UAB "Juvelta" v VĮ "Lietuvos prabavimo rūmai".
Date: 2014-01-16
16. It should be noted that, according to settled case-law, all trading rules enacted by Member States which are capable of hindering, directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, trade within the European Union must be considered to be measures having an effect equivalent to quantitative restrictions within the meaning of Article 34 TFEU (see, inter alia, Case 8/74 Dassonville  [1974] ECR 837, paragraph 5, and Case C‑108/09 Ker-Optika  [2010] ECR I‑12213, paragraph 47).
17. Therefore, the legislation not having been harmonised, obstacles to the free movement of goods which are the consequence of applying, to goods coming from other Member States where they are lawfully manufactured and marked, rules that lay down requirements to be met by such goods constitute measures having equivalent effect prohibited by Article 34 TFEU. This is so even if those rules apply without distinction to all products unless their application can be justified by a public-interest objective taking precedence over the free movement of goods (see Case 220/81 Robertson and Others  [1982] ECR 2349, paragraph 9; Case C‑293/93 Houtwipper  [1994] ECR I‑4249 paragraph 11; and Case C‑30/99 Commission  v Ireland  [2001] ECR I‑4619, paragraph 26).
18. In that regard, the Court has previously held that national legislation that requires articles of precious metal imported from other Member States, in which they are lawfully traded and hallmarked in accordance with the legislation of those States, to be given an additional hallmark in the importing Member State has the effect of rendering the imports more difficult and costly (see, to that effect, Robertson and Others , paragraph 10; Houtwipper , paragraph 13; and Commission  v Ireland , paragraph 27).
20. Consequently, such legislation constitutes a measure having an effect equivalent to a quantitative restriction on imports, prohibited by Article 34 TFEU.
21. With regard to whether such a measure can be justified, the Court has previously held that the requirement that an importer cause to be affixed on articles of precious metal a hallmark indicating their fineness is, in principle, of a nature such as to ensure effective protection for consumers and to promote fair trading (see Robertson and Others , paragraph 11; Houtwipper , paragraph 14; and Commission  v Ireland , paragraph 29).
22. However, in that context, the Court has also held that a Member State may not require a fresh hallmark to be affixed to products imported from another Member State in which they have been lawfully marketed and hallmarked in accordance with the legislation of that State, where the information provided by the hallmark, in whatever form, is equivalent to that prescribed by the Member State of importation and intelligible to consumers of that State (see Robertson and Others , paragraph 12; Houtwipper , paragraph 15; and Commission  v Ireland , paragraphs 30 and 69).
23. In order to determine whether an indication of a standard of fineness not provided for by legislation of a Member State provides consumers with equivalent and intelligible information, the Court must take into account the presumed expectations of an average consumer who is reasonably well-informed and reasonably observant and circumspect (see, to that effect, Commission  v Ireland , paragraph 32).
29. However, although the restrictive effects of the legislation at issue can thus be justified by the objective of ensuring effective protection for Lithuanian consumers, and providing them with information relating to standards of fineness for articles of precious metal imported into Lithuania which are intelligible to them, such justification can be accepted only if that legislation is proportionate to the objective pursued, that is to say if, while appropriate in order to fulfil that objective, it does not go beyond what is necessary to attain it.
36. In that regard, it should be noted that, in so far as the articles at issue in the main proceedings were subject to additional marking only as a supplement to a hallmark affixed by an independent assay office authorised by the Member State of exportation, in this case the Republic of Poland, that hallmark functions as a guarantee (see, to that effect, Houtwipper , paragraph 19).
37. The situation at issue in the main proceedings must be distinguished from that in which articles of precious metal are hallmarked by the producers themselves in the Member State of exportation. That latter situation is likely to result in fraud against which, there being no European Union rules, it is for the Member States, who have a wide discretion, to take the measures they consider appropriate for that purpose (see, to that effect, Houtwipper , paragraphs 20 to 22).