larimo/cjeu-paragraph-retrieval huggingface dataset:
French Republic v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1988-07-13
9 The contested decision found that the FIM loan of FF 40 million granted to a brewery and notified to the Commission by letter of 30 April 1985, the date on which the Commission received the note of 26 April, contained elements of aid within the meaning of Article 92 ( 1 ) of the Treaty in view of the interest subsidy of 4.75 percentage points, that it had been granted unlawfully in infringement of Article 93 ( 3 ) of the Treaty and was incompatible with the common market wthin the meaning of Article 92 of the Treaty . Article 2 of the decision provided that the aid in question had to be recovered and the French Government was to inform the Commission of the measures it took to comply therewith .
19 Those facts were not contested by the French Government . However, it pointed out that the Commission neither found over-capacity in the brewing sector nor indicated the borrowing undertaking' s share of exports to other Member States . However, aid to an undertaking may be such as to affect trade between the Member States and distort competition where that undertaking competes with products coming from other Member States, even if it does not itself export its products . Such a situation may exist even if there is no over-capacity in the sector at issue . Where a Member State grants aid to an undertaking, domestic production may for that reason be maintained or increased with the result that, in circumstances such as those found to exist by the Commission, undertakings established in other Member States have less chance of exporting their products to the market in that Member State . Such aid is therefore likely to affect trade between Member States and distort competition .
33 That submission must be rejected . Article 1 of the contested decision states that the interest subsidy is of 4.75 percentage points and that it relates to a loan of FF 40 million . The addressee of the decision is therefore able to determine without overmuch difficulty the amount which must be recovered under the decision .
Commission of the European Communities v French Republic.
Date: 1988-07-13
14 In that regard it must be emphasized that even though Article 171 does not specify the period within which a judgment must be complied with, it is clear that the process of complying with a judgment must be initiated at once and must be completed as soon as possible . In this case it is clear that a delay in complying with a judgment that goes beyond the minimum period needed for the adoption of the measures required is particularly unjustifiable since Article 12 of Directive 72/464/EEC imposed on the Member States an obligation to bring into force not later than 1 July 1973 the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action necessary to comply with that directive .
Stahlwerke Peine-Salzgitter AG v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1988-07-14
11 The express decision of 11 June 1985, which during the proceedings replaced the previous implied decision with the same subject-matter, that is to say the refusal to adjust pursuant to Article 14 of Decision No 234/84 the applicant' s delivery quotas for Category III products for the first quarter of 1985, must be regarded as a new factor enabling the applicant to amend his pleadings . As the Court held in its judgments of 3 March 1982 ( Case 14/81 Alpha Steel Ltd v Commission (( 1982 )) ECR 749 ) and 29 September 1987 ( Joined Cases 351 and 360/85 Fabrique de fer de Charleroi SA and Dillinger Huettenwerke AG v Commission (( 1987 )) ECR 3639 ), it would not be in the interests of a due administration of justice and the requirements of procedural economy to oblige the applicant to make a fresh application to the Court .
EEC Seed Crushers' and Oil Processors' Federation (Fediol) v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1988-07-14
6 Having regard to the observations of the Commission and the intervener as to the possible limits of judicial review of the decision, it should be noted that the Court has already held ( see, in particular, the judgment of 4 October 1983 in Case 191/82 Fediol v Commission (( 1983 )) ECR 2913 ) that, even though a discretion has been conferred on the Commission in the matter at issue, the Court is required to verify whether or not it has observed the procedural guarantees granted to complainants by the Community provisions in question, has committed manifest errors in its assessment of the facts, has omitted to take into consideration any essential matters of such a nature as to give rise to a belief in the existence of subsidization or has based the reasons for its decision on considerations amounting to a misuse of powers . It is in that context that the applicant' s submission to the effect that the Commission failed to take account of essential matters of such a nature as to give rise to a belief in the existence of a subsidy within the meaning of Article 3 of Regulation No 2176/84 falls to be examined .
Differential taxes on exports of soya-based products
3 Glocken GmbH and Gertraud Kritzinger v USL Centro-Sud and Provincia autonoma di Bolzano.
Date: 1988-07-14
26 It should further be pointed out that, as the Court held in its judgment of 23 February 1988 in Case 216/84 ( Commission v French Republic ) (( 1988 )) ECR 793 ), once the Community has established a common market organization in a particular sector, the Member States must refrain from taking any unilateral measure even if that measure is likely to support the common policy of the Community . It is for the Community and not for a Member State to seek a solution to the problem described above in the context of the common agricultural policy .
Criminal proceedings against Zoni.
Date: 1988-07-14
26 It should further be pointed out that, as the Court held in its judgment of 23 February 1988 in Case 216/84 ( Commission v French Republic ) (( 1988 )) ECR 793 ), once the Community has established a common market organization in a particular sector, the Member States must refrain from taking any unilateral measure even if that measure is likely to support the common policy of the Community . It is for the Community and not for a Member State to seek a solution to the problem described above in the context of the common agricultural policy .
Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Belgium.
Date: 1988-07-14
8 First, it is clear that the complaint that the national legislation must be amended in order to inform the traders concerned of their rights ( Complaint No 2 ) cannot be examined . It is not included in the Commission' s claims as set out in the application, which merely refers to a practice of the Belgian authorities concerning price-fixing and contains no mention whatsoever of the need to amend the national legislation .
10 The Belgian Government' s argument in this respect must be accepted . No complaint as to the range of the scale was made in the formal notice or the reasoned opinion, and the Court has consistently held that the subject-matter of an application under Article 169 of the Treaty is limited to that defined during the pre-litigation procedure provided for by that article . Consequently, the Commission' s reasoned opinion and the application must be based on the same arguments and submissions .
Criminal proceedings against R. Lambert.
Date: 1988-07-14
16 Such a requirement is not contrary to Article 106 ( 1 ) of the Treaty . Under that provision, the Member State in which the importer resides must authorize him to pay the exporter in the currency of the Member State in which the latter resides . Rules such as those at issue do not raise an impediment to the possibility either for the importer to make payment in the currency of the State in which the buyer resides or for the exporter to receive that payment . Such rules deal solely with the way in which the exporter must receive payment, regardless of whether that payment is expressed in foreign or national currency .
21 It is sufficient to observe that any inequality of treatment between exporters established in the Union and their competitors established in other Member States is merely the result of differences in legislation between the Member States in question .
22 As the Court has consistently held, such inequality of treatment does not involve discrimination contrary to Article 7 of the Treaty, since the legislation in question applies to all persons concerned on the basis of objective criteria and without regard to their nationality .
Léa Jorion, née Jeunehomme, and Société anonyme d'étude et de gestion immobilière 'EGI' v Belgian State.
Date: 1988-07-14
7 By virtue of Article 2 of Royal Decree No 1 of 23 July 1969 on measures to ensure payment of VAT, the specific items which must appear on invoices are as follows :
the date on which the invoice is issued;
its serial number in the trader' s sales ledger ( which must appear not only on the duplicate of the invoice but above all on the original issued to the customer );
the identity of the supplier of the goods or services and of the customer ( name and address of the persons concerned );
the date of delivery of the goods or completion of the services;
the usual designation and quantity of goods supplied or the nature of the services, specifying the details required to establish the applicable rate of VAT;
the price of the goods or services and the other components of the taxable amount;
the VAT rate applicable;
the total amount of VAT charged;
a statement of the grounds for exemption, where the transaction invoiced is not subject to VAT .
15 Furthermore, Article 22 ( 8 ) of the Sixth Directive provides that "... Member States may impose other obligations which they deem necessary for the correct levying and collection of the tax and for the prevention of fraud ". In doing so, Member States are not required to use the procedure laid down in Article 27 of the Directive . Article 22 ( 8 ) is a special provision limited to the specific area of taxpayers' obligations and only relates to the right of Member States to lay down obligations other than those provided for in the Directive .
16 It follows from the foregoing that as regards the exercise of the right to deduction in the circumstances set out above, which are those of this case, the Sixth Directive does no more than require an invoice containing certain information . Member States may provide for the inclusion of additional information to ensure the correct levying of value-added tax and permit supervision by the tax authorities .
17 However, the requirement on the invoice of particulars other than those set out in Article 22 ( 3 ) ( b ) of the Sixth Directive, as a condition for the exercise of the right to deduction, must be limited to what is necessary to ensure the correct levying of value-added tax and permit supervision by the tax authorities . Moreover, such particulars must not, by reason of their number or technical nature, render the exercise of the right to deduction practically impossible or excessively difficult .
Oskar Schäflein v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1988-07-14
9 In that regard, it must be pointed out in the first place that the concept of residence, within the meaning of the aforesaid provision, must be understood as meaning the place in which the former official has in fact established the centre of his interests . The geographical weightings applicable to the aforesaid allowance are designed to ensure that all former officials receive benefits which have the same purchasing power, irrespective of their place of residence .
10 Next, it must be emphasized that proof of residence means all the factual circumstances which constitute residence and that the former official may furnish for those purposes whatever supporting evidence he considers appropriate . Neither the wording nor the purpose of the aforesaid provision permits such evidence to be limited to the formal and quantitative factors which are relied upon by the Commission and which consist in the requirement of an uninterrupted stay of 185 days per year and in the production of an official residence permit .
Proceedings for compulsory reconstruction against Smanor SA.
Date: 1988-07-14
7 The French Government argues that the situation from which the main proceedings originated does not fall within Article 30 et seq . of the Treaty, as it involves the application of French law to a French company manufacturing and marketing deep-frozen "yoghurt" on French territory, and that, consequently, there is no need to reply to this part of the question .
8 It is true that the French regulations do in fact only apply to products sold on the French market, without in any way affecting exports to other Member States, and that there is accordingly no need to examine them in the light of Article 34 of the Treaty relating to measures having equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions on exports . Nevertheless, it is clear from the Commission' s uncontested observations that deep-frozen yoghurts are lawfully manufactured and marketed under that name in other Member States . It cannot therefore be ruled out that such products may be imported into France and that the French legislation will apply to them .
12 Although the abovementioned prohibition, which imposes the obligation to sell the product under a different name, does not absolutely preclude the importation into the Member State concerned of products originating in other Member States or in free circulation there, it may none the less make their marketing more difficult and thus impede, at least indirectly, trade between Member States ( see in particular the judgment of 16 December 1980 in Case 27/80 Fietje (( 1980 )) ECR 3839 ).
13 In this connection, it should be stated that the name proposed by the French Government, namely "deep-frozen fermented milk", is less familiar to consumers than "deep-frozen yoghurt" and that the decisive criterion for prohibiting the name "yoghurt", namely deep-freezing, relates to a method of preservation which is particularly important in the case of this type of product when it is imported .
18 As regards consumer protection, the Court has acknowledged it to be legitimate for a Member State to ensure that consumers are properly informed about the products which are offered to them, thus giving them the possibility of making their choice on the basis of that information ( see the judgments of 12 March 1987, mentioned above and of 23 February 1988, in Case 216/84 Commission v France (( 1988 )) ECR 793 ( Milk substitutes ).
29 Whilst it is true that this provision refers to names laid down by the national rules of Member States, its meaning and exact scope must nevertheless be determined regard being had to its context and, in particular, to the directive' s general purpose and its structure .
30 It should be pointed out that it is clear from both the statement of the reasons on which the directive is based and the terms of Article 2 thereof, that its object was to inform and protect the ultimate consumer of foodstuffs, in particular as regards the nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, origin or provenance, and the method of manufacture or production thereof .
Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Denmark.
Date: 1988-09-20
6 The first point which must be made in resolving this dispute is that, according to an established body of case-law of the Court ( judgment of 20 February 1979 in Case 120/78 Rewe-Zentral AG v Bundesmonopolverwaltung fuer Branntwein (( 1979 )) ECR 649; judgment of 10 November 1982 in Case 261/81 Walter Rau Lebensmittelwerke v De Smedt PvbA (( 1982 )) ECR 3961 ), in the absence of common rules relating to the marketing of the products in question, obstacles to free movement within the Community resulting from disparities between the national laws must be accepted in so far as such rules, applicable to domestic and imported products without distinction, may be recognized as being necessary in order to satisfy mandatory requirements recognized by Community law . Such rules must also be proportionate to the aim in view . If a Member State has a choice between various measures for achieving the same aim, it should choose the means which least restricts the free movement of goods .
8 The Court has already held in its judgment of 7 February 1985 in Case 240/83 Procureur de la République v Association de défense des brûleurs d' huiles usagées (( 1985 )) ECR 531 that the protection of the environment is "one of the Community' s essential objectives", which may as such justify certain limitations of the principle of the free movement of goods . That view is moreover confirmed by the Single European Act .
9 In view of the foregoing, it must therefore be stated that the protection of the environment is a mandatory requirement which may limit the application of Article 30 of the Treaty .
13 First of all, as regards the obligation to establish a deposit-and-return system for empty containers, it must be observed that this requirement is an indispensable element of a system intended to ensure the re-use of containers and therefore appears necessary to achieve the aims pursued by the contested rules . That being so, the restrictions which it imposes on the free movement of goods cannot be regarded as disproportionate .
Oberkreisdirektor des Kreises, Borken and Vertreter des öffentlichen Interesses beim Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen v Handelsonderneming Moormann BV.
Date: 1988-09-20
8 National legislation which provides for systematic inspection of goods on entry into the country of destination and imposes the measures described in the first question is capable, because of the constraints and delays which it entails, of making importation more difficult and must consequently be regarded as a measure having an effect equivalent to a quantitative restriction within the meaning of Article 30 of the EEC Treaty .
10 The Court has consistently held that where, in application of Article 100 of the Treaty, Community directives provide for the harmonization of the measures necessary to ensure inter alia the protection of animal and human health and establish Community procedures to check that they are observed, recourse to Article 36 is no longer justified and the appropriate checks must be carried out and protective measures adopted within the framework outlined by the harmonizing directive ( judgments of 5 October 1977 in Case 5/77 Tedeschi v Denkavit (( 1977 )) ECR 1555; of 5 April 1979 in Case 148/78 Ratti (( 1979 )) ECR 1629; and of 8 November 1979 in Case 251/78 Denkavit (( 1979 )) ECR 3369 ).
26 The purpose of that directive is to lay down various rules for the carrying out of physical inspections of goods and the completion of the required administrative formalities upon crossing a frontier with a view, according to its preamble, to reducing the waiting time at frontiers and ensuring a smoother flow of goods traffic between Member States .
Pascal Van Eycke v ASPA NV.
Date: 1988-09-21
16 It must be pointed out in that regard that Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty per se are concerned only with the conduct of undertakings and not with national legislation . The Court has consistently held, however, that Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty, in conjunction with Article 5, require the Member States not to introduce or maintain in force measures, even of a legislative nature, which may render ineffective the competition rules applicable to undertakings . Such would be the case, the Court has held, if a Member State were to require or favour the adoption of agreements, decisions or concerted practices contrary to Article 85 or to reinforce their effects, or to deprive its own legislation of its official character by delegating to private traders responsibility for taking decisions affecting the economic sphere .
Commission of the European Communities v French Republic.
Date: 1988-09-21
15 From the features of VAT described above it may be inferred, as the Court pointed out in its judgment of 14 February 1985 in Case 268/83 Rompelman (( 1985 )) ECR 655, that the deduction system is meant to relieve the trader entirely of the burden of VAT payable or paid in the course of all his economic activities . The common system of VAT consequently ensures that all economic activities, whatever their purpose or results, provided that they are themselves subject to VAT, are taxed in a wholly neutral way .
16 The combined effect of the rules referred to above is that, in the absence of any provision empowering the Member States to limit the right of deduction granted to taxable persons, that right must be exercised immediately in respect of all the taxes charged on transactions relating to inputs .
17 Such limitations on the right of deduction have an impact on the level of the tax burden and must be applied in a similar manner in all the Member States . Consequently, derogations are permitted only in the cases expressly provided for in the directive .
23 Finally, it must be observed that Article 2 of the First Directive, according to which "on each transaction, value-added tax, calculated on the price of the goods or services at the rate applicable to such goods or services, shall be chargeable after deduction of the value-added tax borne directly by the various cost components", cannot serve as a basis for the French legislation at issue . That provision merely lays down the principle of the right to deduction, and the conditions applicable thereto are laid down in the abovementioned provisions of the Sixth Directive .
French Republic v European Parliament.
Date: 1988-09-22
12 It must therefore be held that action in Case 51/86, which was brought subsequently, is between the same parties and seeks the annulment of the same resolution on the basis of the same submissions as the action in Case 358/85 . The application in Case 51/86 must therefore be dismissed as inadmissible .
( b ) The question whether the resolution is an act open to challenge
15 Since a decision on the admissibility of the application thus requires an analysis of the content and scope of the resolution, the substance of the application in Case 358/85 must now be examined .
Substance
( a ) Infringement of an essential procedural requirement
17 In this connection it suffices to point out that the Parliament' s decision to hold in plenary a topical and urgent debate on a motion for a resolution on a given subject relates to the internal organization of its work and cannot, therefore, be the subject of judicial review .
34 With a view to determining the significance of the decisions of the governments of the Member States, attention should also be drawn to the rule imposing reciprocal obligations of bona fide cooperation on the Member States and the Community institutions, as embodied in particular in Article 5 of the EEC Treaty . As regards the working conditions of the Parliament, that rule is of particular importance in a situation where the governments of the Member States have not yet fulfilled their obligation to establish the seat of the institutions or even decided on a single provisional working place for the Parliament .
35 In its judgment of 10 February 1983 referred to above, the Court deduced from this rule, first, a duty incumbent on the Parliament, in exercising its power to determine its own internal organization, to have regard to the powers of the governments of the Member States to establish the seat of the institutions and to the decisions taken provisionally in the mean time, and secondly, the duty of the Member States, in taking these decisions, to respect the aforesaid power of the Parliament and to ensure that such decisions did not stand in the way of the proper functioning of that institution .