Datasets:

ngarneau

/

link_prediction

like 0

26. However, the measures which the Member States may thus adopt must not go further than is necessary to attain the objectives of ensuring the correct levying and collection of the tax and the prevention of tax evasion. Such measures may not therefore be used in such a way that they would have the effect of undermining the neutrality of VAT, which is a fundamental principle of the common system of VAT (see, to that effect, inter alia, Joined Cases C‑286/94, C‑340/95, C‑401/95 and C‑47/96 Molenheide and Others [1997] ECR I‑7281, paragraph 47; Case C‑25/03 HE [2005] ECR I‑3123, paragraph 80; and Joined Cases C‑95/07 and C-96/07 Ecotrade [2008] ECR I-3457, paragraph 66).

69. That is therefore an argument directed against a ground included in the judgment under appeal purely for the sake of completeness which cannot lead to the judgment being set aside and is thus ineffective (see, in particular, Joined Cases C‑189/02 P, C‑202/02 P, C‑205/02 P to C‑208/02 P and C‑213/02 P Dansk Rørindustri and Others v Commission [2005] ECR I‑5425, paragraph 148).

46. Moreover, the Court has already held that, having regard to their nature and structure, the provisions of the TRIPs Agreement do not have direct effect. Those provisions are not, in principle, among the rules in the light of which the Court is to review the legality of measures of the Community institutions under the first paragraph of Article 230 EC and are not such as to create rights upon which individuals may rely directly before the courts by virtue of European Union law (see, to that effect, Case C-149/96 Portugal v Council [1999] ECR I-8395, paragraphs 42 to 48; Joined Cases C-300/98 and C-392/98 Dior and Others [2000] ECR I‑11307, paragraph 44, and Case C-245/02 Anheuser-Busch [2004] ECR I-10989, paragraph 54).

45 However, the lack of reciprocity in that regard on the part of the Community's trading partners, in relation to the WTO agreements which are based on `reciprocal and mutually advantageous arrangements' and which must ipso facto be distinguished from agreements concluded by the Community, referred to in paragraph 42 of the present judgment, may lead to disuniform application of the WTO rules.

34 In Case C-373/90 X [1992] ECR I-131, paragraphs 15 and 16, in which Directive 84/450 was in point, the Court held, inter alia, that it was for the national court to ascertain in the circumstances of the particular case and bearing in mind the consumers to which the advertising was addressed, whether advertising describing cars as new despite the fact that they had been registered for the purposes of importation, without ever having been driven on a road, could be misleading in so far as, on the one hand, it sought to conceal the fact that the cars advertised as new were registered before importation and, on the other hand, that fact would have deterred a significant number of consumers from making a purchase. The Court also held that advertising regarding the lower prices of the cars could be held to be misleading only if it were established that the decision to buy on the part of a significant number of consumers to whom the advertising in question was addressed was made in ignorance of the fact that the lower price of the vehicles was matched by a smaller number of accessories on the cars sold by the parallel importer.

102. It follows, inter alia, that, where the Commission has adduced sufficient evidence to establish certain circumstances in the territory of the defendant Member State, it is for that Member State to challenge in substance and in detail the data produced and the inferences drawn (see, to that effect, Case C‑365/97 Commission v Italy , paragraphs 84 and 86, and judgment of 22 December 2008 in Case C‑189/07 Commission v Spain , paragraph 82).

22. Given the link between the Convention and the Community legal order (Case C-398/92 Mund & Fester [1994] ECR I‑467, paragraph 12, and Case C-7/98 Krombach  [2000] ECR I-1935, paragraph 24), that interpretation must be taken into account for the purposes of the interpretation of the Convention.

69 As the Advocate General stated in point 70 of his Opinion, the objective of ensuring the stability of the financial system while avoiding excessive public spending and minimising distortions of competition constitutes an overriding public interest of that kind.

57 On that point, it can be seen both from the wording and context of Article 8 of Directive 2013/33 and from its legislative history that the possibility — provided for in point (e) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 — of detaining an applicant for reasons relating to the protection of national security or public order is subject to compliance with a series of conditions whose aim is to create a strictly circumscribed framework in which such a measure may be used.

19 UNDER THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES THE APPLICANT MAY NOT RELY ON THE ABSENCE OF THE PERIODIC REPORT FOR THE PERIOD MENTIONED , AND THEREFORE THE THIRD SUBMISSION MUST ALSO BE REJECTED .

40. Moreover, it should be noted that, according to the Court’s case-law, first, the mere fact that contracting authorities allow bodies which receive subsidies enabling them to submit tenders at prices appreciably lower than those of competing, unsubsidised, tenderers to take part in a procedure for the award of a public contract does not amount to a breach of the principle of equal treatment and, second, if the Community legislature had intended to require contracting authorities to exclude such tenderers, it would have stated this explicitly ( ARGE, paragraphs 25 and 26).

53. In the present case, it is common ground that Ireland has not put forward any other ornithological criteria which are objectively verifiable, as compared with those used in IBA 2000, to serve as a basis for a different classification; nor has it presented a complete national inventory contradicting IBA 2000, established according to scientific methods and designating all the most suitable areas with a view to classification as SPAs.

22. It should be borne in mind in this regard that any activity consisting in offering goods or services on a given market is an economic activity (see, in particular, Case C‑35/96 Commission v Italy [1998] ECR I‑3851, paragraph 36, and Joined Cases C‑180/98 to C‑184/98 Pavlov and Others [2000] ECR I‑6451, paragraph 75). Provided that that condition is satisfied, the fact that an activity has a connection with sport does not hinder the application of the rules of the Treaty (Case 36/74 Walrave and Koch [1974] ECR 1405, paragraph 4, and Case C‑415/93 Bosman [1995] ECR I-4921, paragraph 73) including those governing competition law (see, to that effect, Case C‑519/04 P Meca‑Medina and Majcen v Commission [2006] ECR I‑6991, paragraphs 22 and 28).

75 It has also been consistently held that any activity consisting in offering goods and services on a given market is an economic activity (Case 118/85 Commission v Italy [1987] ECR 2599, paragraph 7, and Case C-35/96 Commission v Italy [1998] ECR I-3851, paragraph 36).

36. It follows from Article 168 of the VAT Directive that, in so far as the taxable person, acting as such at the time when he acquires goods, uses the goods for the purposes of his taxable transactions, he is entitled to deduct the VAT paid or payable in respect of the goods (see, to that effect, Case C‑97/90 Lennartz [1991] ECR I‑3795, paragraph 8, and Case C‑25/03 HE [2005] ECR I‑3123, paragraph 43). In accordance with Articles 63 and 167 of the VAT Directive, the right to deduct arises at the time when the deductible tax becomes chargeable, namely when the goods are delivered (see, to that effect, Case C‑378/02 Waterschap Zeeuws Vlaanderen [2005] ECR I‑4685, paragraph 31).

63. In the present case, it is apparent from paragraphs 46 and 47 above that Elf Aquitaine does not challenge as such the lawfulness of the presumption of actual exercise of decisive influence as set out in paragraphs 56 and 57 above. Nor does it challenge the applicability, in the circumstances of the present case, of such a presumption where a parent company owns 98% of the capital of its subsidiary.

48. In the context of Regulation No 1408/71, the concepts of benefits in kind and cash benefits must receive an autonomous Community law interpretation (see, to that effect, Case C‑466/04 Acereda Herrera [2006], ECR I‑5341, paragraphs 29 and 30). However, the Court has already held, with regard to the care insurance scheme at issue in the main proceedings, that care insurance benefits consisting in the direct payment or reimbursement of the costs of a specialised home entailed by the insured person’s reliance on care fall within the definition of benefits in kind within the meaning of Title III of Regulation No 1408/71 (see, to that effect Molenaar , cited above, paragraphs 6 and 32, and also Joined Cases C‑502/01 and C‑31/02 Gaumain-Cerri and Barth [2004] ECR I‑6483, paragraph 26), those benefits including, among other things, full in‑patient care as provided for in Paragraph 43 of SGB XI.

55. Moreover, it must be observed that that exclusion of the refund of the deductible VAT excess leads to a situation where certain taxable persons whose tax declarations regularly record such an excess may be required more than once to carry forward the excess to the following tax period. In that regard, it must be borne in mind that the carrying forward of a VAT excess over several tax periods following that in which the excess in question arose is not necessarily irreconcilable with the first paragraph of Article 183 of Directive 2006/112 (see, to that effect Enel Maritsa Iztok 3 , paragraph 49). However, given that the national legislation at issue provides for tax periods from one month to a year in length, it may create a situation in which certain taxable persons, do not, because of the repeated carry-over of an excess, obtain a refund of that excess within a reasonable period.

121 It should be borne in mind that it is settled case-law that if the grounds of a judgment of the Court of First Instance reveal an infringement of Community law but the operative part appears well founded on other legal grounds, the appeal must be dismissed (see Case C-30/91 P Lestelle v Commission [1992] ECR I-3755, paragraph 28, and Case C-294/95 P Ojha v Commission [1996] ECR I-5863, paragraph 52).

71 In that connection, it must be observed that the sectoral pension fund itself determines the amount of the contributions and benefits and that the Fund operates in accordance with the principle of capitalisation.

51. Such an economic benefit may also be held to exist where it is provided that the contracting authority is to hold a legal right over the use of the works which are the subject of the contract, in order that they can be made available to the public (see, to that effect, Ordine degli Architetti and Others , paragraphs 67, 71 and 77).

46. In that connection women taking maternity leave provided for by national legislation are in a special position which requires them to be afforded special protection, but which is not comparable, in particular, either with that of a man or with that of a woman actually at work ( Gillespie, paragraph 17). Therefore they cannot usefully rely on the provisions of Article 119 of the Treaty to argue that they should continue to receive full pay while on maternity leave as though they were actually working, like other workers ( Gillespie , paragraph 20).

47 As regards the nature of the rules at issue, it is clear from the judgments in Walrave and Koch (paragraphs 17 and 18) and Bosman (paragraphs 82 and 83), cited above, that the Community provisions on the free movement of persons and services not only apply to the action of public authorities but extend also to rules of any other nature aimed at regulating gainful employment and the provision of services in a collective manner. The abolition as between Member States of obstacles to freedom of movement for persons and to freedom to provide services would be compromised if the abolition of State barriers could be neutralised by obstacles resulting from the exercise, by associations or organisations not governed by public law, of their legal autonomy.

36 Disturbing the balance and reciprocity of a bilateral international convention concluded between a Member State and a non-member country may, it is true, constitute an objective justification for the refusal by a Member State party to that convention to extend to nationals of other Member States the advantages which its own nationals derive from that convention (see, to that effect, Saint-Gobain ZN, cited above, paragraph 60).

104. When interpreting Article 37 EA, which is a provision which must be applied in order to prevent the risk of radioactive contamination of water, soil or airspace of another Member State, the Court has held inter alia that that article must be interpreted as meaning that the Commission must be provided with general data relating to any plan for the disposal of radioactive waste before such disposal is authorised by the competent authorities of the Member State concerned. The Court noted in that regard the very great importance of the guidelines that the Commission can give, after consulting the group of experts, to that Member State, which the Member State must be able to examine in detail in circumstances such that the Commission’s suggestions may be taken into account before the authorisation is issued (Case 187/87 Land de Sarre and Others [1988] ECR 5013, paragraphs 12 to 16, and Case C‑61/03 Commission v United Kingdom [2005] ECR I-2477, paragraph 39).

48. As to the concept of social advantage, referred to in Article 7(2) of Regulation No 1612/68, this term covers all the advantages which, whether or not linked to a contract of employment, are generally granted to national workers primarily because of their status as workers or by virtue of the mere fact of their ordinary residence on the national territory, and the extension of which to migrant workers therefore seems likely to facilitate their mobility within the Community (Case 249/83 Hoeckx [1985] ECR 973, paragraph 20, and Case C‑85/96 Martínez Sala [1998] ECR I‑2691, paragraph 25).

75 On the one hand, the judgments of 27 January 1988, Denmark v Commission (349/85, EU:C:1988:34, paragraph 19 ), of 6 October 1993, Italy v Commission (C‑55/91, EU:C:1993:832, paragraph 69), of 4 July 1996, Greece v Commission (C‑50/94, EU:C:1996:266, paragraph 6), and of 22 April 1999, Netherlands v Commission, C‑28/94, EU:C:1999:191, paragraph 51), referred to in that regard by the Commission, concern the EU rules relating to the EAGGF which at that time contained no provision which could be regarded as comparable to the rules of EU law which led the Court of Justice to make the finding in the preceding paragraph of the present judgment.

38 The marketability of the product ‘in normal conditions’ is an inherent aspect of ‘sound and fair marketable quality’ (judgments of 26 May 2005, SEPA, C‑409/03, EU:C:2005:319, paragraph 26, and of 1 December 2005, Fleisch-Winter, C‑309/04, EU:C:2005:732, paragraph 21). A product which could not be marketed within the Union under normal conditions and under the description given in the claim for the grant of a refund would not meet these requirements (judgments of 26 May 2005, SEPA, C‑409/03, EU:C:2005:319, paragraph 22, and of 1 December 2005, Fleisch-Winter, C‑309/04, EU:C:2005:732, paragraph 20).

22. The second preliminary point to note is that, given the objectives of the Directive and in particular the fact that, as the second recital in the preamble to Directive 97/55 points out, comparative advertising helps to demonstrate objectively the merits of the various comparable products and thus stimulate competition between suppliers of goods and services to the consumer’s advantage, it is settled case-law that the conditions required of comparative advertising must be interpreted in the sense most favourable to it (Case C-112/99 Toshiba Europe [2001] ECR I‑7945, paragraphs 36 and 37, and Case C-44/01 Pippig Augenoptik [2003] ECR I‑3095, paragraph 42; see also Case C-59/05 Siemens [2006] ECR I-0000, paragraphs 22 to 24). Order in which the questions are to be examined

39. More specifically, the Court, in paragraph 34 of Elsen , took the opportunity to state, in respect of an earlier version of the provisions at issue in the main proceedings, that such provisions are disadvantageous to European Union nationals who have exercised their right to move and reside freely in the Member States, as guaranteed by Article 21 TFEU.

38 Moreover, the Court dismissed as irrelevant to the nature of those acts the circumstances that, first, their conclusion had been laid down as a condition for the entry into force of Directive 72/166; secondly, the period of applicability of that directive was conditional upon the period during which the measures in question were applied; thirdly, the Commission had noted each time, by a recommendation and by successive decisions, that those acts were consistent with the requirements of that directive; and, fourthly, those acts had been annexed to the Commission’s decisions and published with the latter in the Official Journal of the European Union (see, to that effect, judgment of 6 October 1987, Demouche and Others, 152/83, EU:C:1987:421, paragraphs 19 and 20).

36 In that regard the Court has held that, although, as a general rule, the price actually paid or payable for the goods forms the basis for calculating the customs value, that price is a factor that potentially must be adjusted where necessary in order to avoid the setting of an arbitrary or fictitious customs value (see, to that effect, judgment of 12 December 2013, Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited).

29 The Court has often stated that a benefit may be regarded as a social security benefit in so far as it is granted, without any individual and discretionary assessment of personal needs, to recipients on the basis of a legally defined position, and provided that it concerns one of the risks expressly listed in Article 4(1) of Regulation No 1408/71 (see, in particular, Hughes, paragraph 15, Case C-356/89 Newton v Chief Adjudication Officer [1991] ECR I-3017, Joined Cases 379 to 381/85 and 93/86 Giletti and Others [1987] ECR 955, paragraph 11, and Case 249/83 Hoeckx v Openbaar Centrum voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn, Kalmthout [1985] ECR 973, paragraphs 12 to 14).

11 IN SO FAR AS SUCH LEGISLATION CONFERS A RIGHT TO SUPPLEMENTARY BENEFITS DESIGNED TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF PENSIONS PAID BY WAY OF SOCIAL SECURITY, WITHOUT ANY ASSESSMENT OF INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OR CIRCUMSTANCES, WHICH IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF ASSISTANCE, IT COMES WITHIN THE SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEME WITHIN THE MEANING OF REGULATION NO 1408/71 . THE FACT THAT A SINGLE LAW MAY ALSO PROVIDE FOR ADVANTAGES WHICH CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS ASSISTANCE CANNOT ALTER, FOR THE PURPOSES OF COMMUNITY LAW, THE INTRINSIC SOCIAL SECURITY CHARACTER OF A BENEFIT LINKED TO AN INVALIDITY, OLD-AGE OR SURVIVOR' S PENSION TO WHICH IT IS AN AUTOMATIC SUPPLEMENT .

43. In particular, the question of whether or not any of the grounds for refusal or invalidity set out in Article 3 of the Directive apply to the mark must be assessed specifically by reference to the goods or services in respect of which registration is sought (see Koninklijke KPN Nederland , paragraph 33, and Case C-239/05 BVBA Management, Training en Consultancy [2007] ECR I-1455, paragraph 31).

307 It must be noted in this regard that recital 32 of the contested decision states, inter alia, that national security and public order should be taken into consideration throughout the relocation procedure, until the transfer of the applicant is implemented and that, in that context, the applicant’s fundamental rights, including the relevant rules on data protection, must be fully respected.

43. Those arguments cannot be accepted. Even assuming that the amount of an annuity, such as that paid by Mr Schröder, is determined on the basis of the ability of the debtor to pay and the recipient’s personal needs, the fact remains that the existence of a direct link within the meaning of the case-law cited in paragraph 40 of the present judgment results, not from a correlation, of whatever kind, between the amount of the expenditure in question and that of the taxable income, but from the fact that that expenditure is inextricably linked to the activity which gives rise to that income (see, in that regard, Centro Equestre da Lezíria Grande , paragraph 25).

33. As European Union law now stands, service concession contracts are not governed by any of the directives by which the legislature has regulated the field of public procurement (see Coname , paragraph 16, and Case C‑347/06 ASM Brescia [2008] ECR I‑5641, paragraph 57). However, the public authorities concluding them are bound to comply with the fundamental rules of the EC Treaty, including Articles 43 EC and 49 EC, and with the consequent obligation of transparency (see, to that effect, Telaustria and Telefonadress , paragraphs 60 to 62; Coname , paragraphs 16 to 19; and Parking Brixen , paragraphs 46 to 49).

31. As to whether the measure is proportionate, since it concerns an exception to the principle of the free movement of goods, it is for the national authorities to demonstrate that their rules are consistent with the principle of proportionality, that is to say, that they are necessary in order to achieve the declared objective, which in the present case is the protection of public health and public order, and that this objective could not be achieved by less extensive prohibitions or restrictions, or by prohibitions or restrictions having less effect on intra-Community trade (see, to that effect, Case C‑17/93 Van der Veldt [1994] ECR I‑3537, paragraph 15, as well as Franzén , paragraphs 75 and 76).

94. Application of Directive 2004/38 solely to the family members of a Union citizen who ‘accompany’ or ‘join’ him is thus equivalent to limiting the rights of entry and residence of family members of a Union citizen to the Member State in which that citizen resides.

60. Nor may that provision be relied on by a Member State to refuse indefinitely to recognise, in relation to a person who has been the object in its territory of a measure withdrawing or cancelling a previous licence issued by that State, the validity of any licence that may subsequently be issued to him by another Member State (see, to that effect, Kapper , paragraph 76, and the orders in Halbritter , paragraph 27, and Kremer , paragraph 29). To accept that a Member State is entitled to rely on its national provisions in order to refuse indefinitely to recognise a licence issued by another Member State would be fundamentally incompatible with the principle of mutual recognition of driving licences which is the linchpin of the system established by Directive 91/439 ( Kapper , paragraph 77, and the orders in Halbritter , paragraph 28, and Kremer , paragraph 30).

356. It is not disputed that the economic activities of Aktieselskabet Aalborg Portland-Cement Fabrik in the cement sector were transferred to Aalborg in 1990.

45. The Court, for its part, has always emphasised that the public policy exception is a derogation from the fundamental principle of freedom of movement for persons which must be interpreted strictly and that its scope cannot be determined unilaterally by the Member States ( Rutili , paragraph 27; Bouchereau , paragraph 33; Calfa , paragraph 23; and Joined Cases C-482/01 and C-493/01 Orfanopoulos and Oliveri [2004] ECR I-5257, paragraphs 64 and 65).

5THE APPLICANTS HAVE NEVER CONTESTED THEIR INITIAL CLASSIFICATION AS LOCAL STAFF .

39 It should be recalled at the outset that, according to settled case-law, the first paragraph of Article 6 of the Treaty, which lays down as a general principle the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality, applies independently only to situations governed by Community law for which the Treaty lays down no specific rules prohibiting discrimination (see, inter alia, Case C-179/90 Merci Convenzionali Porto di Genova v Siderurgica Gabrielli [1991] ECR I-5889, paragraph 11; Case C-379/92 Peralta [1994] ECR I-3453, paragraph 18; and Case C-176/96 Lehtonen and Castors Braine v FRBSB [2000] ECR I-2681, paragraph 37).

37 According to settled case-law, Article 6 of the Treaty, which lays down as a general principle that there shall be no discrimination on grounds of nationality, applies independently only to situations governed by Community law for which the Treaty lays down no specific rules prohibiting discrimination (see, inter alia, Case C-179/90 Merci Convenzionali Porto di Genova v Siderurgica Gabrielli [1991] ECR I-5889, paragraph 11, and Case C-379/92 Peralta [1994] ECR I-3453, paragraph 18).

20. It is settled case-law that, since Article 1 of the Brussels Convention serves to indicate the area of application of the Convention, it is necessary, in order to ensure, as far as possible, that the rights and obligations which derive from it for the Contracting States and the persons to whom it applies are equal and uniform, that the terms of that provision should not be interpreted as a mere reference to the internal law of one or other of the States concerned. "Civil and commercial matters" must therefore be regarded as an independent concept to be interpreted by reference, first, to the objectives and scheme of the Convention and, secondly, to the general principles which stem from the national legal systems as a whole (Case 29/76LTU [1976] ECR 1541, paragraph 3; Case 133/78 Gourdain [1979] ECR 733, paragraph 3; Case 814/79 Rüffer [1980] ECR 3807, paragraph 7; Case C-172/91 Sonntag [1993] ECR I-1963, paragraph 18, and Case C-271/00 Baten [2002] ECR I-10489, paragraph 28).

58. It must be held that that difference in treatment with regard to the deferral of taxation of the capital gains at issue is liable to give rise to a cash-flow disadvantage for the taxable person wishing to reinvest those capital gains in order to acquire replacement assets intended for a permanent establishment located within the territory of a Member State other than the Federal Republic of Germany, in comparison with a taxable person who carries out a similar reinvestment in a permanent establishment located within German territory.

40. The principle of effective judicial protection is a general principle of EU law to which expression is now given by Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’) and which corresponds, in EU law, to Article 6(1) of the ECHR (see Case C‑386/10 P Chalkor v Commission EU:C:2011:815, paragraph 51; Case C‑199/11 Otis and Others EU:C:2012:684, paragraph 47; and Case C‑501/11 P Schinlder Holding and Others v Commission EU:C:2013:522, paragraph 36).

36. Ruling on the principle of effective judicial protection, a general principle of European Union law to which expression is now given by Article 47 of the Charter and which corresponds, in European Union law, to Article 6(1) of the ECHR, the Court of Justice has held that, in addition to the review of legality provided for by the FEU Treaty, the European Union judicature has the unlimited jurisdiction which it is afforded by Article 31 of Regulation No 1/2003, in accordance with Article 261 TFEU, and which empowers it to substitute its own appraisal for the Commission’s and, consequently, to cancel, reduce or increase the fine or periodic penalty payment imposed ( Chalkor v Commission , paragraph 63).

55 Thus, in the specific circumstances in which a worker is unfit for work for several consecutive holiday years, the Court has held that, having regard not only to the protection of workers as pursued by Directive 2003/88, but also the protection of employers faced with the risk that a worker will accumulate periods of absence of too great a length and the difficulties in the organisation of work which such periods might entail, Article 7 of that directive must be interpreted as not precluding national provisions or practices limiting, by a carry-over period of 15 months at the end of which the right to paid annual leave is lost, the accumulation of entitlements to such leave by a worker who has been unfit for work for several consecutive holiday years (see, to that effect, judgment of 22 November 2011, KHS, C‑214/10, EU:C:2011:761, paragraphs 38, 39 and 44).

58. In this respect, it is for the national court to assess in particular whether: – the official has authority generally within the sector in question; – the official sends out his statements in writing under the official letterhead of the competent department; – the official gives television interviews on his department’s premises; – the official does not indicate that his statements are personal or that they differ from the official position of the competent department; and – the competent State departments do not take the necessary steps as soon as possible to dispel the impression on the part of the persons to whom the official’s statements are addressed that they are official positions taken by the State.

45. According to the Court’s settled case-law, although it is for Member States to take the appropriate measures to ensure their internal and external security, it does not follow that such measures are entirely outside the scope of Community law (see Case C‑273/97 Sirdar [1999] ECR I‑7403, paragraph 15, and Case C‑285/98 Kreil [2000] ECR I‑69, paragraph 15). As the Court has already held, the Treaty provides for derogations applicable in situations which may involve public safety, in particular, in Articles 30 EC, 39 EC, 46 EC, 58 EC, 64 EC, 296 EC and 297 EC, which deal with exceptional and clearly defined cases. It cannot be inferred from those articles that the Treaty contains an inherent general exception excluding all measures taken for reasons of public security from the scope of Community law. The recognition of the existence of such an exception. regardless of the specific requirements laid down by the Treaty, would be liable to impair the binding nature of Community law and its uniform application (see Case C‑186/01 Dory [2003] ECR I‑2479, paragraph 31 and case-law there cited).

41. In that regard, it should, none the less, be pointed out that the decision whether or not to certify roadworthiness, which essentially only records the results of the roadworthiness test, on the one hand, lacks the decision‑making independence inherent in the exercise of public authority powers and, on the other hand, is taken in the context of direct State supervision.

16 The Court has consistently held that a national rule must be regarded as a provision on reduction of benefit, within the meaning of Regulation No 1408/71, if the calculation which it requires to be made has the effect of reducing the amount of the pension which the person concerned may claim, because he receives a benefit from another Member State (see, in particular, Case C-442/97 Van Coile [1999] ECR I-8093, paragraph 25, and Case C-161/98 Platbrood [1999] ECR I-8195, paragraph 25).

10 The Commission, taking those aspects into account, presented two proposals for regulations based on Article 152 EC: - the first was designed to substitute, in place of Regulation No 820/97, a new regulation having the same object but providing for the introduction of compulsory indications by two separate steps, the second of which was to commence on 1 January 2003 (hereinafter the first Commission proposal); - the second (hereinafter the second Commission proposal) was designed temporarily to prolong application of the labelling provisions prescribed by Regulation No 820/97 pending adoption of the first Commission proposal.

80. The Court has jurisdiction to provide the national court with all the criteria for the interpretation of European Union law which may enable it to assess whether the provisions of the ESM Treaty are compatible with European Union law (see, to that effect, Case C‑489/09 Vandoorne [2011] ECR I‑225, paragraph 25 and case‑law cited).

31 Having regard to the exclusion of those sectors, which, like those covered by the Maribel bis/ter scheme, employ manual workers, the Commission rightly found, in section V of the grounds of the contested decision, that the limitation of the increased reductions to certain sectors rendered those reduction measures selective, so that they fulfilled the condition of specificity. The derogating character of the increased reductions

27 The Court has consistently held that the equal treatment rule laid down in Article 48 of the Treaty and in Article 7 of Regulation No 1612/68 prohibits not only overt discrimination by reason of nationality but also all covert forms of discrimination which, by the application of other distinguishing criteria, lead in fact to the same result (see, inter alia, Case C-57/96 Meints [1997] ECR I-6689, paragraph 44).

47. It is clear that accidentally spilled hydrocarbons which cause soil and groundwater contamination are not a product which can be re-used without processing. Their marketing is very uncertain and, even if it were possible, implies preliminary operations would be uneconomical for their holder. Those hydrocarbons are therefore substances which the holder did not intend to produce and which he ‘discards’, albeit involuntarily, at the time of the production or distribution operations which relate to them.

18. Where there is divergence between the various language versions of a Community text, the provision in question must be interpreted by reference to the purpose and general scheme of the rules of which it forms part (Case 30/77 Bouchereau [1977] ECR 1999, paragraph 14; Case C‑482/98 Italy v Commission [2000] ECR I‑10861, paragraph 49; and Case C‑1/02 Borgmann [2004] ECR I‑3219, paragraph 25; and Profisa , paragraph 14).

35 It therefore appears that, for the Directive to apply, two events must have occurred: first, a request for proceedings to be opened to satisfy collectively the claims of creditors must have been lodged with the competent national authority and, secondly, there must have been either a decision to open those proceedings, or a finding that the business has been closed down where the available assets are insufficient.

70. Secondly, it should be borne in mind that, according to the case‑law of the Court, public health establishments and infrastructures may be subject to planning. That may include prior authorisation for the establishment of new service providers, where this proves indispensable for filling in possible gaps in access to public health services and for avoiding the duplication of structures, so as to ensure the provision of public health care which is adapted to the needs of the population, which covers the entire territory and which takes account of geographically isolated or otherwise disadvantaged regions (see, by analogy, Case C‑157/99 Smits and Peerbooms [2001] ECR I‑5473, paragraphs 76 to 80; Case C‑372/04 Watts [2006] ECR I‑4325, paragraphs 108 to 110; and Hartlauer , paragraphs 51 and 52).

11 SECONDLY , THE COURT CAN ONLY AGREE WITH THE COMMISSION ' S OBSERVATION THAT IF THE RATE OF CUSTOMS DUTY LAID DOWN FOR THE MATERIAL USED WERE APPLIED TO A VALUE FOR CUSTOMS PURPOSES FIXED ON THE BASIS OF THE WORK ' S ARTISTIC NATURE , THE DUTY PAYABLE WOULD BE OUT OF ALL PROPORTION TO THE COST OF THAT MATERIAL .

45 Since Article 119 of the Treaty is mandatory in nature, the prohibition on discrimination between men and women applies not only to the action of public authorities but also extends to all agreements which are intended to regulate paid labour collectively, as well as to contracts between individuals (see in particular Case 43/75 Defrenne v Sabena [1976] ECR 455, paragraph 39).

16 The right to be consulted in accordance with a provision of the Treaty is a prerogative of the Parliament. Adopting an act on a legal basis which does not provide for such consultation is liable to infringe that prerogative, even if there has been optional consultation.

31. It should be recalled that, in accordance with settled case-law, classification as aid requires all the following conditions to be fulfilled. First, there must be intervention by the State or through State resources. Second, the intervention must be liable to affect trade between Member States. Third, it must confer an advantage on the recipient. Fourth, it must distort or threaten to distort competition (see, to that effect, in particular, Case C-142/87 Belgium v Commission [1990] ECR I-959 ( ‘Tubemeuse’ ), paragraph 25; Altmark Trans and Regierungspräsidium Magdeburg , paragraphs 74 and 75; Enirisorse , paragraphs 38 and 39; Servizi Ausiliari Dottori Commercialisti , paragraphs 55 and 56; Joined Cases C-341/06 P and C-342/06 P Chronopost and La Poste v UFEX and Others [2008] ECR I‑4777, paragraphs 121 and 122; Essent Netwerk Noord and Others , paragraphs 63 and 64; and UTECA , paragraph 42).

31 The wording of the directive indicates that it has a wide scope and a broad purpose. That observation alone should suffice to interpret point 10(e) of Annex II to the directive as encompassing all works for retaining water and preventing floods ° and therefore dyke works ° even if not all the linguistic versions are so precise.

33 In addition, the development of EU legislation concerning compulsory insurance shows that that objective of protecting the victims of accidents caused by those vehicles has continuously been pursued and reinforced by the EU legislature (see, to that effect, judgment of 4 September 2014, Vnuk, C‑162/13, EU:C:2014:2146, paragraphs 52 to 55).

39. That argument cannot be accepted. Admittedly, it follows from the case-law that, where a Member State has a system for preventing or mitigating a series of charges to tax or economic double taxation for dividends paid to residents by resident companies, it must treat dividends paid to residents by non-resident companies in the same way ( Test Claimants in Class IV of the ACT Group Litigation , paragraph 55 and the case-law cited).

24. In that regard, the Court has held that in the case of a dispute concerning a sector governed by a common organisation of the market the problem raised should be examined first from that point of view, taking account of the precedence, by virtue of Article 32(2) EC, of the specific measures taken in the context of the common agricultural policy over the general provisions of the Treaty concerning the establishment of the common market (Case 177/78 McCarren [1979] ECR 2161, paragraph 9).

41. Consequently, the imposition of flat-rate fines for all breaches of the rules on the use of record sheets, without adjustment of the amount of the penalty in line with the seriousness of the breach, appears to be disproportionate in the light of the objectives pursued by the European Union legislation.

65. However, in accordance with the Court’s settled case‑law, questions on the interpretation of European Union law referred by a national court in the factual and legislative context which that court is responsible for defining, and the accuracy of which is not a matter for the Court to determine, enjoy a presumption of relevance (see Case C‑210/06 Cartesio [2008] ECR I‑9641, paragraph 67; Case C‑515/08 dos Santos Palhota and Others [2010] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 20, and Case C‑119/09 Société fiduciaire nationale d’expertise comptable [2011] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 21).

21. In any event, according to settled case-law, questions on the interpretation of EU law referred by a national court in the factual and legislative context which that court is responsible for defining enjoy a presumption of relevance (see, to that effect, Case C‑210/06 Cartesio [2008] ECR I‑9641, paragraph 67; Case C‑515/08 dos Santos Palhota and Others [2010] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 20; and Case C‑45/09 Rosenbladt [2010] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 33).

14. Finally, the Court observed that the minimum period of seven days allowed for cancellation must be calculated from the time the consumer receives the notice concerning his right of cancellation from the trader. In paragraph 48 of the judgment in Heininger it held that the doorstep-selling directive precludes the national legislature from imposing a time-limit of one year from the conclusion of the contract within which the right of cancellation provided for in Article 5 of that Directive may be exercised, where the consumer has not received the information specified in Article 4. The national legislation

67 Subject to those observations, it must be borne in mind that, in the absence of harmonisation of the Community legislation in the field of the penalties applicable where conditions laid down by arrangements under such legislation are not observed, the Member States are empowered to choose the penalties which seem appropriate to them. They must, however, exercise that power in accordance with Community law and its general principles, and consequently with the principle of proportionality (see, in particular, Case C-210/91 Commission v Greece, cited above, paragraph 19, and the case-law cited therein; Case C-36/94 Siesse [1995] ECR I-3573, paragraph 21; and Case C-213/99 De Andrade [2000] ECR I-11083, paragraph 20). The administrative measures or penalties must not go beyond what is strictly necessary for the objectives pursued and a penalty must not be so disproportionate to the gravity of the infringement that it becomes an obstacle to the freedoms enshrined in the Treaty (see, to that effect, Case C-210/91 Commission v Greece, cited above, paragraph 20).

19. The Court may of its own motion, on a proposal from the Advocate General, or at the request of the parties, order the reopening of the oral procedure in accordance with Article 61 of the Rules of Procedure if it considers that it lacks sufficient information, or that the case must be dealt with on the basis of an argument which has not been debated between the parties (see Case C‑309/99 Wouters and Others [2002] ECR I‑1577, paragraph 42; Case C‑434/02 Arnold André [2004] ECR I‑11825, paragraph 27; and Case C‑210/03 Swedish Match [2004] ECR I‑11893, paragraph 25).

38. À cet égard, il convient de rappeler, tout d’abord, que, ainsi que le souligne à juste titre la juridiction de renvoi, la Cour a déjà jugé qu’un organisme tel que l’Unabhängiger Verwaltungssenat possède toutes les caractéristiques requises pour que lui soit reconnue la qualité de juridiction au sens de l’article 267 TFUE (arrêt du 4 mars 1999, HI, C‑258/97, Rec. p. I‑1405, point 18).

16. According to settled case‑law, that is a broad definition covering all forms of comparative advertising, so that, in order for there to be comparative advertising, it is sufficient for there to be a statement referring even by implication to a competitor or to the goods or services which he offers (see Case C‑112/99 Toshiba Europe [2001] ECR I‑7945, paragraphs 30 and 31, and Case C‑44/01 Pippig Augenoptik [2003] ECR I-3095, paragraph 35).

64. It follows that, even if the group prohibition and the prohibition of activities which may adversely affect system operation were not imposed by those directives, the Kingdom of the Netherlands pursued, by introducing those measures, objectives sought by the 2003 Directives.

80. Since the tax system resulting from a convention for the avoidance of double taxation forms part of the legal background to the main proceedings and has been presented as such by the national court, the Court of Justice must take it into account in order to give an interpretation of Community law that is relevant to the national court (see, to that effect, Case C‑265/04 Bouanich [2006] ECR I‑923, paragraph 51; Test Claimants in Class IV of the ACT Group Litigation , paragraph 71; Denkavit Internationaal and Denkavit France , paragraph 45; and Test Claimants in the Thin Cap Group Litigation , paragraph 54).

35. Il en résulte que la mise en évidence, à l’issue d’un premier examen, de la durée trop longue de la période en cause en considération de la procédure diligentée ne suffit pas. Il faut encore vérifier si elle ne peut être justifiée par des circonstances propres à l’affaire (voir, en ce sens, arrêt du 15 octobre 2002, Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij e.a./Commission, précité, point 193).

51 It should be noted in that regard that in Genius Holding the plaintiff in the main proceedings had deducted VAT in respect of which he had been invoiced by two of his subcontractors. This was an infringement of the applicable national law under which the subcontractors were not liable to pay VAT in respect of services provided to the principal contractor, the tax being due only by the latter on the amount which he invoiced to the person who had placed the order. The tax authorities had taken the view that VAT had been improperly invoiced to the plaintiff and that it could not therefore deduct it. The authorities had therefore reassessed the taxable amount.

39 The reply to the question whether this discrimination is objectively and necessarily linked to the setting of pensionable ages which differ according to sex is a matter falling within the competence of the national court. However, it follows from the judgment in Thomas and Others, paragraph 13, that the Court, which is called upon to provide the national court with helpful answers, has jurisdiction to give the national court guidance enabling it to give judgment.

33. S’agissant des participations dans des entreprises nouvelles ou existantes, ainsi que le confirment ces notes explicatives, l’objectif de créer ou de maintenir des liens économiques durables présuppose que les actions détenues par l’actionnaire donnent à celui-ci, soit en vertu des dispositions de la législation nationale sur les sociétés par actions, soit autrement, la possibilité de participer effectivement à la gestion de cette société ou à son contrôle (voir arrêts du 12 décembre 2006, Test Claimants in the FII Group Litigation, C‑446/04, Rec. p. I‑11753, point 182; du 24 mai 2007, Holböck, C‑157/05, Rec. p. I‑4051, point 35, et Commission/Allemagne, précité, point 18).

46. Toutefois, hormis le fait que la République hellénique semble elle-même reconnaître la participation des employés et de l’État, en tant qu’employeur, au financement du régime litigieux, il ressort en tout état de cause de la jurisprudence de la Cour que les modalités de financement et de gestion d’un régime de pension tel que celui en cause en l’espèce ne constituent pas non plus un élément décisif pour apprécier si ledit régime relève de l’article 141 CE (arrêts précités Beune, point 38; Griesmar, point 37, et Niemi, point 43).

27. The fact remains that the expression ‘place where the harmful event occurred or may occur’ in Article 5(3) of Regulation No 44/2001 is intended to cover both the place where the damage occurred and the place of the causal event giving rise to the damage, so that the defendant may be sued, at the option of the applicant, in the courts for either of those two places ( Melzer EU:C:2013:305, paragraph 25 and the case-law cited).

43. À cet égard, il y a lieu de rappeler qu’il résulte de l’article 38, paragraphe 1, sous c), du règlement de procédure de la Cour et de la jurisprudence y relative que toute requête introductive d’instance doit indiquer l’objet du litige ainsi que l’exposé sommaire des moyens et que cette indication doit être suffisamment claire et précise pour permettre à la partie défenderesse de préparer sa défense et à la Cour d’exercer son contrôle. Il en découle que les éléments essentiels de fait et de droit sur lesquels un recours est fondé doivent ressortir d’une façon cohérente et compréhensible du texte de la requête elle-même et que les conclusions de cette dernière doivent être formulées de manière non équivoque afin d’éviter que la Cour ne statue ultra petita ou bien n’omette de statuer sur un grief (voir, notamment, arrêts du 26 avril 2007, Commission/Finlande, C‑195/04, Rec. p. I‑3351, point 22; du 21 février 2008, Commission/Italie, C‑412/04, Rec. p. I‑619, point 103, et du 20 novembre 2008, Commission/Irlande, C‑66/06, point 30).

39. The transactions exempted under that provision are thus defined according to the nature of the services provided. In order to be regarded as exempt transactions the services in question must, viewed broadly, form a distinct whole, fulfilling the specific, essential functions of a service described in that provision (see judgment in Axa UK , C‑175/09, EU:C:2010:646, paragraphs 26 and 27 and the case-law cited).

27. Finally, the Court has ruled, as regards various exemptions under Article 13B(d) of the Sixth Directive, that, in order to be regarded as exempt transactions the services in question must, viewed broadly, form a distinct whole, fulfilling the specific, essential functions of a service described in that provision (see, to that effect, SDC , paragraphs 66 and 75 (relating to Article 13B(d)(3) and (5) of the Sixth Directive); Case C‑235/00 CSC Financial Services [2001] ECR I-10237, paragraphs 25 and 27 (relating to Article 13B(d)(5)); and Abbey National , paragraph 70 (as regards Article 13B(d)(6)).

48. As the Court has held on numerous occasions, the right of nationals of a Member State to enter the territory of another Member State and to reside there for the purposes intended by the EC Treaty is a right conferred directly by the Treaty, or, as the case may be, by the provisions adopted for its implementation. The grant of a residence permit to a national of a Member State is to be regarded, not as a measure giving rise to rights, but as a measure by a Member State serving to prove the individual position of a national of another Member State with regard to provisions of European Union law (see Case C-408/03 Commission v Belgium [2006] ECR I-2647, paragraphs 62 and 63 and case-law cited).

46. The retention of those measures was indeed authorised by the Council for the purpose both of simplifying the procedure for charging the tax and of countering tax evasion or avoidance, as is shown by the wording of the notification made pursuant to Article 27(5) of the Directive (‘to facilitate monitoring of the charging of VAT’). However, the fact that the purpose of the authorisation was also to combat tax evasion or avoidance did not have the consequence of empowering the Kingdom of Belgium to subject transactions to VAT other than those set out in Article 2 of the Directive.

22 In that regard, it should be recalled that, although Member States retain the power to organise their social security schemes, they must nonetheless, when exercising that power, observe EU law and, in particular, the provisions of the FEU Treaty on freedom of movement for workers and the right of establishment (see judgments of 1 April 2008 in Gouvernement de la Communauté française and gouvernement wallon, C‑212/06, EU:C:2008:178, paragraph 43, and of 21 January 2016 in Commission v Cyprus, C‑515/14, EU:C:2016:30, paragraph 38).

20. It should be observed, as a preliminary point, that under Article 4(1) of Directive 85/337, and subject to Article 2(3) thereof, the projects listed in Annex I to that directive are to be subject to an environmental impact assessment. Thus, under Annex I, No 14, to that directive, the extraction of petroleum and natural gas for commercial purposes must be made subject to an environmental impact assessment when the quantities extracted exceed 500 tonnes per day for petroleum and 500 000 m 3 per day for natural gas.

73. It should be noted at the outset that it is apparent from the second subparagraph of Article 256(1) TFEU and the first paragraph of Article 58 of the Statute of the Court that an appeal lies on a point of law only. The General Court therefore has exclusive jurisdiction to find and appraise the relevant facts and to assess the evidence placed before it. The appraisal of those facts and the assessment of that evidence thus do not, save where they distort the evidence, constitute a point of law which, as such, is open to review by the Court of Justice on appeal (see, inter alia, Calvin Klein Trademark Trust v OHIM , paragraph 49 and the case-law cited, and Case C-92/10 P Media-Saturn-Holding v OHIM [2011] ECR I-0000, paragraph 27).

49. As regards the second part of that ground of appeal, alleging distortion of the facts, it should be noted at the outset that, under Article 225(1) EC and the first subparagraph of Article 58 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, an appeal lies on a point of law only. The General Court has exclusive jurisdiction to find and appraise the relevant facts and to assess the evidence. The appraisal of those facts and the assessment of that evidence thus does not, save where they distort the evidence, constitute a point of law which is subject, as such, to review by the Court of Justice on appeal (see, inter alia, Case C‑104/00 P DKV v OHIM [2002] ECR I‑7561, paragraph 22; Case C‑173/04 P Deutsche SiSi-Werke v OHIM [2006] ECR I‑551, paragraph 35; and the judgment of 26 March 2009 in Case C‑21/08 P Sunplus Technology v OHIM , paragraph 31).

68. From that point of view, account is to be taken of the fact that, when it is a question of checking whether the national provisions intended to ensure effective implementation of the directive are correctly applied in practice, the Commission is largely reliant on the information provided by any complainants and by the Member State concerned ( Commission v Ireland , paragraph 43).

25. In this connection, the Gerechtshof te Amsterdam makes clear that Mr van der Steen did not bear any economic business risk in acting as manager and performing the work in the course of the company’s dealings with third parties.

18 It is settled case-law that, in the context of the cooperation between the Court of Justice and the national courts established by Article 234 EC, it is solely for the national court before which the dispute has been brought, and which must assume responsibility for the subsequent judicial decision, to determine in the light of the particular circumstances of the case both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to enable it to deliver judgment and the relevance of the questions which it submits to the Court. Consequently, where the questions submitted by the national court concern the interpretation of Community law, the Court of Justice is, in principle, bound to give a ruling (see, for example, Case C-415/93 Bosman [1995] ECR I-4921, paragraph 59).

69. Il y a lieu de constater que, en incitant les opérateurs économiques désirant commercialiser en Belgique des produits de construction légalement fabriqués et/ou commercialisés dans un autre État membre à obtenir des marques de conformité belges, le Royaume de Belgique a manqué aux obligations qui lui incombent en vertu des articles 28 CE et 30 CE. Sur les dépens

54. It follows from Article 256 TFEU, the first paragraph of Article 58 of the Statute of the Court of Justice and Article 112(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice that an appeal must indicate precisely the contested elements of the judgment which the appellant seeks to have set aside and also the legal arguments specifically advanced in support of the appeal. That requirement is not satisfied by an appeal which, without even including an argument specifically identifying the error of law allegedly vitiating the judgment under appeal, merely reproduces the pleas in law and arguments previously submitted to the General Court. Such an appeal amounts in reality to no more than a request for re‑examination of the application submitted to the General Court, which the Court of Justice does not have jurisdiction to undertake (see, in particular, Case C‑352/98 P Bergaderm and Goupil v Commission [2000] ECR I‑5291, paragraphs 34 and 35; Case C‑76/01 P Eurocoton and Others v Council [2003] ECR I‑10091, paragraphs 46 and 47; and Case C‑280/08 P Deutsche Telekom v Commission [2010] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 24).

92. It follows from the foregoing considerations that Articles 5, 6 and 7 of Regulation No 261/2004 are not invalid by reason of infringement of the principle of proportionality. Observance of the principle of equal treatment

15 In that regard, it should be pointed out that according to settled case-law the question whether a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations must be determined by reference to the situation prevailing in the Member State at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion and that the Court cannot take account of any subsequent changes (see, inter alia, Case C-148/00 Commission v Italy [2001] ECR I-9823, paragraph 7 and Case C-372/01 Commission v Luxembourg [2002] ECR I-0000, paragraph 7).

23. As regards the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings, the Court has held previously that only the objective of combating criminality linked to betting and gaming is capable of justifying restrictions on fundamental freedoms under those rules, provided that those restrictions comply with the principle of proportionality and in so far as the means employed are coherent and systematic (see, to that effect, Placanica and Others , paragraphs 52 to 55, and Costa and Cifone , paragraphs 61 to 63).

93 In that regard, it must be observed that measures which, whatever their form, are likely directly or indirectly to favour certain undertakings or are to be regarded as an economic advantage which the recipient undertaking would not have obtained under normal market conditions are regarded as aid (see, inter alia, judgments of 8 May 2013, Libert and Others, C‑197/11 and C‑203/11, EU:C:2013:288, paragraph 83, and of 3 April 2014, France v Commission, C‑559/12 P, EU:C:2014:217, paragraph 94 and the case-law cited).

22. The derogation in that provision is itself limited by Article 65(3) TFEU, which provides that the national provisions referred to in Article 65(1) ‘shall not constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on the free movement of capital and payments as defined in Article 63’.

52. In that regard, is it is to be noted that, in accordance with settled case-law, consumer protection can justify interference with the freedom to provide services (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C‑34/95 to C‑36/95 De Agostini and TV-Shop [1997] ECR I‑3843, paragraph 53; Case C‑243/01 Gambelli and Others [2003] ECR I‑13031, paragraph 67; and Joined Cases C‑338/04, C‑359/04 and C‑360/04 Placanica and Others [2007] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 46).

60. It follows that the Commission’s decision concerning the recovery of sums owed cannot be called in question before a national court. That question is reserved for the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, which will resolve it in an action for annulment brought before it. It is apparent from Article 242 EC that, in the absence of a decision of the Court of First Instance to the contrary, such an action does not have suspensory effect.

20. It is common ground that a benefit such as interim assistance, which forms part of the benefits awarded to employees in the event of dismissal, comes within the substantive scope of the provisions cited in the preceding paragraph and that a frontier worker in Mr Merida’s situation may rely on those provisions in regard to such a benefit (see, in that connection, Case C-35/97 Commission v France [1998] ECR I-5325, paragraphs 36, 40 and 41).

14 THOSE COURTS MAY CONSIDER THE VALIDITY OF A COMMUNITY ACT AND, IF THEY CONSIDER THAT THE GROUNDS PUT FORWARD BEFORE THEM BY THE PARTIES IN SUPPORT OF INVALIDITY ARE UNFOUNDED, THEY MAY REJECT THEM, CONCLUDING THAT THE MEASURE IS COMPLETELY VALID . BY TAKING THAT ACTION THEY ARE NOT CALLING INTO QUESTION THE EXISTENCE OF THE COMMUNITY MEASURE .

18 It follows that the owner of a trade mark protected by the legislation of a Member State cannot rely on that legislation in order to oppose the importation or marketing of a product which was put on the market in another Member State by him or with his consent (see, in particular, Case 16/74 Centrafarm v Winthrop [1974] ECR 1183, paragraphs 7 to 11; HAG II, paragraph 12; and IHT Internationale Heiztechnik, paragraphs 33 and 34).

67 It is apparent from the settled case-law of the Court that the penalty payment must be decided upon according to the degree of persuasion needed in order for the Member State which has failed to comply with a judgment establishing a breach of obligations to alter its conduct and bring to an end the infringement established (judgment of 15 October 2015 in Commission v Greece, C‑167/14, EU:C:2015:684, paragraph 51 and the case-law cited).

64. According to settled case-law, the adoption of rules essential to the subject-matter envisaged is reserved to the legislature of the European Union (see, to that effect, Germany v Commission , paragraph 36; Case C-104/97 P Atlanta v European Community [1999] ECR I-6983, paragraph 76; and C-356/97 Molkereigenossenschaft Wiedergeltingen [2000] ECR I-5461, paragraph 21). The essential rules governing the matter in question must be laid down in the basic legislation and may not be delegated (see, to that effect, Case C-156/93 Parliament v Commission [1995] ECR I-2019, paragraph 18; Parliament v Council , paragraph 23; Case C-48/98 Söhl & Söhlke [1999] ECR I-7877, paragraph 34; and Case C-133/06 Parliament v Council [2008] ECR I-3189, paragraph 45).

40. In the light of the foregoing, it is necessary, in order to provide an answer to the questions referred, to determine, in the first place, the nature of the transactions carried out within the context of the loyalty rewards schemes at issue in the cases in the main proceedings.

32. Furthermore, as the European Commission has rightly pointed out, the opposite solution would, in practice, prohibit that descendant from looking for employment in the host Member State and would accordingly infringe Article 23 of that directive, which expressly authorises such a descendant, if he has the right of residence, to take up employment or self-employment (see, by analogy, Lebon , paragraph 20).

80. The Court has jurisdiction to provide the national court with all the criteria for the interpretation of European Union law which may enable it to assess whether the provisions of the ESM Treaty are compatible with European Union law (see, to that effect, Case C‑489/09 Vandoorne [2011] ECR I‑225, paragraph 25 and case‑law cited).

24 The parties concerned, within the meaning of Article 93(2) of the Treaty, have been defined by the Court as the persons, undertakings or associations whose interests might be affected by the grant of the aid, in particular competing undertakings and trade associations (Case 323/82 Intermills v Commission [1984] ECR 3809, at paragraph 16).

20 Accordingly, even if it appears that by reason of the very large amount of tax levied on new cars the portion of the duty still incorporated in the value of the vehicle is written off more slowly in Denmark than in other Member States which levy a lower duty, that does not prevent the levying of a registration duty for which the basis of assessment is at least 90% of the value of the car when new from constituting generally manifest over-taxation of the vehicles in comparison with the residual registration duty in the case of previously registered used cars bought on the Danish market, whatever their age or condition .

29. It should be noted that Article 1 of the Regulation clearly establishes the principle of freedom to provide maritime cabotage services within the Community (Case C-205/99 Analir and Others [2001] ECR I-1271, paragraph 20).

20 To that end, Article 1 of that regulation clearly establishes the principle of freedom to provide maritime cabotage services within the Community. The conditions governing the application of the principle of freedom to provide services which is laid down inter alia in Article 59 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 49 EC) and Article 61 of the Treaty have thus been defined in the maritime cabotage sector.

85 The Court has repeatedly held that, given their nature and structure, the WTO agreements are not in principle among the rules in the light of which the legality of measures adopted by the EU institutions may be reviewed (see, to this effect, judgments in Portugal v Council, C‑149/96, EU:C:1999:574, paragraph 47, and Commission v Rusal Armenal, C‑21/14 P, EU:C:2015:494, paragraph 38).

52. However, as soon as a Member State, either unilaterally or by way of a convention, imposes a charge to tax on the income, not only of resident shareholders, but also of non-resident shareholders, from dividends which they receive from a resident company, the situation of those non-resident shareholders becomes comparable to that of resident shareholders ( Test Claimants in Class IV of the ACT Group Litigation , paragraph 68; Denkavit Internationaal and Denkavit France , paragraph 35; and Amurta , paragraph 38).

30 It must be pointed out in this regard that the Italian legislation reserves the exclusive right of retail sale of manufactured tobacco products to individuals to whom the Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (Autonomous Administration of State Monopolies, hereinafter "the AAMS") has issued a concession or authorization. On this point, it does not appear from the information before the Court that the Italian legislation allows the national authorities to intervene, through the AAMS, in the operation of tobacco outlets so as to control or influence the procurement choices of retailers, to ensure an outlet for the monopoly' s tobacco products (see, in contrast, Case C-347/88 Commission v Greece [1990] ECR I-4747, paragraphs 43 and 44), or to encourage or discourage certain types of imports from other Member States. Indeed, in its reply to a question put by the Court, the Italian Government stated that procurement choices were a matter entirely for retailers to determine on the basis of market demands.

45. In the absence of such precision, it is important, however, that other elements, taken from the general context of the measure concerned, enable the underlying aim of that measure to be identified for the purposes of review by the courts of its legitimacy and whether the means put in place to achieve that aim are appropriate and necessary ( Palacios de la Villa , paragraph 57).

38. It should also be observed that Article 8(2) of the Framework Directive places on Member States the obligation to ensure that the NRAs take all reasonable measures for the promotion of competition in the provision of electronic communications services, ensuring that there is no distortion or restriction of competition in the electronic communications sector and removing remaining obstacles to the provision of those services (see, to that effect, judgments in Centro Europa 7 , C‑380/05, EU:C:2008:59, paragraph 81, and Commission v Poland , C‑227/07, EU:C:2008:620, paragraphs 62 and 63).

52. It must be accepted that a trader, such as the applicant in the main proceedings, who commenced his activities under the tax exemption scheme in favour of biofuels at issue in the main proceedings, and who, to that end, made costly investments, could see his interests considerably affected by the withdrawal of that scheme before the date announced, all the more so if that withdrawal takes place suddenly and unforeseeably, without leaving him enough time to adapt to the new legal situation.

198. It follows that the Member States are required to cooperate in good faith with the inquiries of the Commission pursuant to Article 226 EC, and to provide the Commission with all the information requested for that purpose (Case 192/84 Commission v Greece [1985] ECR 3967, paragraph 19, and Case C-82/03 Commission v Italy [2004] ECR I-0000, paragraph 15).

30 In concluding, first of all, that under a system for determining road-haulage tariffs such as that established by the Italian Law, proposals discussed by the committee could not be regarded as restrictive agreements between economic agents which the public authorities imposed or favoured or the effects of which they reinforced, the Court, in paragraphs 22 to 24 of its judgment in Centro Servizi Spediporto noted that the central committee was composed of a majority of representatives of the public authorities and of a minority of representatives of associations of economic agents and that the central committee was obliged, when adopting its proposals, to observe a number of public interest criteria defined in the Italian Law.

43. With regard to the period within which it was necessary to comply with that judgment, it should be recalled that, according to settled case-law, the reference date for assessing whether there has been a failure to fulfil obligations under Article 228 EC is the date of expiry of the period prescribed in the reasoned opinion issued under that provision (see Case C‑304/02 Commission v France [2005] ECR I‑6263, paragraph 30; Case C‑119/04 Commission v Italy [2006] ECR I‑6885, paragraph 27; and Case C‑503/04 Commission v Germany [2007] ECR I-6153, paragraph 19).

37 Conclusions of that kind are based on a series of findings of fact which cannot be questioned in appeal proceedings, save where there is a distortion of the clear sense of the evidence or infringement of general principles and procedural rules applicable in regard to the burden of proof and the taking of evidence, matters which the appellants have not sought to establish.

37 Thus, an action for annulment is, in principle, only available against a measure by which the institution concerned definitively determines its position upon the conclusion of an administrative procedure. On the other hand, intermediate measures whose purpose is to prepare for the definitive decision, or measures which are mere confirmation of an earlier measure or purely implementing measures, cannot be treated as acts open to challenge, in that such acts are not intended to produce autonomous binding legal effects compared with those of the act of the EU institution which is prepared, confirmed or enforced (see, to that effect, in particular, judgments of 12 September 2006, Reynolds Tobacco and Others v Commission, C‑131/03 P, EU:C:2006:541, paragraph 55; of 6 December 2007, Commission v Ferriere Nord, C‑516/06 P, EU:C:2007:763, paragraph 29; and of 26 January 2010, Internationaler Hilfsfonds v Commission, C‑362/08 P, EU:C:2010:40, paragraph 52).

24. However, the fact remains that Directive 85/374 can preclude a system of liability such as that at issue in the main proceedings only on condition that that system is covered by the scope of application of that directive.

67 However, it is only in circumstances where the action for annulment would unquestionably have been admissible that the Court has held that a person may not plead the invalidity of an act of the European Union before a national court (see, to that effect, judgments of 9 March 1994, TWD Textilwerke Deggendorf, C‑188/92, EU:C:1994:90, paragraphs 17 to 25; of 30 January 1997, Wiljo, C‑178/95, EU:C:1997:46, paragraphs 15 to 25; of 15 February 2001, Nachi Europe, C‑239/99, EU:C:2001:101, paragraphs 29 to 40; and of 22 October 2002, National Farmers’ Union, C‑241/01, EU:C:2002:604, paragraphs 34 to 39). In numerous other cases, the Court has held that it was not established that the action would unquestionably have been admissible (see, inter alia, to that effect, judgments of 23 February 2006, Atzeni and Others, C‑346/03 and C‑529/03, EU:C:2006:130, paragraphs 30 to 34; of 8 March 2007, Roquette Frères, C‑441/05, EU:C:2007:150, paragraphs 35 to 48; of 29 June 2010, E and F, C‑550/09, EU:C:2010:382, paragraphs 37 to 52; of 18 September 2014, Valimar, C‑374/12, EU:C:2014:2231, paragraphs 24 to 38; and of 5 March 2015, Banco Privado Português and Massa Insolvente do Banco Privado Português, C‑667/13, EU:C:2015:151, paragraphs 27 to 32).

51. Consequently, the answer to the second question is that the hiring-out of workers, within the meaning of Article 1(3)(c) of Directive 96/71, is a service provided for remuneration in respect of which the worker who has been hired out remains in the employ of the undertaking providing the service, no contract of employment being entered into with the user undertaking. It is characterised by the fact that the movement of the worker to the host Member State constitutes the very purpose of the provision of services effected by the undertaking providing the services and that that worker carries out his tasks under the control and direction of the user undertaking. Costs

40. Article 20 TFEU confers the status of citizen of the Union on every person holding the nationality of a Member State (see, inter alia, Case C-224/98 D’Hoop [2002] ECR I-6191, paragraph 27, and Case C‑148/02 Garcia Avello [2003] ECR I‑11613, paragraph 21). Since Mr Ruiz Zambrano’s second and third children possess Belgian nationality, the conditions for the acquisition of which it is for the Member State in question to lay down (see, to that effect, inter alia, Case C‑135/08 Rottmann [2010] ECR I-0000, paragraph 39), they undeniably enjoy that status (see, to that effect, Garcia Avello , paragraph 21, and Zhu and Chen , paragraph 20).

21. Il convient également de préciser que, dans la mesure où le règlement n° 44/2001 a remplacé, dans les relations des États membres, la convention du 27 septembre 1968 concernant la compétence judiciaire et l’exécution des décisions en matière civile et commerciale (JO 1972, L 299, p. 32), telle que modifiée par les conventions successives relatives à l’adhésion des nouveaux États membres à cette convention (ci-après la «convention de Bruxelles»), l’interprétation fournie par la Cour en ce qui concerne les dispositions de cette convention vaut également pour celles de ce règlement, lorsque les dispositions de ces instruments communautaires peuvent être qualifiées d’équivalentes (voir en ce sens, notamment, arrêt ÖFAB, précité, point 28).

49. In that context, while the Member States remain in principle free, by virtue of the proviso in Article 34(1) of Regulation No 44/2001, to determine, according to their own conceptions, what public policy requires, the limits of that concept are a matter of interpretation of that regulation (see Case C-7/98 Krombach [2000] ECR I-1935, paragraph 22; Case C-38/98 Renault [2000] ECR I-2973, paragraph 27; and Apostolides , paragraph 56). Consequently, while it is not for the Court to define the content of the public policy of a Member State, it is none the less required to review the limits within which the courts of a Member State may have recourse to that concept for the purpose of refusing recognition to a judgment emanating from another Member State (see, Krombach , paragraph 23; Renault , paragraph 28; and Apostolides , paragraph 57).

27. En ce qui concerne l’application de la directive 2000/78 aux dispositions d’une convention collective comme celle en cause au principal, il ressort de la jurisprudence de la Cour que, lorsqu’ils adoptent des mesures entrant dans le champ d’application de cette directive, les partenaires sociaux doivent agir dans le respect de ladite directive (voir arrêts du 13 septembre 2011, Prigge e.a., C‑447/09, Rec. p. I‑8003, point 48, ainsi que du 7 juin 2012, Tyrolean Airways Tiroler Luftfahrt, C‑132/11, point 22).

33 According to that case-law, where a provision discriminates against women, the members of the disadvantaged group are to be treated in the same way and to have applied to them the same rules as the other workers and, failing correct implementation of Article 119 of the Treaty in national law, those rules remain the only valid point of reference (see the judgments in Case C-154/92 Van Cant v Rijksdienst voor Pensionen [1993] ECR I-3811, paragraph 20; Case C-184/89 Nimz v Freie und Hansastadt Hamburg [1991] ECR I-297, paragraph 18; Case C-33/89 Kowalska v Freie und Hansastadt Hamburg [1990] ECR I-2591, paragraph 20, and Case 286/85 McDermott and Cotter v Minister for Social Welfare and Attorney General [1987] ECR 1453, paragraph 19).

41. It must be pointed out, firstly, that the aims of Regulation No 3887/92 are, as set out in its seventh and ninth recitals, to monitor effectively compliance with the provisions on Community aid and to adopt provisions which prevent and penalise irregularities and fraud effectively.

34. Secondly, the Court has already held that the fact that a body is entrusted with some public interest tasks does not prevent the activities at issue from being regarded as economic activities (see, to that effect, Case C‑475/99 Ambulanz Glöckner [2001] ECR I-8089, paragraph 21).

23. For the rest, it must be borne in mind that, within the framework of the cooperation between the Court of Justice and national courts and tribunals established by Article 267 TFEU, it is solely for the national court to determine, in the light of the particular circumstances of each case, both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to enable it to deliver judgment and the relevance of the questions which it submits to the Court. The Court can refuse a request submitted by a national court only where it is quite obvious that the ruling sought by that court on the interpretation of European Union law bears no relation to the actual facts of the main action or its purpose or where the problem is general or hypothetical (see, inter alia, Case C-203/09 Volvo Car Germany [2010] ECR I-10721, paragraph 23 and the case-law cited).

121. As regards the factors mentioned in Questions 1(a) and 3(d), to the findings set out in paragraphs 59 to 77 of the present judgment should be added the point that, although Community law does not detract from the power of the Member States to organise their social security systems and decide the level of resources to be allocated to their operation, the achievement of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty nevertheless inevitably requires Member States to make adjustments to those systems. It does not follow that this undermines their sovereign powers in the field (see Müller-Fauré and van Riet , paragraphs 100 and 102).

29 It must be borne in mind that, according to the Court’s settled case-law, the wording used in one language version of a provision of EU law cannot serve as the sole basis for the interpretation of that provision or be given priority over the other language versions. Provisions of EU law must be interpreted and applied uniformly in the light of the versions existing in all EU languages. Where there is divergence between the various language versions of an EU legislative text, the provision in question must be interpreted by reference to the purpose and general scheme of the rules of which it forms part (judgment of 17 March 2016 in Kødbranchens Fællesråd, C‑112/15, EU:C:2016:185, paragraph 36 and the case-law cited).

53 The Court also held that, in order to establish the existence of the second element, which relates to the intention of operators, account may be taken, in particular, of the purely artificial nature of the transactions concerned. It is for the referring court to verify in accordance with the rules of evidence of national law, provided that the effectiveness of EU law is not undermined, whether action constituting such an abusive practice has taken place in the case before it (judgment of 28 July 2016, Kratzer, C‑423/15, EU:C:2016:604, paragraphs 41 to 42 and the case-law cited).

28. Article 77(1) of the Directive imposes on the Member States a general obligation to make the wholesale distribution of medicinal products subject to the possession of a special authorisation. The same obligation is referred to in the first sentence of recital 36 in the preamble to the Directive, which states that ‘[a]ny person involved in the wholesale distribution of medicinal products should be in possession of a special authorisation’.

33. It follows from this case-law that the registration of a taxable person in the register of taxable persons subject to VAT is a formal requirement, such that a taxable person cannot be prevented from exercising his right of deduction on the ground that he had not been identified as a taxable person for VAT purposes before using the goods purchased in the context of his taxed activity (see, to that effect, Nidera Handelscompagnie , paragraph 51, and Dankowski , paragraphs 33, 34 and 36). Therefore, the refusal to assign a VAT identification number cannot, in principle, have any effect on the taxable person’s right to deduct input VAT if the material conditions giving rise to that right have been fulfilled.

16 IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES THE FEES CHARGED FOR SUCH INSPECTIONS CANNOT BE REGARDED AS CHARGES HAVING AN EFFECT EQUIVALENT TO CUSTOMS DUTIES , PROVIDED THAT THEIR AMOUNT DOES NOT EXCEED THE ACTUAL COST OF THE OPERATIONS IN RESPECT OF WHICH THEY ARE CHARGED .

33 However, as the Commission rightly points out, application of the Court's traditional case-law, according to which the place of the performance of the obligation in question, within the meaning of Article 5(1) of the Brussels Convention, is to be determined in accordance with the law governing the obligation in question, according to the conflict rules of the court seised (Tessili, paragraphs 13 and 15; Custom Made Commercial, paragraph 26; GIE Groupe Concorde and Others, paragraph 32; and Leathertex, paragraph 33), does not enable that result to be achieved.

38 AS REGARDS THE THIRD ARGUMENT CONCERNING ARTICLE 9 ( 1 ) ( C ) OF THE DIRECTIVE, THAT PROVISION AUTHORIZES MEMBER STATES TO DEROGATE, INTER ALIA, FROM ARTICLES 7 AND 8 IN ORDER TO PERMIT, UNDER STRICTLY SUPERVISED CONDITIONS AND ON A SELECTIVE BASIS, THE CAPTURE, KEEPING OR OTHER JUDICIOUS USE OF CERTAIN BIRDS IN SMALL NUMBERS . IT IS CLEAR THAT THE CAPTURE AND SALE OF BIRDS, EVEN OUTSIDE THE HUNTING SEASON, WITH A VIEW TO KEEPING THEM FOR USE AS LIVE DECOYS OR FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES IN FAIRS AND MARKETS MAY CONSTITUTE JUDICIOUS USE AUTHORIZED BY ARTICLE 9 ( 1 ) ( C ).

38. That case-law may be transposed to orders for preliminary reference provided for by the Protocol (see, to that effect, Case C-220/95 Van den Boogaard [1997] ECR I-1147, paragraph 16; Case C-295/95 Farrell [1997] ECR I-1683, paragraph 11; and Case C-159/97 Castelletti [1999] ECR I-1597, paragraph 14).

41 In that respect, registration appears to be the natural corollary of the exercise of those powers of taxation. It facilitates supervision both for the Member State of registration and for the other Member States, for which registration in one Member State constitutes proof of payment in that State of taxes on motor vehicles.

75 Since the purpose of the procedure that enables the Court to give preliminary rulings is to ensure that in the interpretation and application of the Treaties the law is observed, in accordance with the duty assigned to the Court under Article 19(1) TEU, it would be contrary to the objectives of that provision and to the principle of effective judicial protection to adopt a strict interpretation of the jurisdiction conferred on the Court by the second paragraph of Article 275 TFEU, to which reference is made by Article 24(1) TEU (see, by analogy, judgments of 27 February 2007, Gestoras Pro Amnistía and Others v Council, C‑354/04 P, EU:C:2007:115, paragraph 53; of 27 February 2007, Segi and Others v Council, C‑355/04 P, EU:C:2007:116, paragraph 53; of 24 June 2014, Parliament v Council, C‑658/11, EU:C:2014:2025, paragraph 70; of 12 November 2015, Elitaliana v Eulex Kosovo, C‑439/13 P, EU:C:2015:753, paragraph 42, and of 19 July 2016, H v Council and Commission, C‑455/14 P, EU:C:2016:569, paragraph 40).

9. À cet égard, il convient de rappeler que, selon une jurisprudence constante de la Cour, l’existence d’un manquement doit être appréciée en fonction de la situation de l’État membre telle qu’elle se présentait au terme du délai fixé dans l’avis motivé (voir, notamment, arrêts du 27 octobre 2005, Commission/Italie, C-525/03, Rec. p. I-9405, point 14, et du 6 octobre 2009, Commission/Espagne, C-562/07, Rec. p. I‑9553, point 23).

123 In any event, the Member States must ensure review, by an independent authority, of compliance with the level of protection guaranteed by EU law with respect to the protection of individuals in relation to the processing of personal data, that control being expressly required by Article 8(3) of the Charter and constituting, in accordance with the Court’s settled case-law, an essential element of respect for the protection of individuals in relation to the processing of personal data. If that were not so, persons whose personal data was retained would be deprived of the right, guaranteed in Article 8(1) and (3) of the Charter, to lodge with the national supervisory authorities a claim seeking the protection of their data (see, to that effect, the Digital Rights judgment, paragraph 68, and the judgment of 6 October 2015, Schrems, C‑362/14, EU:C:2015:650, paragraphs 41 and 58).

66. In the case of a colour per se , distinctiveness without any prior use is inconceivable save in exceptional circumstances, and particularly where the number of goods or services for which the mark is claimed is very restricted and the relevant market very specific.

81. Since it constitutes a derogation from the general principle laid down in Article 87(1) EC that State aid is incompatible with the common market Article 87(2)(b) EC must be construed narrowly (Case C-156/98 Germany v Commission [2000] ECR I-6857, paragraph 49, and Case C-301/96 Germany v Commission [2003] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 66).

41. Il s’ensuit qu’un contrat de concession comportant les obligations typiques précisées aux points 27 et 28 du présent arrêt peut être qualifié de contrat de fourniture de services aux fins de l’application de la règle de compétence figurant à l’article 5, point 1, sous b), second tiret, du règlement.

75. En effet, dès lors que plusieurs mois se sont écoulés entre la décision de remplacer le logiciel et la conclusion du marché en cause, ainsi qu’il a été rappelé aux points 9 à 11 et 70 du présent arrêt, il est manifeste qu’il était possible, pour le moins, de conduire une procédure restreinte accélérée, en application de l’article 12, paragraphe 1, de la directive 93/36 (voir, en ce sens, arrêts du 18 mars 1992, Commission/Espagne, C‑24/91, Rec. p. I‑1989, point 14; du 2 août 1993, Commission/Italie, précité, point 13, et du 18 novembre 2004, Commission/Allemagne, précité, point 23).

37 Professional secrecy entails not only establishing rules prohibiting disclosure of confidential information but also making it impossible for the authorities legally in possession of such information to use it, in the absence of an express provision allowing them to do so, for a reason other than that for which it was obtained.

53. In that regard, it must be borne in mind that, according to settled case-law, it is solely for the national court before which the dispute has been brought, and which must assume responsibility for the subsequent judicial decision, to determine, in the light of the particular circumstances of the case, both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to enable it to deliver judgment and the relevance of the questions which it submits to the Court. Consequently, where the questions submitted concern the interpretation of European Union law, the Court is in principle required to give a ruling (Case C-169/07 Hartlauer [2009] ECR I-1721, paragraph 24, and Case C-470/11 Garkalns [2012] ECR, paragraph 17).

61 Lastly, the condition requiring use of the trade mark to be made in accordance with honest practices in industrial or commercial matters must be regarded as constituting in substance the expression of a duty to act fairly in relation to the legitimate interests of the trade mark owner, similar to that imposed on the reseller where he uses another's trade mark to advertise the resale of products covered by that mark.

126. It is settled case-law that, in the context of proceedings under Article 226 EC, the existence of a failure to fulfil obligations must be assessed in the light of the European Union legislation in force at the close of the period prescribed by the Commission for the Member State concerned to comply with its reasoned opinion (see, inter alia, Case C‑365/97 Commission v Italy [1999] ECR I‑7773, paragraph 32; Case C‑275/04 Commission v Belgium [2006] ECR I‑9883, paragraph 34; and Case C‑270/07 Commission v Germany [2009] ECR I‑1983, paragraph 49).

25. It follows that the term ‘active ingredient’, for the purposes of applying Regulation No 469/2009, concerns substances producing a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action of their own. Since Regulation No 469/2009 does not draw any distinction according to whether an active ingredient is covalently bound with other substances, it is not appropriate to exclude, on that ground, the grant of an SPC for such an active ingredient.

15. The Court has also pointed out that Member States retain their powers to organize their social security systems (see Poucet and Pistre , paragraph 6, and Case 238/82 Duphar v Netherlands [1984] ECR 523, paragraph 16).

16 ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT POSSIBLE , CONTRARY TO THE CONTENTION OF THE DEFENDANT IN THE MAIN PROCEEDINGS , TO EQUATE THE COMPETENT AUTHORITY OF A MEMBER STATE WHICH , WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF A HEALTH-CARE INSURANCE SCHEME FINANCED BY CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE INSURED PERSONS AND BY FINANCING FROM THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES , DRAWS UP RULES GOVERNING AND LIMITING REIMBURSEMENT OF THE COSTS OF HEALTH CARE , WITH AN ECONOMIC OPERATOR WHO IN EACH CASE FREELY CHOOSES THE GOODS WHICH HE ACQUIRES ON THE MARKET , IT MUST BE RECOGNIZED THAT COMMUNITY LAW DOES NOT DETRACT FROM THE POWERS OF MEMBER STATES TO ORGANIZE THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMS AND TO ADOPT , IN PARTICULAR , PROVISIONS INTENDED TO GOVERN THE CONSUMPTION OF PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS IN ORDER TO PROMOTE THE FINANCIAL STABILITY OF THEIR HEALTH-CARE INSURANCE SCHEMES .

45. The Court has held on several occasions that the Commission may ask the Court to find that, in not having achieved, in a specific case, the result intended by a directive, a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations (see, in particular, Joined Cases C-20/01 and C-28/01 Commission v Germany [2003] ECR I-3609, paragraph 30; Case C-157/03 Commission v Spain [2005] ECR I-2911, paragraph 44; and Case C-503/03 Commission v Spain , paragraph 59).

14 AS FOR THE EXPORTATION OF THOSE PRODUCTS TO FRANCE , THAT IS CLEARLY A COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY WHICH CAN BE CARRIED ON AT ANY TIME BY ANY UNDERTAKING WHATEVER . IT FOLLOWS THAT THE DECISION AT ISSUE CONCERNS THE APPLICANTS IN THE SAME WAY AS ANY OTHER TRADER ACTUALLY OR POTENTIALLY FINDING HIMSELF IN THE SAME POSITION . THE MERE FACT THAT THE APPLICANTS EXPORT GOODS TO FRANCE IS NOT THEREFORE SUFFICIENT TO ESTABLISH THAT THEY ARE INDIVIDUALLY CONCERNED BY THE CONTESTED DECISION .

48. That case-law, which was developed in relation to three-dimensional trade marks consisting of the appearance of the product itself or the packaging of goods, such as liquids, which are packaged in trade for reasons linked to the very nature of the product (see Deutsche SiSi-Werke v OHIM , paragraph 29, and Case C-144/06 P Henkel v OHIM , paragraph 38), also applies where, as in the present case, the trade mark for which registration is sought is an ‘other’ mark consisting of the specific appearance of the surface of the packaging of a liquid product. In such a case, the mark likewise does not consist of a sign that is independent of the appearance of the necessary packaging of the products it designates (see, to that effect, Storck v OHIM , paragraph 29).

40. Similarly, since they are awarded by the competent authorities of other Member States solely in the light of the applicable rules within the framework of their respective education and training systems, diplomas awarded on completion of education and training provided within the framework of homologation agreements do not fall, in the context of Directive 89/48, within the Greek education system. Consequently, the objective of ensuring a high level of Greek university education and training is not called into question by such education and training, the quality of which it is for the competent authorities of the other Member States issuing the diplomas awarded on completion of that education and training to ensure.

27 In accordance with the settled case-law of the Court, the essential feature of an employment relationship is that, for a certain period of time, a person performs services for and under the direction of another person, in return for which he receives remuneration, the legal characterisation under national law and the form of that relationship, as well as the nature of the legal relationship between those two persons, not being decisive in that regard (see, to that effect, judgment of 11 November 2010, Danosa, C‑232/09, EU:C:2010:674, paragraphs 39 and 40 and the case-law cited).

36 Therefore, unlike the element characterising the right to repayment of overpaid VAT, the right to deduct VAT, which is a right inherent in the VAT scheme established by the common system of VAT, is based on the existence of a tax that is due.

42 The Court of Justice has already held that Articles 5 and 85 are infringed where a Member State requires or favours the adoption of agreements, decisions or concerted practices contrary to Article 85 or reinforces their effects, or where it deprives its own rules of the character of legislation by delegating to private economic operators the responsibility for taking decisions affecting the economic sphere (Centro Servizi Spediporto, cited above, paragraph 21, and DIP and Others, cited above, paragraph 15).

30. Accordingly, and without it being necessary to examine the other grounds relied on by Isdin in support of its appeal, the appeal must be allowed and the judgment under appeal set aside.

77 The Court has previously held, in that regard, that the existence of the special arrangements between the European Union and OCTs results in the general provisions of the FEU Treaty, namely those which are not referred to in Part Four of that treaty, not being applicable to OCTs in the absence of an express reference (see, to that effect, judgments of 28 January 1999, van der Kooy, C‑181/97, EU:C:1999:32, paragraphs 36 and 37, and of 5 June 2014, X and TBG, C‑24/12 and C‑27/12, EU:C:2014:1385, paragraph 45 and the case-law cited).

41. As the Advocate General stated at point 32 of his Opinion, it is necessary to define the scope to be accorded to the legitimate requirement of the balanced allocation of the power to impose taxes between the Member States. In particular, it must be noted that such a justification was accepted by the Court in the judgment in Marks & Spencer only in conjunction with two other grounds, based on the taking into account of tax losses twice and on tax avoidance (see, to that effect, Marks & Spencer , paragraphs 43 and 51).

37. In order to answer that question, it must be noted at the outset that the purpose of Regulation No 44/2001, like the Brussels Convention, is not to unify the procedural rules of the Member States, but to determine which court has jurisdiction in disputes concerning civil and commercial matters in relations between Member States and to facilitate the enforcement of judgments (see, to that effect, Case C‑18/02 DFDS Torline [2004] ECR I ‑ 1417, paragraph 23).

13. À cet égard, il y a lieu de rappeler, en premier lieu, que, selon une jurisprudence constante, dans le cadre d’une procédure en manquement au titre de l’article 258 TFUE, il incombe à la Commission d’établir l’existence du manquement allégué. C’est elle qui doit apporter à la Cour les éléments de fait nécessaires à la vérification, par celle-ci, de l’existence de ce manquement, sans pouvoir se fonder sur une présomption quelconque (voir, notamment, arrêt du 17 juin 2010, Commission/Portugal, C‑105/08, Rec. p. I‑5331, point 26 et jurisprudence citée).

16. It is to be noted at the outset that, according to settled case-law, whilst the exemptions provided for, inter alia, in Article 13B(d)(6) of the Sixth Directive and Article 135(1)(g) of Directive 2006/112 are independent concepts of European Union law which must, in principle, be given a common definition whose purpose is to avoid divergences in the application of the VAT system from one Member State to another, so that the Member States cannot alter their content, that is not however the case where the legislature has conferred on the Member States the task of defining certain terms of an exemption (see, to this effect, Case C-169/04 Abbey National [2006] ECR I‑4027, paragraphs 38 and 39, and Claverhouse , paragraphs 19 and 20). The aforesaid provisions confer upon the Member States the task of defining the meaning of ‘special investment funds’ (see, to this effect, Abbey National , paragraphs 40 and 41, and Claverhouse , paragraph 43).

55. Second, as the Advocate General observed in points 51 and 52 of his Opinion, it is true that the very nature of the informed user as defined above means that, when possible, he will make a direct comparison between the designs at issue. However, it cannot be ruled out that such a comparison may be impracticable or uncommon in the sector concerned, in particular because of specific circumstances or the characteristics of the devices which the designs at issue represent.

39. To require those who, among the residents of a Member State, are insured under the social security scheme of another Member State to finance, in addition, even if only partially, the social security scheme of the Member State of residence would give rise to unequal treatment under Article 13 of Regulation No 1408/71, since all other residents of the latter Member State are required to contribute only to its social security scheme (see, to that effect, judgments in Commission v France , EU:C:2000:84, paragraphs 45 to 48, and Commission v France , EU:C:2000:85, paragraphs 42 to 45).

38. En ce qui concerne l’argument avancé par le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg selon lequel la pratique litigieuse vise à lutter contre les transactions frauduleuses de véhicules volés dans le cadre de la procédure d’immatriculation des véhicules, il convient de constater que cette justification a trait à la lutte contre la criminalité, laquelle peut constituer une raison impérieuse d’intérêt général susceptible de justifier une entrave à la libre circulation des marchandises (arrêt du 10 avril 2008, Commission/Portugal, C‑265/06, non encore publié au Recueil, point 38).

112 In reaching that conclusion, the Court found that the sectoral pension funds in question in the cases mentioned in the paragraph above themselves determined the amount of the contributions and benefits, that they operated in accordance with the principle of capitalisation and that, by contrast with the benefits provided by bodies charged with the management of compulsory social security schemes of the kind in point in Poucet and Pistre, the amount of benefits provided by the funds depended on the performance of the investments which they made and in respect of which they were subject, like an insurance company, to supervision by the Insurance Board. Furthermore, the fact that a sectoral pension fund was in certain circumstances required or empowered to exempt undertakings from membership meant that it was carrying on an economic activity in competition with insurance companies (see Albany, paragraphs 81 to 84, Brentjens', paragraphs 81 to 84, and Drijvende Bokken, paragraphs 71 to 74).

16 It is settled case-law that Article 59 of the Treaty 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 attractive the activities of a provider of services established in another Member State in which he lawfully provides similar services (see Case C-76/90 Säger [1991] ECR I-4221, paragraph 12; Case C-43/93 Vander Elst [1994] ECR I-3803, paragraph 14; Case C-272/94 Guiot [1996] ECR I-1905, paragraph 10; Joined Cases C-369/96 and C-376/96 Arblade and Others [1999] ECR I-8453, paragraph 33; and Case C-165/98 Mazzoleni and ISA [2001] ECR I-2189, paragraph 22).

42. In the present case, it must be held that, by introducing, through an administrative practice that remained in force from November 1978 until 1999, a right to deduct in full input VAT relating to the provision of food and beverages by company canteens, the Danish administration precluded itself from subsequently limiting the right to deduct that tax. In this respect, it must be stressed that, in the context of the second subparagraph of Article 17(6) of the Sixth Directive, it is not only legislative acts in the strict sense that must be taken into account, but also administrative measures and practices of the public authorities of the Member State concerned ( Metropol and Stadler , paragraph 49).

35. It must be borne in mind in this regard that, according to settled case‑law, the necessity for uniform application and, accordingly, for uniform interpretation of a Community measure makes it impossible to consider one version of the text in isolation, but requires that it be interpreted on the basis of both the real intention of its author and the aim the latter seeks to achieve, in the light, in particular, of the versions in all languages (see, inter alia, Case 29/69 Stauder [1969] ECR 419, paragraph 3; Joined Cases C-261/08 and C-348/08 Zurita García and Choque Cabrera [2009] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 54; and Case C‑473/08 Eulitz [2010] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 22).

73. It must, however, be held that the situation at issue in the main proceedings is not covered by that rule against overlapping or, moreover, by that laid down by Article 76 of Regulation No 1408/71 since it does not concern a hypothetical overlapping of entitlements laid down by the legislation of the Member State of residence of the child concerned and of those resulting from the legislation of the Member State of employment designated as the competent State under that regulation (see, to that effect, Bosmann , paragraph 24, and Schwemmer , paragraphs 43 and 51)

46. The public interest taken into account in the examination of each of those grounds for refusal may, or even must, reflect different considerations, depending upon which ground for refusal is at issue.

54. Moreover, such factors can be considered appropriate to achieve the stated aim only if they genuinely reflect a concern to attain that aim and are pursued in a consistent and systematic manner ( Hartlauer , C‑169/07, EU:C:2009:141, paragraph 55; Georgiev , C‑250/09 and C‑268/09, EU:C:2010:699, paragraph 56; Fuchs and Köhler , C‑159/10 and C‑160/10, EU:C:2011:508, paragraph 85; and Brachner , EU:C:2011:675, paragraph 71).

30 Accordingly, providing access to roads on payment of a toll constitutes a supply of services for consideration within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Sixth Directive.

28 It must next be observed that in the judgments cited above in Mines de Potasse d'Alsace, paragraphs 24 and 25, and Shevill and Others, paragraph 20, the Court held that, where the place of the happening of the event which may give rise to liability in tort, delict or quasi-delict and the place where that event results in damage are not identical, the expression `place where the harmful event occurred' in Article 5(3) of the Convention must be understood as being intended to cover both the place where the damage occurred and the place of the event giving rise to it, so that the defendant may be sued, at the option of the plaintiff, in the courts for either of those places.

55. With respect, on the other hand, to the mechanisms for preventing double taxation by way of conventions, it must first be observed that the application of the set-off method should enable the tax on income deducted in Belgium to be set off in full against the tax payable in the State of residence of the recipient investment company, so that, if the income from capital and movable property received by that company were ultimately taxed more heavily than the income paid to companies established in Belgium, that heavier tax burden could no longer be attributed to the Kingdom of Belgium, but to the State of establishment of the recipient company which exercised its power of taxation (see, to that effect, Commission v Spain , paragraph 60, and Commission v Germany , paragraph 67).

40. It should be recalled, second, that it follows from Article 225 EC and Article 58 of the Statute of the Court of Justice that an appeal is limited to points of law. According to settled case-law, the Court of First Instance therefore has exclusive jurisdiction to find the facts, save where a substantive inaccuracy in its findings is attributable to the documents submitted to it, and to appraise those facts. That appraisal thus does not, save where the clear sense of the evidence has been distorted, constitute a point of law which is subject, as such, to review by the Court of Justice in an appeal (see, inter alia, Case C‑136/92 P Commission v Brazzelli Lualdi and Others [1994] ECR I‑1981, paragraphs 47 to 49, and Case C‑470/00 P Parliament v Ripa di Meana and Others [2004] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 40).

43. Accordingly, the Austrian legislation must be regarded as having existed on 31 December 1993 for the purposes of Article 57(1) EC.

103. In particular, it held, with respect to Article 7 of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, that, even though the EAEC Treaty does not grant the Community competence to authorise the construction or operation of nuclear installations, under Articles 30 EA to 32 EA the Community possesses legislative competence to establish, for the purpose of health protection, an authorisation system which must be applied by the Member States. Such a legislative act constitutes a measure supplementing the basic standards referred to in Article 30 EA ( Commission v Council , paragraphs 88 and 89).

48 Nevertheless, it must be observed, in accordance with settled case-law, that legislation is appropriate for ensuring attainment of the objective pursued only if it genuinely reflects a concern to attain it in a consistent and systematic manner, and that exceptions to the provisions of a law can, in certain cases, undermine the consistency of that law, in particular where their scope is such that they lead to a result contrary to the objective pursued by that law (judgment of 21 July 2011, Fuchs and Köhler, C‑159/10 and C‑160/10, EU:C:2011:508, paragraphs 85 and 86).

37. In that regard, Article 17(1) of the Sixth Directive provides that the right to deduct is to arise at the time when the deductible tax becomes chargeable and Article 17(2) entitles the taxable person, in so far as the goods and services are used for the purposes of his taxable transactions, to deduct from the VAT which he is liable to pay the tax due or paid in respect of goods or services supplied or to be supplied to him by another taxable person (see Commission v France , paragraph 29).

28 FOR THE SAME REASONS THE MAMMOUTH CASE CANNOT BE CONSIDERED AS IT WAS NOT MENTIONED IN THE STATEMENT OF OBJECTIONS .

53 In Taflan-Met the plaintiffs in the main proceedings claimed invalidity or survivors' pensions on the basis of the coordination rules laid down in Articles 12 and 13 of Decision No 3/80. That case thus concerned the right of Turkish migrant workers, employed successively in more than one Member State, or the right of survivors of those workers, to certain social security benefits on the basis of technical provisions for the coordination of the different national laws applicable thereto referred to in Chapter 2, entitled `Invalidity', and Chapter 3, entitled `Old age and death (pensions)', of Title III of that decision.

18 It is settled case-law that any pecuniary charge, whatever its designation or mode of application, which is imposed unilaterally on goods by reason of the fact that they cross a frontier, and which is not a customs duty in the strict sense, constitutes a charge having an effect equivalent to a customs duty within the meaning of Articles 9, 12, 13 and 16 of the Treaty, even if it is not imposed on behalf of the State (see in particular Case 158/82 Commission v Denmark [1983] ECR 3573, paragraph 18).