Semeraro Casa Uno Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Erbusco (C-418/93), Semeraro Mobili SpA v Sindaco del Comune di Erbusco (C-419/93), RB Arredamento Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Stezzano (C-420/93), Città Convenienza Milano Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Trezzano sul Naviglio (C-421/93), Città Convenienza Bergamo Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Stezzano (C-460/93), Centro Italiano Mobili Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Pineto (C-461/93), Il 3C Centro Convenienza Casa Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Roveredo in Piano (C-462/93), Benelli Confezioni SNC v Sindaco del Comune di Capena (C-464/93), M. Quattordici Srl v Commissario straordinario del Comune di Terlizzi (C-9/94), Società Italiana Elettronica Srl (SIEL) v Sindaco del Comune di Dozza (C-10/94), Modaffari Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Trezzano sul Naviglio (C-11/94), Modaffari Srl v Comune di Cinisello Balsamo (C-14/94), Cologno Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Cologno Monzese (C-15/94), Modaffari Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Osio Sopra (C-23/94), M. Dieci Srl v Sindaco del Comune di Madignano (C-24/94) and Consorzio Centro Commerciale "Il Porto" v Sindaco del Comune di Adria (C-332/94).
Date: 1996-06-20
12 The Court considered that the application to products from other Member States of national provisions restricting or prohibiting certain selling arrangements was not such as to hinder directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, trade between Member States within the meaning of Dassonville (Case 8/74 [1974] ECR 837, paragraph 5), so long as those provisions applied to all relevant traders operating within the national territory and so long as they affected in the same manner, in law and in fact, the marketing of domestic products and of those from other Member States (paragraph 16).
14 In its judgment in Punto Casa and PPV, cited above, the Court held, first, that in the case of legislation of the kind at issue, which was concerned with the circumstances of sale to consumers, the conditions set out in the Keck and Mithouard judgment were fulfilled (paragraph 13). The Court further found that the legislation at issue was applicable, irrespective of the origin of the products in question, to all the traders concerned and did not affect the marketing of products from other Member States any differently from the marketing of domestic products (paragraph 14).
24 There is no evidence that the aim of the rules at issue is to regulate trade in goods between Member States or that, viewed as a whole, they could lead to unequal treatment between national products and imported products as regards access to the market. In this connection, it must be reiterated that national rules whose effect is to limit the marketing of a product generally, and consequently its importation, cannot on that ground alone be regarded as limiting access to the market for those imported products to a greater extent than for similar national products. As the Court stated in paragraph 13 of Keck and Mithouard, the fact that national legislation may restrict the volume of sales generally, and hence the volume of sales of products from other Member States, is not sufficient to characterize such legislation as a measure having an effect equivalent to a quantitative restriction.
25 Moreover, the Court has repeatedly recognized that national legislation such as that at issue pursues an aim which is justified under Community law, and that national rules restricting the opening of shops on Sundays reflect certain choices relating to particular national or regional socio-cultural characteristics. It is for the Member States to make those choices in compliance with the requirements of Community law (see Case C-169/91 B & Q [1992] ECR I-6635, paragraph 11).
26 The Court went on to rule in that case that Article 30 of the Treaty is to be interpreted as meaning that the prohibition it lays down does not apply to national legislation prohibiting retailers from opening their premises on Sundays.
27 No new factor has emerged in these proceedings which might justify an assessment different from that made by the Court in the judgments in Punto Casa and PPV and B & Q.
28 The reply to be given to the national court must therefore be that, on a proper construction, Article 30 of the Treaty does not apply to national rules on the closing times of shops applicable to all traders exercising an activity on national territory and affecting in the same way in law and in fact the marketing of national products and products from other Member States.
Article 52 of the Treaty and Directive 64/223
30 As far as Directive 64/223 is concerned, the aim of that directive is the attainment, in the field of wholesale trade activities, of freedom of establishment, as guaranteed, with direct effect after the expiry of the transition period, by Article 52 of the Treaty (see the judgment in Case 198/86 Conradi and Others [1987] ECR 4469, paragraph 8).
32 As far as Article 52 is concerned, suffice it to state that, as has been found above, the legislation in question is applicable to all traders exercising their activity on national territory; that its purpose is not to regulate the conditions concerning the establishment of the undertakings concerned; and that any restrictive effects which it might have on freedom of establishment are too uncertain and indirect for the obligation laid down to be regarded as being capable of hindering that freedom.