each case both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to enable them to deliver judgment and the relevance of the questions which they submit to the Court (see the judgment in Case C-127/92 Enderby [1993] ECR I-5535, paragraph 10).
Commission of the European Communities v Union internationale des chemins de fer (UIC).
Date: 1997-03-11
44 Moreover, the fact that Article 1 of Regulation No 1017/68 applies, on the one hand, to certain agreements, decisions and concerted practices relating to "the joint financing or acquisition of transport equipment or supplies where such operations are directly related to the provision of transport services" and, on the other hand, to "operations of providers of services ancillary to transport" indicates that its scope may be wider than suggested by the Commission.
48 On that point, and without going into the detail of the Commission's argument, it should be pointed out that, in accordance with established case-law, this Court will reject from the outset any challenge directed to grounds of a judgment of the Court of First Instance which are supererogatory, since these cannot entail its annulment (see, in particular, the judgments in Case C-35/92 P Parliament v Frederiksen [1993] ECR I-991, paragraph 31, and Case C-244/91 P Pincherle v Commission [1993] ECR I-6965, paragraph 25).
Empresa Nacional de Urânio SA (ENU) v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1997-03-11
2 Under Article 2(d) of the EAEC Treaty, the Community is to ensure that all users in the Community receive a regular and equitable supply of ores and nuclear fuels. The implementation of that obligation is the subject of Title II, Chapter 6 (Articles 52 to 76), which establishes a common supply policy for ores, source materials and special fissile materials.
35 It is common ground that, as this Court found in its judgment in Case C-107/91 ENU v Commission, that the decision originally requested by ENU under the second paragraph of Article 53 of the Treaty was meant to provide a solution to the specific problem it had submitted to the Agency and the Commission (paragraph 16), namely the difficulties in disposing of its uranium stocks. Similarly, in so far as the Commission was formally requested inter alia to order the Agency to take `special action' enabling an immediate solution to be found to the problem encountered by ENU in disposing of its uranium, ENU's letter to the Commission of 21 December 1990 had to be understood as referring to the Commission the implied act of the Agency refusing to exercise its right of option in respect of ENU's uranium production (paragraph 34 of that judgment).
Astir A.E. v Elliniko Dimosio.
Date: 1997-03-13
23 This conclusion is not undermined by the fact that the goods, after leaving the geographical territory of the Community, perished in transit as a result of force majeure.  The first indent of Article 10(4) of Regulation No 2730/79 refers, in the case of a variable refund, to the application of Article 21 of that regulation, with the result that, in such a case, by reason of the wording of Article 21(2), no payment of the refund is made (see, to that effect, Case C-321/91 Tara Meat Packers [1993] ECR I-2811, paragraphs 17 and 18).
P.J. Huijbrechts v Commissie voor de behandeling van administratieve geschillen ingevolge artikel 41 der Algemene Bijstandswet in de provincie Noord-Brabant.
Date: 1997-03-13
11 The Court, being competent under Article 177 of the Treaty to provide courts of the Member States with all the elements of interpretation of Community law, may however deem it necessary to consider provisions of Community law to which the national court has not referred in its questions (Case C-315/92 Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb v Clinique Laboratories and Estée Lauder  [1994] ECR I-317, paragraph 7).
16 With regard to the interpretation of the material provisions of the Regulation, the Court has consistently held that it is necessary to consider not only its wording but also its context and the aims pursued by the legislation of which it forms part (Case C-30/93 AC-ATEL Electronics Vertriebs [1994] ECR I-2305, paragraph 21).
17 The provisions of Title II of the Regulation constitute a complete and uniform system of conflict rules the aim of which is to ensure that workers moving within the Community shall be subject to the social security scheme of only one Member State, in order to prevent the system of legislation of more than one Member State from being applicable and to avoid the complications which may result from that situation (Case C-71/93 Van Poucke [1994] ECR I-1101, paragraph 22).
19 The Court has held that the sole purpose of Article 13(2)(a) is to determine the national legislation applicable and not to lay down the conditions creating the right or the obligation to become affiliated to a social security scheme (Case C-2/89 Kits van Heijningen [1990] ECR I-1755, paragraph 19).
21 It follows from all those provisions that the competent State in relation to unemployment benefits is the State where the unemployed person was last employed (see Case 145/84 Cochet [1985] ECR 801, paragraph 14), with the result that, in accordance with Article 1(o) and (q) it is in principle that Member State which is responsible for paying those benefits.
24 According to the wording of Article 71(1)(a)(ii), the Member State in whose territory a frontier worker resides is responsible for paying those benefits `as though' it were the State where he was last employed.  While that legal fiction suspends the obligations of the State where the unemployed person was last employed for so long as he continues to reside in another Member State, it does not have the effect of extinguishing them.
28 It follows from the foregoing considerations that, where an unemployed frontier worker, after receiving unemployment benefit in the State in which he is resident, settles in the Member State in which he was last employed, the derogation under Article 71(1)(a)(ii) ceases to apply, with the result that the State in which he was last employed must begin, or begin afresh, to assume its obligations under the Regulation in relation to unemployment benefit. Consequently, benefits paid by the State in which he was temporarily resident must be taken into account, for the application of the legislation of the State in which he was last employed, as though they had been paid by the latter State.
Tommaso Morellato v Unità sanitaria locale (USL) n. 11 di Pordenone.
Date: 1997-03-13
11 In Case 130/80 Kelderman [1981] ECR 527, paragraph 7, it stated that the extension to imported products of the requirement that they contain a specific amount of dry matter may prevent bread originating in other Member States from being marketed in the State concerned.  Such extension may make it necessary to vary the method of manufacture according to the place where the bread is to be sold and thus impede the movement of bread lawfully produced in the Member State of origin if identical manufacturing standards are not prescribed in that State.  The Court thus held that the rules of a Member State imposing such conditions concerning composition were liable to hinder Community trade and fell within the prohibition laid down in Article 30 of the Treaty.
12 Similarly, in Case C-17/93 Van der Veldt [1994] ECR I-3537, paragraph 11, the Court stated that the extension to imported products of the requirement that they contain no more than a specific amount of salt, calculated by reference to the dry matter, may prevent bread and other bakery products originating in other Member States from being marketed in the State concerned. Such extension may make it necessary, if identical manufacturing standards are not prescribed in those States of origin, to vary the method of manufacture according to the place where the bread or bakery product in question is to be sold and thus impede the movement of products lawfully manufactured and marketed in those States.  The Court therefore held that the application of legislation of a Member State prohibiting the marketing of bread and other bakery products whose salt content by reference to the dry matter exceeded the maximum permitted level of 2% to products which had been lawfully manufactured and marketed in another Member State constituted a measure having equivalent effect to a quantitative restriction within the meaning of Article 30 of the Treaty.
14 It is settled case-law that an exception to the principle of the free movement of goods may be justified under Article 36 only if the national authorities show that it is necessary in order to attain one or more objectives mentioned in that article - in this case the protection of public health - and that it is in conformity with the principle of proportionality.
18 According to settled case-law, where provisions of national law are incompatible with Community law, the national court is under a duty to give full effect to Community law by disapplying on its own initiative conflicting provisions of national law (Case 106/77 Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato v Simmenthal [1978] ECR 629).
Directeur général des douanes et droits indirects v Eridania Beghin-Say SA.
Date: 1997-03-13
20 It must first be noted that, in adopting provisions for the implementation of a basic regulation, the Community authority empowered to do so is required not to exceed the powers conferred upon it for the implementation of the rules which it contains (see, to that effect, Case C-162/82 Cousin [1983] ECR 1101, paragraph 15).
23 Article 9 of the implementing regulation adopted under that procedure, in so far as it provides that, for recourse to equivalent compensation to be available, the equivalent goods must not only display the same commercial quality and have the same technical characteristics as the import goods, but must also fall within the same Common Customs Tariff subheading, is intended to limit, in the manner provided for by Article 2(4) of the basic regulation, recourse to the equivalent compensation system.  If the equivalent goods and the import goods had the same commercial quality and technical characteristics but did not come within the same tariff subheading, recourse to the equivalent compensation  system would be precluded.
26 In those circumstances, the general objective of the inward processing arrangements, namely the promotion of exports by Community undertakings, as mentioned in the second recital in the preamble to the basic regulation and referred to by Eridania, does not conflict with recourse to the criterion at issue.
30 In view of the fact that the authority empowered to adopt provisions concerning application of the basic regulation is vested, as noted in paragraph 22 of this judgment, with wide powers to adopt measures intended to prohibit or limit equivalent compensation, the measures can be considered invalid only if they are manifestly disproportionate in relation to the objective pursued (see, to that effect, Case C-331/88 Fedesa and Others [1990] ECR I-4023, paragraph 14).
Commission of the European Communities v French Republic.
Date: 1997-03-13
4 The Court held in this regard in Case C-345/89 Stoeckel [1991] ECR I-4047 that Article 5 of the directive is sufficiently precise to impose on Member States the obligation not to lay down by legislation the principle that nightwork by women is prohibited, even if that is subject to exceptions, where nightwork by men is not prohibited.  Furthermore, it has repeatedly held that Article 5 is sufficiently precise and unconditional to be capable of being relied upon by an individual before a national court in order to avoid the application of any national provision not conforming to Article 5(1), which lays down the principle of equal treatment with regard to working conditions (Stoeckel, paragraph 12; Case 152/84 Marshall v Southampton and South-West Hampshire Health Authority [1986] ECR 723, paragraph 55).
14 The Court has consistently held that the incompatibility of national legislation with Community provisions, even provisions which are directly applicable, can be finally remedied only by means of national provisions of a binding nature which have the same legal force as those which must be amended.  Mere administrative practices, which by their nature are alterable at will by the authorities and are not given the appropriate publicity, cannot be regarded as constituting the proper fulfilment of obligations under the Treaty (see Case C-334/94 Commission v France [1996] ECR I-1307, paragraph 30).
15 Accordingly, the provisions of a directive must be implemented with unquestionable binding force and with the specificity, precision and clarity required in order to satisfy the requirement of legal certainty, under which, in the case of a directive intended to confer rights on individuals, persons concerned must be enabled to ascertain the full extent of their rights (Case C-361/88 Commission v Germany [1991] ECR I-2567, paragraphs 15 and 24).
Guérin automobiles v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1997-03-18
30 Next, the Court of Justice held in paragraph 21 of its judgment in GEMA, cited above, that a letter addressed to a complainant which complies with the requirements of Article 6 of Regulation No 99/63 constitutes a definition of position within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article 175 of the Treaty.
34 It has been consistently held that in the case of acts or decisions adopted by a procedure in stages, in particular where they are the culmination of an internal procedure such as that set up by Regulation No 99/63, a measure is in principle open to review only if it is a measure definitively laying down the position of the Commission or the Council on the conclusion of that procedure, and not a provisional measure intended to pave the way for the final decision (Case 60/81 IBM v Commission [1981] ECR 2639, paragraph 10).  The notification under Article 6 of Regulation No 99/63 must be regarded as a provisional measure within the meaning of that case-law.
36 Furthermore, contrary to the argument put forward by the appellant, that does not authorize the Commission to persist in its failure to act.  Once that stage of the procedure has been completed the Commission is bound either to initiate a procedure against the subject of the complaint - a procedure in which the complainant is entitled to participate in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 19 of Regulation No 17 and Article 5 of Regulation No 99/63 - or to adopt a definitive decision rejecting the complaint, which may be the subject-matter of an action for annulment before the Community courts.  In the context of such an action the complainant may rely on any legal defects in the provisional measures preceding the definitive decision (IBM, cited above, paragraph 12).
37 It must also be noted that the Commission's definitive decision must, in accordance with the principles of good administration, be adopted within a reasonable time after it has received the complainant's observations.
39 It must also be noted that any undertaking which considers that it has suffered damage as a result of restrictive practices may rely before the national courts, particularly where the Commission decides not to act on a complaint, on the rights conferred on it by Article 85(1) and Article 86 of the Treaty, which produce direct effect in relations between individuals (Case 127/73 BRT v SABAM [1974] ECR 51, paragraph 16.
43 The Commission defined its position on 13 June 1994, more than two months after the time-limit laid down by Article 175 of the Treaty and after the action was lodged, thereby causing the appellant, whose first letter to the Commission was sent on 3 August 1992, to incur unnecessary costs (Joined Cases C-15/91 and C-108/91 Buckl and Others v Commission [1992] ECR I-6061, paragraph 33).