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59 Furthermore, under the principle of effectiveness, the Member States are responsible for ensuring that the rights conferred by EU law are effectively protected in each case and, in particular, for ensuring compliance with the right to an effective remedy and to a fair hearing enshrined in Article 47(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (see, to that effect, judgments of 15 September 2016, Star Storage and Others, C‑439/14 and C‑488/14, EU:C:2016:688, paragraph 46; of 8 November 2016, Lesoochranárske zoskupenie VLK, C‑243/15, EU:C:2016:838, paragraph 65, and of 16 May 2017, Berlioz Investment Fund, C‑682/15, EU:C:2017:373, paragraph 44).

93. As the Advocate General observed in point 193 of her Opinion, an exemption granted for a specified period may require a prospective analysis regarding the occurrence of the advantages associated with the agreement, and it is therefore sufficient for the Commission, on the basis of the arguments and evidence in its possession, to arrive at the conviction that the occurrence of the appreciable objective advantage is sufficiently likely in order to presume that the agreement entails such an advantage.

45. In that context, given that the legality of an EU measure must be assessed on the basis of the facts and the law as they stood at the time when the measure was adopted (see, by analogy, judgments in Gualtieri v Commission , C‑485/08 P, EU:C:2010:188, paragraph 26; Schindler Holding and Others v Commission , C‑501/11 P, EU:C:2013:522, paragraph 31; and Schaible , C‑101/12, EU:C:2013:661, paragraph 50), the legality of Article 8(3) of Decision 2005/387 must be assessed in the light of the provisions that governed, at the time that decision was adopted, the implementation of general acts in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, namely Article 34(2)(c) EU and Article 39(1) EU.

50. However, it should be pointed out that the validity of a European Union measure must be assessed on the basis of the facts and the law as they stood at the time when the measure was adopted and cannot depend on retrospective assessments of its efficacy. Where the European Union legislature is obliged to assess the future effects of rules to be adopted and those effects cannot be accurately foreseen, its assessment is open to criticism only if it appears manifestly incorrect in the light of the information available to it at the time of the adoption of the rules in question (see, to that effect, Case C-504/04 Agrarproduktion Staebelow [2006] ECR I-679, paragraph 38, and C-309/10 Agrana Zucker [2011] ECR I-7333, paragraph  45).

29. In those circumstances, it is not appropriate to extend the examination of the question referred to determine whether the products in dispute imported by Steinel Vertrieb fall within the scope of the CFL‑i Regulations on the basis of grounds not referred to by the national court, namely the assessment made by the national authorities of the subheadings of the CN code in which the product at issue in the main proceedings are to be classed (see, by analogy, Hoesch Metals and Alloys , paragraph 60). Consequently, it must be inferred from the order for reference that the national court refrained from asking the Court to rule on that issue (see, to that effect, Case C‑30/93 AC‑ATEL Electronics Vetriebs [1994] ECR I‑2305, paragraph 19).

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

24. It is for the national authorities responsible for the operation of the legislation governing the production and marketing of medicinal products ─ legislation which, as is made clear in the first recital of Directive 65/65, has as its primary objective the safeguarding of public health ─ to ensure that it is fully complied with. Nevertheless, the principle of proportionality, which is the basis of the last sentence of Article 30 EC, requires that the power of the Member States to prohibit imports of products from other Member States be restricted to what is necessary in order to achieve the aims concerning the protection of health that are legitimately pursued. Thus, national legislation or practice cannot benefit from the derogation laid down in Article 30 EC when the health and life of humans can be protected equally effectively by measures less restrictive of intra-Community trade (Ferring , paragraph 34).

112. Moreover, the lack of any possibility of recoupment of losses is not sufficient to prevent the undertaking concerned reinforcing its dominant position, in particular, following the withdrawal from the market of one or a number of its competitors, so that the degree of competition existing on the market, already weakened precisely because of the presence of the undertaking concerned, is further reduced and customers suffer loss as a result of the limitation of the choices available to them.

61 In order to assess whether a penalty is consistent with the principle of proportionality, account must be taken, inter alia, of the nature and the degree of seriousness of the infringement which the penalty is intended to sanction and of the means of establishing the amount of the penalty (see, to that effect, judgments of 8 May 2008, Ecotrade, C‑95/07 and C‑96/07, EU:C:2008:267, paragraphs 65 to 67; and of 20 June 2013, Rodopi-M 91, C‑259/12, EU:C:2013:414, paragraph 38).

39. Therefore, it is important to consider that, inasmuch as the Second Transitional Provision of Law 1/2013 does not prevent the national court, faced with an unfair term, performing its duties by removing that clause, Directive 93/13 does not preclude the application of such a national provision.

36. It should be borne in mind at the outset that a colour mark per se is capable of constituting, under certain conditions, a trade mark within the meaning of Article 2 of Directive 2008/95 (see, to that effect, Case C‑104/01 Libertel EU:C:2003:244, paragraphs 27 to 42, and Case C‑49/02 Heidelberger Bauchemie EU:C:2004:384, paragraph 42).

38. Where a sample of a colour, together with a description in words, does not satisfy the conditions laid down in Article 2 of the Directive in order for it to constitute a graphic representation because, inter alia , it lacks precision or durability, that deficiency may, depending on the facts, be remedied by adding a colour designation from an internationally recognised identification code.

24. In that context, it is for the Member States to decide on the degree of protection which they wish to afford to public health and on the way in which that protection is to be achieved. They may do so, however, only within the limits set by the Treaty and must, in particular, observe the principle of proportionality (see Joined Cases C-1/90 and C-176/90 Aragonesa de Publicidad Exterior and Publivía [1991] ECR I-4151, paragraph 16), which requires that the measures adopted be appropriate to secure the attainment of the objective which they pursue and not go beyond what is necessary in order to attain it (see, in particular, Säger , paragraph 15; Joined Cases C-369/96 and C-376/96 Arblade and Others [1999] ECR I-8453, paragraph 35; Corsten , paragraph 39; and Case C-390/99 Canal Satélite Digital [2002] ECR I-607, paragraph 33).

41 With respect to the legislation adopted by the other autonomous communities, the provisions cited by the Spanish Government have for the most part been communicated to the Commission only as an annex to the rejoinder. They are not accompanied by any direct reference to the classes of project listed in Annex II to the Directive.

63. In paragraphs 26 and 27 of its judgment in Simitzi , cited above, the Court held, moreover, that the same reasoning had to apply in the case of a charge levied on goods despatched from one region to other regions of the same State, before concluding that ad valorem charges levied by a Member State on goods despatched from one region solely to other regions of the same State constituted charges having an effect equivalent to customs duties on exports.

10 In that connection, it should be noted that Directive 92/75 was to be transposed by 30 June 1993 at the latest, that is to say, before the end of the period prescribed for transposing Directive 94/2. The Italian Republic cannot, therefore, justify the failure to transpose Directive 94/2 by the delay in implementing Directive 92/75 (see Case C-268/93 Commission v Spain [1994] ECR I-947, paragraph 5).

22. As regards Article 11(b) of Directive 69/335, the wording of which is reproduced in Article 5(2)(b) of Directive 2008/7, the Court stated, in its judgment in FECSA and ACESA (EU:C:1998:508, paragraph 18), that, although that article does not expressly mention the repayment of debenture loans, nevertheless, prohibiting the levying of duty when debenture loans are issued but authorising it when such loans are repaid would have the effect, contrary to the objective pursued by the directive, of taxing loans as overall operations for raising capital.

26. In that connection, the Court has held that a BTI creates rights only for the holder (Case C-495/03 Intermodal Transports [2005] ECR I-8151, paragraph 27).

53. Likewise, the Court has stated that the essential purpose and object of that regulation is to combat international terrorism, in particular to cut it off from its financial resources by freezing the economic funds and resources of persons or entities suspected of involvement in activities linked to terrorism ( Kadi and Al Barakaat International Foundation v Council and Commission , paragraph 169).

22. Thus, the exclusive jurisdiction in proceedings concerned with the registration or validity of patents conferred upon the courts of the Contracting State in which the deposit or registration has been applied for or made is justified by the fact that those courts are best placed to adjudicate upon cases in which the dispute itself concerns the validity of the patent or the existence of the deposit or registration ( Duijnstee , paragraph 22). The courts of the Contracting State on whose territory the registers are kept may rule, applying their own national law, on the validity and effects of the patents which have been issued in that State. This concern for the sound administration of justice becomes all the more important in the field of patents since, given the specialised nature of this area, a number of Contracting States have set up a system of specific judicial protection, to ensure that these types of cases are dealt with by specialised courts.

21 In that regard, it should be borne in mind that, according to settled case-law of the Court, 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 and the accuracy of which is not a matter for the Court to determine enjoy a presumption of relevance. The Court may refuse to rule on a question referred for a preliminary ruling from a national court only where it is quite obvious that the interpretation of EU law that is sought bears no relation to the actual facts of the main action or its purpose, where the problem is hypothetical, or where the Court does not have before it the factual or legal material necessary to give a useful answer to the questions submitted to it (judgment of 16 July 2015, Sommer Antriebs- und Funktechnik, C‑369/14, EU:C:2015:491, paragraph 32 and the case-law cited).

10 It follows that in such circumstances the rules governing what is practically an automatic reclassification in a higher salary grade come in principle within the concept of pay as defined in Article 119 of the Treaty.

34. While, in conclusion, it cannot be inferred from the relevant provisions of Directive 2003/88 or from Clause 4.2 of the framework agreement on part-time work that national legislation may provide, among the conditions for the exercise of the right to paid annual leave, for the partial loss of the right to leave accumulated over a reference period, nevertheless this conclusion must be reached only when the worker has not actually had the opportunity to exercise that right (see Vicente Pereda , paragraph 19).

40. Use of the mark may also in certain circumstances be genuine for goods in respect of which it is registered that were sold at one time but are no longer available.

27. It follows that, with regard to the exercise of the right to deduct, the Sixth Directive does no more than require an invoice containing certain information, and Member States may provide for the inclusion of additional information to ensure the correct levying of VAT and to permit supervision by the tax authority (see, to that effect, Joined Cases 123/87 and 330/87 Jeunehomme and EGI [1988] ECR 4517, paragraph 16).

41. The existence of that subjective element can also be established by evidence of collusion, which may take the form of intentional coordination, between different investors applying for support under an EAFRD support scheme, in particular where the investment projects are identical and there is a geographical, economic, functional, legal and/or personal link between those projects (see, by analogy, Vonk Dairy Products , paragraph 33).

21 Under the Court's case-law, the concept of public policy may be relied upon in the event of a genuine and sufficiently serious threat to the requirements of public policy affecting one of the fundamental interests of society (see Case 30/77 Bouchereau [1977] ECR 1999, paragraph 35).

35 IN SO FAR AS IT MAY JUSTIFY CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON THE FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO COMMUNITY LAW , RECOURSE BY A NATIONAL AUTHORITY TO THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC POLICY PRESUPPOSES , IN ANY EVENT , THE EXISTENCE , IN ADDITION TO THE PERTURBATION OF THE SOCIAL ORDER WHICH ANY INFRINGEMENT OF THE LAW INVOLVES , OF A GENUINE AND SUFFICIENTLY SERIOUS THREAT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF PUBLIC POLICY AFFECTING ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL INTERESTS OF SOCIETY .

41 Finally, it should be noted that in the absence of Community provisions, Member States are free to chose the modes of proof of the various matters defined in the directives which they transpose, provided that the effectiveness of Community law is not thereby undermined (see in particular, in that regard, Joined Cases 205/82 to 215/82 Deutsche Milchkontor and Others v Germany [1983] ECR 2633, paragraphs 17 to 25 and 35 to 39; Case 222/82 Marguerite Johnston v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary [1986] ECR 1651, paragraphs 17 to 21; and Case C-212/94 FMC and Others v Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food [1996] ECR I-389, paragraphs 49 to 51).

57. Article 12 EC, which enshrines the general principle that there can be no discrimination on grounds of nationality, applies independently only to situations governed by Community law in respect of which the Treaty lays down no specific prohibition of discrimination (see Case C-100/01 Oteiza Olazabal [2002] ECR I‑10981, paragraph 25, and Case C-289/02 AMOK [2003] ECR I-0000, paragraph 25).

29 It follows that Ireland, as intervener, had no standing to raise a plea of inadmissibility and the Court is thus not bound to adjudicate on such a plea (see Case C-313/90 CIRFS and Others v Commission [1993] ECR I-1125, paragraphs 20 to 22, and Case C-225/91 Matra v Commission [1993] ECR I-3203, paragraph 12).

34. Cette disposition, en tant qu’elle constitue une dérogation au principe fondamental de la libre circulation des capitaux, doit faire l’objet d’une interprétation stricte. Partant, elle ne saurait être interprétée en ce sens que toute législation fiscale comportant une distinction entre les contribuables en fonction du lieu où ils résident ou de l’État dans lequel ils investissent leurs capitaux est automatiquement compatible avec le traité (voir arrêts du 11 septembre 2008, Eckelkamp e.a., C‑11/07, Rec. p. I_6845, point 57; du 22 avril 2010, Mattner, C‑510/08, Rec. p. I‑3553, point 32, ainsi que du 10 février 2011, Haribo Lakritzen Hans Riegel et Österreichische Salinen, C‑436/08 et C‑437/08, Rec. p. I‑305, point 56).

30. This situation can be distinguished from that which gave rise to the judgment in Hofmann in which the national legislation at issue provided for the granting of additional maternity leave, after the expiry of the protective period, and reserved that leave to the mother, to the exclusion of any other person (see Hofmann , paragraph 26).

35 The application of national rules to providers of services established in other Member States must be appropriate for securing the attainment of the objective which they pursue and must not go beyond what is necessary in order to attain it (see, in particular, Säger, paragraph 15, Case C-19/92 Kraus v Land Baden-Württemberg [1993] ECR I-1663, paragraph 32, Case C-55/94 Gebhard v Consiglio dell'Ordine degli Avvocati e Procurati di Milano [1995] ECR I-4165, paragraph 37, and Guiot, cited above, paragraphs 11 and 13).

23 In paragraph 34 of Schumacker, cited above, the Court held that the fact that a Member State does not grant to a non-resident certain tax benefits which it grants to a resident is not, as a rule, discriminatory having regard to the objective differences between the situations of residents and of non-residents, both from the point of view of the source of their income and their personal ability to pay tax or their personal and family circumstances.

23. Directive 2004/83 must, for that reason, be interpreted in the light of its general scheme and purpose, and in a manner consistent with the Geneva Convention and the other relevant treaties referred to in Article 78(1) TFEU. As is apparent from recital 10 in the preamble thereto, the directive must also be interpreted in a manner consistent with the rights recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (judgment in X and Others , EU:C:2013:720, paragraph 40).

79 In order to ensure that the objective of management independence of the infrastructure manager is attained, the latter must, within the charging framework established by the Member States, be given a certain latitude in determining the amount of the charges so as to enable it to use that flexibility as a management tool (judgments of 28 February 2013, Commission v Spain, C‑483/10, EU:C:2013:114, paragraphs 44 and 49, and of 11 July 2013, Commission v Czech Republic, C‑545/10, EU:C:2013:509, point 35).

70 A transaction is a single supply where, in particular, two or more components or acts supplied by the taxable person are so closely linked that they form, objectively, a single, indivisible economic supply, which it would be artificial to split (judgments of 27 October 2005, Levob Verzekeringen and OV Bank, C‑41/04, EU:C:2005:649, paragraph 22, and of 29 March 2007, Aktiebolaget NN, C‑111/05, EU:C:2007:195, paragraph 23).

51. The Commission may adopt, on the basis of Article 25(6) of Directive 95/46, a decision finding that a third country ensures an adequate level of protection. In accordance with the second subparagraph of that provision, such a decision is addressed to the Member States, who must take the measures necessary to comply with it. Pursuant to the fourth paragraph of Article 288 TFEU, it is binding on all the Member States to which it is addressed and is therefore binding on all their organs (see, to this effect, judgments in Albako Margarinefabrik , 249/85, EU:C:1987:245, paragraph 17, and Mediaset , C‑69/13, EU:C:2014:71, paragraph 23) in so far as it has the effect of authorising transfers of personal data from the Member States to the third country covered by it.

17 SECONDLY, IT MUST BE EMPHASIZED THAT, ACCORDING TO THE FOURTH PARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE 189 OF THE EEC TREATY, DECISIONS ARE TO BE BINDING IN THEIR ENTIRETY UPON THOSE TO WHOM THEY ARE ADDRESSED . IN THE CASE OF DECISIONS ADDRESSED TO THE MEMBER STATES, THEY ARE BINDING ON ALL THE ORGANS OF THE STATE TO WHICH THEY ARE ADDRESSED, INCLUDING THE COURTS OF THAT STATE . IT FOLLOWS THAT, BY VIRTUE OF THE PRINCIPLE OF THE PRECEDENCE OF COMMUNITY LAW, WHICH WAS LAID DOWN BY THE COURT IN ITS JUDGMENT OF 15 JULY 1964 IN CASE 6/64 COSTA V ENEL (( 1964 )) ECR 585 AND EXPLAINED IN THE JUDGMENT OF 9 MARCH 1978 IN CASE 106/77 SIMMENTHAL (( 1978 )) ECR 629, THE NATIONAL COURTS MUST REFRAIN FROM APPLYING ANY NATIONAL PROVISIONS, AND IN PARTICULAR, AS IN THIS CASE, THOSE CONCERNING UNFAIR COMPETITION OR BONUS OFFERS, THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WHICH WOULD BE LIKELY TO HINDER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMMUNITY DECISION .

45. According to the Court’s case-law, the possibility of control suffices for the trade mark to be able to fulfil its essential function, which, as was recalled in paragraph 22 of this judgment, is to offer a guarantee that all the goods bearing it have been manufactured under the control of a single undertaking which is responsible for their quality (see, to that effect, IHT Internationale Heiztechnik and Danzinger , paragraphs 37 and 38).

65 In that regard, it must be observed that the wording of Article 13B(b) of the Sixth Directive does not shed any light on the scope of the terms leasing or letting of immovable property.

60 It is apparent from settled-case law that, for natural and legal persons to be regarded as individually concerned by a measure, it must affect their legal position by reason of certain attributes peculiar to them, or by reason of a factual situation which differentiates them from all other persons and distinguishes them individually in the same way as the addressee (see, in particular, the judgments in Case 25/62 Plaumann v Commission [1963] ECR 95, 107, and Case C-321/95 P Greenpeace Council and Others v Commission [1998] ECR I-1651, paragraph 7).

14 The principle that a reference quantity is attached to the land follows from Article 2 of Regulation No 857/84 read together with Article 12(c) and (d) of that regulation.

74. Accordingly, the Court has accepted that a requirement of prior authorisation may, under certain conditions, be justified by such a consideration in the context of hospital care (see, inter alia, Smits and Peerbooms , paragraphs 76 to 81; Müller-Fauré and van Riet , paragraphs 76 to 81; and Watts , paragraphs 108 to 110) and in the context of medical care which, although it may be provided outside a hospital setting, requires the use of major and costly equipment exhaustively listed in the national legislation (see, to that effect, Commission v France , paragraphs 34 to 42).

39. Without being contradicted by the Commission, the French Republic and the United Kingdom, taking as an example positron emission tomography, used in the detection and treatment of cancer, have emphasised that that equipment represents costs of hundreds of thousands, even millions, of euro, in both its purchase and in its installation and use.

18. It should be recalled that, according to settled case-law, each of the Member States to which a directive is addressed is obliged to adopt, within the framework of its national legal system, all the measures necessary to ensure that the directive is fully effective, in accordance with the objective it pursues (see in particular Case C-336/97 Commission v Italy [1999] ECR I-3771, paragraph 19, Case C-97/00 Commission v France [2001] ECR I-2053, paragraph 9, and Case C-478/99 Commission v Sweden [2002] ECR I-4147, paragraph 15).

29 Part-time employees also receive the same overall pay as full-time employees if they work more than the normal working hours fixed by the collective agreements because on doing so they become entitled to overtime supplements.

44. Where the proprietor of the mark with a reputation has demonstrated the existence of one of the forms of injury referred to in Article 5(2) of Directive 89/104 and, in particular, has shown that unfair advantage has been taken of the distinctive character or the repute of that mark, the onus is on the third party using a sign similar to the mark with a reputation to establish that he has due cause for using such a sign (see, by analogy, Case C‑252/07 Intel Corporation [2008] ECR I‑8823, paragraph 39).

33. However, those States must grant family members who are not nationals of one of the Member States every facility for obtaining any necessary visas. In that regard, the Court has held that if the provisions of Directives 68/360 and 73/148 are not to be denied their full effect, a visa must be issued without delay and, as far as possible, at the place of entry into national territory ( MRAX , paragraph 60).

Il convient également de rappeler que, selon la jurisprudence de la Cour, tant l’existence que la durée d’un comportement anticoncurrentiel doivent, dans la plupart des cas, être inférées d’un certain nombre de coïncidences et d’indices qui, considérés ensemble, peuvent constituer, en l’absence d’une autre explication cohérente, la preuve d’une violation des règles de concurrence (arrêts du 21 septembre 2006, Nederlandse Federatieve Vereniging voor de Groothandel op Elektrotechnisch Gebied/Commission, C‑105/04 P, EU:C:2006:592, points 94 et 95, ainsi que du 21 janvier 2016, Eturas e.a., C‑74/14, EU:C:2016:42, point 36).

51. It follows that the validity of an act of the European Union may be affected by the fact that it is incompatible with such rules of international law. Where such invalidity is pleaded before a national court, the Court of Justice ascertains, as is requested of it by the referring court’s first question, whether certain conditions are satisfied in the case before it, in order to determine whether, pursuant to Article 267 TFEU, the validity of the act of European Union law concerned may be assessed in the light of the rules of international law relied upon (see, to this effect, Intertanko and Others , paragraph 43).

90 It likewise follows from settled case-law that a scheme of prior authorisation cannot legitimise discretionary decisions taken by the national authorities which are liable to negate the effectiveness of provisions of Community law, in particular those relating to a fundamental freedom such as that at issue in the main proceedings (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C-358/93 and C-416/93 Bordessa and Others [1995] ECR I-361, paragraph 25; Joined Cases C-163/94, C-165/94 and C-250/94 Sanz de Lera and Others [1995] ECR I-4821, paragraphs 23 to 28, and Case C-205/99 Analir and Others [2001] ECR I-1271, paragraph 37). Therefore, in order for a prior administrative authorisation scheme to be justified even though it derogates from such a fundamental freedom, it must, in any event, be based on objective, non-discriminatory criteria which are known in advance, in such a way as to circumscribe the exercise of the national authorities' discretion, so that it is not used arbitrarily (Analir and Others, paragraph 38). Such a prior administrative authorisation scheme must likewise be based on a procedural system which is easily accessible and capable of ensuring that a request for authorisation will be dealt with objectively and impartially within a reasonable time and refusals to grant authorisation must also be capable of being challenged in judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings.

81. Ainsi, s’il s’avère que, au terme du calcul, le montant final de l’amende doit être réduit à concurrence du montant dépassant ladite limite supérieure, le fait que certains facteurs tels que la gravité et la durée de l’infraction ne se répercutent pas de façon effective sur le montant de l’amende infligée n’est qu’une simple conséquence de l’application de cette limite supérieure audit montant final (arrêt Dansk Rørindustri e.a./Commission, précité, point 279).

100. Therefore, an undertaking cannot rely solely on its status as a competitor of the undertaking in receipt of aid but must additionally show that its circumstances distinguish it in a similar way to the undertaking in receipt of the aid (see, inter alia, judgment in British Aggregates v Commission , C‑487/06 P, EU:C:2008:757, paragraph 48).

40. It follows from that case-law, first, that the deduction system provided for in Article 17(5) of the Sixth Directive only covers cases in which the goods and services are used by a taxable person to carry out both economic transactions which give rise to a right to deduct and those which do not, that is to say, goods and services for mixed use and, second, that Member States may use one of the methods of deduction referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 17(5) only for those goods and services.

38 In that regard, it should be noted that, where the conditions for a State to incur liability are satisfied, a matter which it is for the national courts to determine, it is on the basis of national law that the State must make reparation for the consequences of the loss or damage caused, provided that the conditions laid down by national law in respect of reparation of loss or damage are not less favourable than those relating to similar domestic claims (principle of equivalence) and are not so framed as to make it, in practice, impossible or excessively difficult to obtain reparation (principle of effectiveness) (see judgments of 19 November 1991 in Francovich and Others, C‑6/90 and C‑9/90, EU:C:1991:428, paragraph 42; of 30 September 2003 in Köbler, C‑224/01, EU:C:2003:513, paragraph 58; of 24 March 2009 in Danske Slagterier, C‑445/06, EU:C:2009:178, paragraph 31; of 25 November 2010 in Fuß, C‑429/09, EU:C:2010:717, paragraph 62, and of 9 September 2015 in Ferreira da Silva e Brito and Others, C‑160/14, EU:C:2015:565, paragraph 50).

109 Thus, by confining itself to ordering the sequestration of the illegal tip and prosecuting the operator of that tip, the Italian Republic did not satisfy the specific obligation imposed on it by Article 8 of the amended directive.

52. The content, the form and the degree of detail which the information submitted by the German taxpayer who acquired holdings in a non-resident investment funds must satisfy in order to take advantage of the transparent tax must be determined by the tax authorities in order to enable them to apply the tax properly (see, by analogy, judgment in Meilicke and Others , EU:C:2011:438, paragraph 45).

70 Where a request for the examination of witnesses, made in the application, states precisely about what facts and for what reasons the witness or witnesses should be examined, it then falls to the Court of First Instance to assess the relevance of the application to the subject-matter of the dispute and the need to examine the witnesses named.

89. The imposition of any requirements to that effect would run counter to the intention of the European Union legislature, whose aim in particular is to allow the Member States to strike a certain balance between the various interests involved. Furthermore, that would result in excessive constraints being placed on the Member States and would, accordingly, be contrary to the principle of proportionality, laid down in Article 5 TEU and expressly borne in mind in recital 13 in the preamble to the NEC Directive, which requires that the means deployed by a provision of European Union law be appropriate for attaining the legitimate objectives pursued by the legislation at issue and must not go beyond what is necessary to achieve them (see Joined Cases C-453/03, C‑11/04, C-12/04 and C‑194/04 ABNA and Others [2005] ECR I-10423, paragraph 68 and the case-law cited, and Case C-58/08 Vodafone and Others [2010] ECR I-0000, paragraph 51).

202. Thus, in order to exclude such direct public representation and performance from the scope of the concept of communication to the public in the context of the Copyright Directive, recital 23 in its preamble explained that communication to the public covers all communication to the public not present at the place where the communication originates.

8. Il convient de rappeler à cet égard que, selon une jurisprudence constante, 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 et que les changements intervenus par la suite ne sauraient être pris en compte par la Cour (voir, notamment, arrêts du 27 octobre 2005, Commission/Luxembourg, C‑23/05, Rec. p. I‑9535, point 9, et du 23 avril 2009, Commission/Grèce, C‑493/08, point 8).

57. It follows from the foregoing that a provision of an act duly adopted on the basis of the EU Treaty before the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon which lays down detailed rules for the adoption of measures for the implementation of that act continues to produce its legal effects until it is repealed, annulled or amended and permits the adoption of implementing measures in accordance with a procedure established by that provision.

37. Consequently, the legislature must have sufficient information at its disposal at the time when the project is adopted. It is apparent from Article 5(3) of and Annex IV to Directive 85/337 that the minimum information to be supplied by the developer is to include a description of the project comprising information on the site, design and size of the project, a description of the measures envisaged in order to avoid, reduce and, if possible, remedy significant adverse effects, and the data required to identify and assess the main effects which the project is likely to have on the environment (see Linster , paragraph 55, and Boxus and Others , paragraph 43).

24 First of all, it is settled case-law that the principle that a State may incur liability for loss and damage caused to individuals as a result of breaches of Community law for which it can be held responsible is inherent in the system of the Treaty (see, in particular, Joined Cases C-46/93 and C-48/93 Brasserie du Pêcheur and Factortame [1996] ECR I-1029, paragraph 31; Joined Cases C-178/94, C-179/94 and C-188/94 to C-190/94 Dillenkofer and Others [1996] ECR I-4845, paragraph 20; and Joined Cases C-283/94, C-291/94 and C-292/94 Denkavit and Others [1996] ECR I-5063, paragraph 47).

32 Those conditions are described in detail in paragraphs 44 to 51 of the same judgment. First of all, under the general rule, stated in Articles 1 and 2 of Decision 89/688, octroi de mer is to apply in principle to all products whether imported into or produced in the French overseas departments.

52. That is the case where a non-resident who has no significant income in his Member State of residence and gains the main part of his taxable income from an activity carried on in the Member State of employment is in a comparable situation to that of residents of the latter State because the Member State of residence is not in a position to grant him the advantages resulting from the taking into account of his personal and family circumstances. Consequently, as regards his tax treatment, he must be treated as resident in the Member State of employment, and that State must grant him the tax advantages it allows to residents (see, inter alia, Schumacker , paragraphs 36 and 37, and Gschwind , paragraph 27).

59. As regards the appellant’s arguments concerning the errors committed by the Court of First Instance in its investigation of the existence of a risk of confusion between the marks at issue, it must first be recalled that, as the Court of Justice has consistently held, the existence of such a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public must be appreciated globally, taking into account all factors relevant to the circumstances of the case (see, to that effect, SABEL , paragraph 22; Case C‑342/97 Lloyd Schuhfabrik Meyer [1999] ECR I‑3819, paragraph 18; order of 28 April 2004 in Case C‑3/03 P Matratzen Concord v OHIM [2004] ECR I‑3657, paragraph 28; Case C‑120/04 Medion [2005] ECR I-8551, paragraph 27; and Case C‑334/05 P OHIM v Shaker [2007] ECR I‑4529, paragraph 34).

43. Similarly, it is of little importance that the Member State with authority under Article 2(1) of Directive 69/335 to tax the sub-subsidiary (Senior GmbH), namely the Federal Republic of Germany, did not in fact do so, because capital duty has been abolished there since 1 January 1992. The Member States are free, under Article 7(2) of Directive 69/335, to exempt contributions to companies from capital duty, without such exemption entailing the consequence that another Member State is entitled to tax them. On the contrary, Directive 69/335 favours and encourages both specific exemptions from capital duty (Articles 7(1) and (3), 8 and 9) and complete abolition (Article 7(2)). The Directive cannot therefore be interpreted as enabling a Member State to benefit, so as to increase its tax revenue, from the fiscal moderation of another Member State.

151. It is apparent, however, 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 latter’s Rules of Procedure in force on the date on which LBG’s cross-appeal was brought, 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 (see, in particular, judgments in Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij and Others v Commission , EU:C:2002:582, paragraphs 497 and 618, and EFIM v Commission , C‑56/12 P, EU:C:2013:575, paragraph 21 and the case-law cited). An appeal or a plea which is too obscure for a response to be given does not satisfy those requirements and must be declared inadmissible (see, in particular, judgments in Thyssen Stahl v Commission , C‑194/99 P, EU:C:2003:527, paragraphs 101 and 106; Schindler Holding and Others v Commission , C‑501/11 P, EU:C:2013:522, paragraphs 43 to 45; and EFIM v Commission , EU:C:2013:575, paragraph 21).

101. First of all, as follows from Article 32d CS, the first paragraph of Article 51 of the ECSC Statute of the Court of Justice and Article 112(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, 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 (see, to that effect, Case C-248/99 P France v Monsanto [2002] ECR I-1, paragraph 68).

56. Second, concerning the duration of the continuation of the infringement with which this action is concerned, it should be recalled that, although Article 260 TFEU does not specify the period within which a judgment must be complied with, it is, nevertheless, beyond dispute that the action required to give effect to a judgment must be set in motion immediately and be completed as soon as possible (see, inter alia, Commission v Greece [2011], paragraph 34).

33. It follows that, in the event of the cessation of the taxable economic activity, the taxable amount of the transaction is the value of the goods in question determined at the time of that cessation, which therefore takes into account the change in the value of those assets between their acquisition and the cessation.

87. As the Court has held, the principle of proportionality, in accordance with which measures implemented through provisions must be appropriate for attaining the objective pursued and must not go beyond what is necessary to achieve it, must be complied with both by the Community legislature and by the national legislative authorities and the national courts which apply Community law (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C‑37/06 and C‑58/06 Viamex Agrar Handel and ZVK [2008] ECR I‑69, paragraph 33). In consequence, that principle must be complied with by the competent national authorities in relation to the provisions of Regulation No 1254/1999 and those concerning the IACS.

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

53. When assessing the generic character of a name, the Court has held that it is necessary, under Article 3(1) of Regulation 2081/92, to take into account the places of production of the product concerned both inside and outside the Member State which obtained the registration of the name at issue, the consumption of that product and how it is perceived by consumers inside and outside that Member State, the existence of national legislation specifically relating to that product, and the way in which the name has been used in Community law (see Joined Cases C-465/02 and C-466/02 Germany and Denmark v Commission [2005] ECR I-9115, paragraphs 76 to 99).

48ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PROHIBIT THE SEEKING OF LEGAL ADVICE BY THOSE CONCERNED EVEN AT THAT STAGE , IT IS THEIR OWN DECISION AND THE INSTITUTION CONCERNED CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES .

21 The requirement laid down by that article that recourse be available to the courts reflects a general principle of law which underlies the constitutional traditions common to the Member States and which is also enshrined in Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950 (see, in particular, Johnston, paragraph 18).

14 In order to be recognized as having direct effect, the provisions of a decision of the Council of Association must satisfy the same conditions as those applicable to the provisions of the Agreement itself .

54. In that regard, it is established case-law that the lawfulness of a decision concerning State aid is to be assessed in the light of the information available to the Commission when the decision was adopted (see, inter alia, Case 234/84 Belgium v Commission [1986] ECR 2263, paragraph 16; Joined Cases C-74/00 P and C-75/00 P Falck and Acciaierie di Bolzano v Commission [2002] ECR I‑7869, paragraph 168; and Case C-276/02 Spain v Commission [2004] ECR I‑8091, paragraph 31).

48 However, the differences between the position of professional transport companies and companies which carry out transport only to meet their own needs are such that the latter cannot be considered to operate on the transport market or to form part of the transport sector. In particular, non-transport companies do not have customers to whom they supply transport services or seek such customers, and the transport services which they undertake and are interchangeable with those offered by professional transport companies are confined to those that meet their own needs. The situation of professional transport companies and companies which carry out transport only on their own account are therefore not sufficiently homogeneous in order for both categories to belong to the same sector and be operational on the same market.

101. It should be pointed out that, according to settled case-law, categorisation as aid requires that all the conditions set out in Article 87(1) EC be fulfilled (see Case C‑345/02 Pearle and Others [2004] ECR I‑7139, paragraph 32 and the case-law cited therein).

19 The text of Article 7(1) of the Directive does not give a direct answer to that question. Nevertheless, the rights conferred by the trade mark are exhausted only in respect of the individual items of the product which have been put on the market with the proprietor's consent in the territory there defined. The proprietor may continue to prohibit the use of the mark in pursuance of the right conferred on him by the Directive in regard to individual items of that product which have been put on the market in that territory without his consent.

44 At the same time, it should be pointed out that a system of undistorted competition, as envisaged in the Treaty, can be guaranteed only if equality of opportunity is secured as between the various economic operators. That would not be the case if an undertaking which markets terminal equipment were entrusted with the task of drawing up the specifications for such equipment, monitoring their application and granting type-approval in respect thereof (France v Commission, paragraph 51, and RTT v GB-Inno-BM, paragraph 25).

34. By its questions, which it is appropriate to examine together, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 45 TFEU and Article 7(4) of Regulation No 1612/68 are to be interpreted as meaning that they preclude clauses in collective and individual agreements under which a top-up amount such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which is paid by an employer under a scheme of part-time working for older employees, must be calculated in such a way that the tax on wages payable by the worker in the Member State of employment is notionally deducted when establishing the basis for the calculation of that top-up amount, even though, under a tax convention for the avoidance of double taxation, the pay, salaries and analogous remuneration paid to workers who do not reside in the Member State of employment are taxable in their Member State of residence. If the answer to that question is in the affirmative, the referring court wishes to know what consequences result for the calculation of the top-up amount payable to those workers.

89. It is apparent from the case-law of the Court of Justice that if a given operation or activity is not covered by the prohibition rule laid down in Article 81(1) EC, owing to its neutrality or positive effect in terms of competition, a restriction of the commercial autonomy of one or more of the participants in that operation or activity is not covered by that prohibition rule either if that restriction is objectively necessary to the implementation of that operation or that activity and proportionate to the objectives of one or the other (see to that effect, in particular, judgments in Remia and Others v Commission , 42/84, EU:C:1985:327, paragraphs 19 and 20; Pronuptia de Paris , 161/84, EU:C:1986:41, paragraphs 15 to 17; DLG , C‑250/92, EU:C:1994:413, paragraph 35, and Oude Luttikhuis and Others , C‑399/93, EU:C:1995:434, paragraphs 12 to 15).

50. As regards the argument concerning the need to preserve the coherence of the French tax system, the Court has previously held that the need to safeguard such coherence may justify rules that are liable to restrict fundamental freedoms (see Case C‑204/90 Bachmann [1992] ECR I‑249, paragraph 21; Case C‑157/07 Krankenheim Ruhesitz am Wannsee‑Seniorenheimstatt [2008] ECR I‑8061, paragraph 43; and Commission v Belgium , paragraph 70).

18. The prohibition on measures having an effect equivalent to restrictions set out in Article 28 EC covers all commercial rules enacted by the Member States which are capable of hindering, directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, intra-Community trade (see, in particular, Case 8/74 Dassonville [1974] ECR 837, paragraph 5; Case 178/84 Commission v Germany [1987) ECR 1227 ( " Beer purity law " ), paragraph 27; and Case C-12/00 Commission v Spain [2003] ECR I-459, paragraph 71).

21 In that regard, it should be stated that the operative part of an act is indissociably linked to the statement of reasons for it, so that, when it has to be interpreted, account must be taken of the reasons which led to its adoption.

32. It can be seen from the above considerations that it was on the basis of an appraisal of the facts before it that the General Court decided that, in the circumstances, the interests of Ningbo Yonghong Fasteners had not been damaged as a consequence of the three-month time-limit having achieved its intended practical effect. This means that, by the first ground of appeal, Ningbo Yonghong Fasteners is in part effectively challenging the findings of fact made by the General Court and set out in paragraphs 61 to 64 of the judgment under appeal, regarding the question whether the purpose of that time-limit had been undermined in the particular circumstances of the case. However, it is settled law that, under Article 256 TFEU and the first paragraph of Article 58 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, an appeal lies on a point of law only, to the exclusion of any appraisal of the facts. Accordingly, that appraisal does not, save where the facts are distorted, constitute a point of law which is subject, as such, to review by the Court of Justice (see Case C‑416/04 P Sunrider v OHIM [2006] ECR I‑4237, paragraph 49 and the case-law cited).

29 IN VIEW OF THAT DEFINITION , IT MUST BE HELD THAT THE FACT THAT A SUBSEQUENT BUYER OR FINAL USER OF BUTTER PURCHASES FROM STORAGE EXCEEDED THE TIME-LIMIT BECAUSE HE RELIED ON A CUSTOMS OFFICER WHO PURPORTED TO HAVE AUTHORITY TO GRANT AN EXTENSION AND FOR THAT REASON DID NOT ALTER HIS PRODUCTION PROGRAMME IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THE TIME-LIMIT IS A CIRCUMSTANCE BEYOND THE CONTROL OF THE SUCCESSFUL TENDERER BUT DOES NOT PRESENT FOR HIM AN ABSOLUTE IMPOSSIBILITY ' THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHICH COULD NOT HAVE BEEN AVOIDED WITHOUT UNREASONABLE SACRIFICE , DESPITE THE EXERCISE OF ALL DUE CARE ' . IN FACT THERE ARE SEVERAL MEANS A PRUDENT TENDERER MAY USE , SUCH AS REQUIRING A SECURITY OR INSERTING AN INDEMNITY CLAUSE IN THE SALE CONTRACT , TO PREVENT SUBSEQUENT BUYERS FROM DISREGARDING THEIR OBLIGATIONS .

29. None the less, the Court may at any moment, having heard the Advocate General, order the reopening of the oral procedure under Article 83 of its Rules of Procedure if, inter alia, it considers that it lacks sufficient information or where the case must be decided on the basis of an argument which has not been debated between the parties or the interested persons referred to in Article 23 of the Statute of the Court of Justice (judgment in Nordzucker , C‑148/14, EU:C:2015:287, paragraph 24).

33. Or, s’agissant de produits de construction non couverts par l’article 4, paragraphe 2, de la directive 89/106, l’article 6, paragraphe 2, de celle-ci dispose que les États membres autorisent leur mise sur le marché sur leur territoire si ces produits satisfont à des dispositions nationales conformes au traité, et ce jusqu’à ce que les spécifications techniques européennes en disposent autrement.

28. The fact that the Agreement is thus limited to establishing a partnership between the parties, without providing for an association or future accession of the Russian Federation to the Communities, is not such as to prevent certain of its provisions from having direct effect. It is clear from the Court’s case-law that when an agreement establishes cooperation between the parties, some of the provisions of that agreement may, under the conditions set out in paragraph 21 of the present judgment, directly govern the legal position of individuals ( Kziber , cited above, paragraph 21, Case C-113/97 Babahenini [1998] ECR I-183, paragraph 17, and Case C-162/96 Racke [1998] ECR I-3655, paragraphs 34 to 36).

31 However, where the difference is of minor importance, appropriate labelling should be sufficient to provide the purchaser or consumer with the necessary information (Geffroy, paragraph 23).

26 If the restrictive provision at issue in the main proceedings is discriminatory, it may be justified only on the grounds of public interest, public safety or public health, laid down in Articles 51 TFEU and 52 TFEU, which do not include combatting criminality linked to betting and gaming or ensuring the continuity of the lawful activity of collecting bets relied on in the present case (see, by analogy, judgment in Servizi Ausiliari Dottori Commercialisti, C‑451/03, EU:C:2006:208, paragraph 36 and the case-law cited).

64. Therefore, apart from tasks of portfolio management, those of administering undertakings for collective investment themselves, such as those set out in Annex II to Directive 85/611, as amended, under the heading ‘Administration’, which are functions specific to undertakings for collective investment, come within the scope of Article 13B(d)(6) of the Sixth Directive.

72. Concerning Mr Alevizos’s temporary posting to a position in NATO, it is settled case‑law that a Community national working in a Member State other than his State of origin does not lose his status as a ‘worker’ within the meaning of Article 39(1) EC through occupying a post in an international organisation (see, inter alia, Joined Cases 389/87 and 390/87 Echternach and Moritz [1989] ECR 723, paragraphs 11 and 15; Case C‑209/01 Schilling and Fleck-Schilling [2003] ECR I‑13389, paragraph 28; Case C‑293/03 My [2004] ECR I‑12013, paragraph 37; and Case C‑185/04 Öberg [2006] ECR I‑1453, paragraph 12).

21 In that connection it is necessary to examine whether there are real concrete possibilities for a new competitor to penetrate the bundle of contracts by acquiring a brewery already established on the market together with its network of sales outlets, or to circumvent the bundle of contracts by opening new public houses. For that purpose it is necessary to have regard to the legal rules and agreements on the acquisition of companies and the establishment of outlets, and to the minimum number of outlets necessary for the economic operation of a distribution system. The presence of beer wholesalers not tied to producers who are active on the market is also a factor capable of facilitating a new producer's access to that market since he can make use of those wholesalers' sales networks to distribute his own beer.

22 In that context, the Court has repeatedly held that the notion of the ‘supply of services effected for consideration’, within the meaning of Article 2(1), requires the existence of a direct link between the service provided and the consideration received (see judgments of 5 February 1981 in Coöperatieve Aardappelenbewaarplaats, 154/80, EU:C:1981:38, paragraph 12; 8 March 1988 in Apple and Pear Development Council, 102/86, EU:C:1988:120, paragraph 12; 3 March 1994 in Tolsma, C‑16/93, EU:C:1994:80, paragraph 13; 29 October 2009 in Commission v Finland, C‑246/08, EU:C:2009:671, paragraph 45; and 27 October 2011 in GFKL Financial Services, C‑93/10, EU:C:2011:700, paragraph 19).

53. Consequently, the action should be upheld within these limits.

30. As the General Court correctly held, in paragraphs 44 to 46 of the judgment under appeal, the fact that information is provided as part of a professional activity does not mean that it cannot be characterised as a set of personal data (see, to that effect, the judgments in Österreichischer Rundfunk and Others , C‑465/00, C‑138/01 and C‑139/01, EU:C:2003:294, paragraph 64; Commission v Bavarian Lager , C‑28/08 P, EU:C:2010:378, paragraphs 66 to 70; and Worten , C‑342/12, EU:C:2013:355, paragraphs 19 and 22).

70. The General Court was right to conclude, in paragraph 122 of the judgment under appeal, that the list of participants in the meeting of 11 October 1996 appearing in the minutes of that meeting thus contains personal data for the purposes of Article 2(a) of Regulation No 45/2001, since the persons who participated in that meeting can be identified.

24. National measures which can be regarded as ‘restrictions’ within the meaning of Article 56(1) EC include not only measures liable to prevent or limit the acquisition of shares in companies established in other States (Case C‑112/05 Commission v Germany [2007] ECR I‑8995, paragraph 19 and case-law cited) but also measures liable to discourage the maintenance of such holdings in companies established in other States (see, by analogy, Case C‑324/00 Lankhorst-Hohorst [2002] ECR I‑11779, paragraph 32, and Case C‑524/04 Test Claimants in the Thin Cap Group Litigation [2007] ECR I‑2107, paragraph 61).

39. In that regard, a system of undistorted competition can be guaranteed only if equality of opportunity is secured as between the various economic operators (see Case C-462/99 Connect Austria [2003] ECR I-5197, paragraph 83).

129 As regards the allegedly disproportionate nature of the fine, it must be borne in mind that it is not for the Court of Justice, when ruling on questions of law in the context of an appeal, to substitute, on grounds of fairness, its own assessment for that of the Court of First Instance exercising its unlimited jurisdiction to rule on the amount of fines imposed on undertakings for infringements of Community law (BPB Industries and British Gypsum v Commission, cited above, paragraph 34, and Ferriere Nord v Commission, cited above, paragraph 31). This complaint must therefore be declared inadmissible in so far as it seeks a general re-examination of the fines or, in the alternative, to have the fine reduced to a reasonable amount. The same applies to the complaint, not made by the appellant before the Court of First Instance, concerning its alleged ignorance of the illicit nature of the conduct designed to defend the German structural crisis cartel, as pointed out by the Advocate General in point 286 of his Opinion.

65. In this connection, it should be borne in mind that Article 5(3) of Directive 89/104 and Article 9(2) of Regulation No 40/94 provide only a non-exhaustive list of the kinds of use which the proprietor may prohibit ( Arsenal Football Club , paragraph 38; Case C‑228/03 Gillette Company and Gillette Group Finland [2005] ECR I‑2337, paragraph 28; and Adam Opel , paragraph 16). Accordingly, the fact that the sign used by the third party for advertising purposes does not appear in the ad itself cannot of itself mean that that use falls outside the concept of ‘[use] … in relation to goods or services’ within the terms of Article 5 of Directive 89/104.

52. The right to respect for family life within the meaning of Article 8 of the ECHR is among the fundamental rights which, according to the Court’s settled case-law, are protected in Community law ( Carpenter , paragraph 41, and Akrich , paragraphs 58 and 59). This right to live with one’s close family results in obligations for the Member States which may be negative, when a Member State is required not to deport a person, or positive, when it is required to let a person enter and reside in its territory.

41 The decision to deport Mrs Carpenter constitutes an interference with the exercise by Mr Carpenter of his right to respect for his family life within the meaning of Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed at Rome on 4 November 1950 (hereinafter `the Convention'), which is among the fundamental rights which, according to the Court's settled case-law, restated by the Preamble to the Single European Act and by Article 6(2) EU, are protected in Community law.

72. Second, under Clause 3 of the Framework Agreement, a part-time worker is characterised by the simple fact that his normal hours of work are less than the normal hours of work of a comparable full-time worker. Accordingly, part-time work constitutes a particular mode of performing the employment contract, characterised by the simple fact that the normal hours of work are reduced. However, that characteristic cannot be treated in the same manner as it is in situations in which the performance of an employment contract, be it full- or part‑time, is suspended on account of an impediment or temporary interruption attributable to the worker, the undertaking or some external cause. Periods not worked, which correspond to the reduction in working hours stipulated in a part‑time contract, are the outcome of the normal performance of the contract and not its suspension. Part-time work does not involve a break in service (see, by analogy with job-sharing, Case C‑243/95 Hill and Stapleton [1988] ECR I‑3739, paragraph 32).

61. Without there being any need to rule on the applicability of the directive at the place where the ship sank, it suffices to observe that the hydrocarbons thus accidentally spilled drifted along the coast until they were washed up on it, so being discharged on the Member State’s land territory.

47. The relationship between a public authority which is a contracting authority and its own departments is governed by considerations and requirements proper to the pursuit of objectives in the public interest. Any private capital investment in an undertaking, on the other hand, follows considerations proper to private interests and pursues objectives of a different kind ( Stadt Halle and RPL Lochau , paragraph 50).

45. Moreover, that restriction is entirely proportionate to the objective pursued, since the reintegrated losses are reintegrated only up to the amount of the profits made.

14. As the Court has already held, when the question referred concerns harmonisation at Community level, the national measures relating thereto must be assessed in the light of the provisions of that harmonising measure and not those of the EC Treaty (see, to that effect, Eau de Cologne & Parfümerie-Fabrik 4711 , paragraph 28; Case C-37/92 Vanacker and Lesage [1993] ECR I-4947, paragraph 9, and Case C-324/99 DaimlerChrysler [2001] ECR I-9897, paragraph 32).

39. For the sake of completeness, it must be noted that, as recitals 3, 21 and 24 in the preamble to Regulation No 1782/2003 make clear, environmental protection forms part of the objectives of the single payment scheme. The Court has also held that environmental protection, one of the essential objectives of the European Union, must be regarded as forming part of the common agricultural policy (Case C-428/07 Horvath [2009] ECR I-6355, paragraph 29). Moreover, Article 2 point (1) of Regulation No 796/2004 expressly provides that arable land, and consequently agricultural areas pursuant to Article 2(a) of Regulation No 795/2004, is land maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition within the meaning of Article 5 of Regulation No 1782/2003.

31. However, that exception concerns only the access of nationals of other Member States to certain posts in the civil service (see judgments in Vougioukas , C‑443/93, EU:C:1995:394, paragraph 19; Grahame and Hollanders , C‑248/96, EU:C:1997:543, paragraph 32; Schöning-Kougebetopoulou , C‑15/96, EU:C:1998:3, paragraph 13; and Österreischer Gewerkschaftsbund , C‑195/98, EU:C:2000:655, paragraph 36).

36. Par conséquent, c’est à bon droit que le Tribunal a jugé, au point 44 de l’ordonnance attaquée, que les mesures visant à mettre en œuvre la décision d’incompatibilité, dont notamment celle consistant à rejeter une demande de bénéfice de l’avantage fiscal en cause, rejet que la requérante pourra également contester devant le juge national, sont des mesures d’exécution de la décision litigieuse.

46. As the General Court pointed out in paragraphs 45 and 84 of the order under appeal, without being contradicted by the Commission in that regard, the non-contractual liability of the Community and the exercise of the right to compensation for damage suffered under the second paragraph of Article 288 EC depend on the satisfaction of a number of conditions relating to the unlawfulness of the conduct of which the institutions are accused, the fact of damage and the existence of a causal link between that conduct and the damage complained of (see, inter alia, Birra Wührer and Others v Council and Commission , paragraph 9; Case 26/81 Oleifici Mediterranei v EEC [1982] ECR 3057, paragraph 16; Joined Cases C-120/06 P and C-121/06 P FIAMM and Others v Council and Commission [2008] ECR I-6513, paragraph 106; and Case C-419/08 P Trubowest Handel and Makarov v Council and Commission [2010] ECR I-2259, paragraph 40).

14 Those sandals and shoes may thus be assimilated to mass-produced inner soles or to mass-produced footwear the soles of which support the arch, which are articles not falling within Chapter 90.

48 The Court of First Instance first of all referred, in paragraph 117 of the contested judgment, to the settled case-law to the effect that the purpose of the obligation to give reasons for an individual decision is to enable the Community judicature to review the legality of the decision and to provide the party concerned with an adequate indication as to whether the decision is well founded or whether it may be vitiated by some defect enabling its validity to be challenged, the scope of that obligation being dependent on the nature of the act in question and on the context in which it was adopted (see, in particular, besides the case-law cited by the Court of First Instance, Case C-22/94 Irish Farmers Association and Others v Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Ireland, and the Attorney General [1997] ECR I-1809, paragraph 39).

25. In particular, a service must be regarded as ancillary to a principal service if it does not constitute for customers an aim in itself, but a means of better enjoying the principal service supplied (see, inter alia, CPP , paragraph 30; Primback , paragraph 45; RLRE Tellmer Property , paragraph 18; and order in Tiercé Ladbroke and Derby , paragraph 21).

80 Regarding the principle of equal treatment, it should be borne in mind that, according to settled case-law, the second subparagraph of Article 40(2) TFEU, which prohibits all discrimination in the context of the common agricultural and fisheries policy, is merely a specific expression of the general principle of equal treatment, which requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently and different situations must not be treated alike unless such treatment is objectively justified (see, to that effect, judgment of 14 November 2013, SFIR and Others, C‑187/12 to C‑189/12, EU:C:2013:737, paragraph 48 and the case-law cited).

58. In that connection, it must be observed that, by disallowing any review of a foreign judgment as to its substance, Articles 36 and 45(2) of Regulation No 44/2001 prohibit the court of the State in which enforcement is sought from refusing to recognise or enforce that judgment solely on the ground that there is a discrepancy between the legal rule applied by the court of the State of origin and that which would have been applied by the court of the State in which enforcement is sought had it been seised of the dispute. Similarly, the court of the State in which enforcement is sought cannot review the accuracy of the findings of law or fact made by the court of the State of origin ( Krombach , paragraph 36, and Renault , paragraph 29).

29. Before Directive 92/85 came into force, the Court had already held that, under the principle of non-discrimination and, particularly, Articles 2(1) and 5(1) of Directive 76/207, protection against dismissal should be granted to women not only during maternity leave, but also throughout the period of the pregnancy. According to the Court, a dismissal occurring during those periods affects only women and therefore constitutes direct discrimination on the grounds of sex (see, to that effect, Case C-179/88 Handels- og Kontorfunktionærernes Forbund [1990] ECR I-3979, paragraph 15; Case C-394/96 Brown [1998] ECR I-4185, paragraphs 24 to 27; and McKenna , paragraph 47).

21 In those circumstances Article 13 of the Directive cannot be interpreted as giving the Member States the possibility of maintaining a general system of product liability different from that provided for in the Directive.

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).

36. If, at the time when such an instrument is executed, the actual contribution of assets has not yet been effected and it remains uncertain whether it will be effected, the Member State concerned cannot demand payment of capital duty until the contribution has become definite (see, to that effect, ESTAG , paragraphs 50 and 51).

17. It is only by way of derogation from the fundamental principle laid down in Article 2(1) of Regulation No 44/2001, attributing jurisdiction to the courts of the Member States in which the defendant is domiciled, that Section 2 of Chapter II of that regulation makes provision for certain special jurisdictional rules, such as that laid down in Article 5(3) of that regulation (judgment in Coty Germany , EU:C:2014:1318, paragraph 44).

25. The presence in the contract of such restrictions on the right to occupy the premises let does not prevent that occupation being exclusive as regards all other persons not permitted by law or by the contract to exercise a right over the property which is the subject of the contract of letting.

14 The Court held that the Community regulation in question left the competent national authorities a sufficiently wide margin of appreciation to enable them to apply that regulation without depriving the lessee, on the expiry of the tenancy, of the fruits of his labour and his investments in the let holding without any compensation (paragraph 22), that is, without disregarding the requirements of the protection of fundamental rights in the Community legal order (paragraph 23).

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).

17 In reviewing legality under Article 173 of the Treaty, the Court may only annul the measure in dispute or dismiss the application and cannot therefore order an institution to pay a sum of money. It is incumbent on the Commission, by virtue of Article 176 of the Treaty, to take the necessary measures to comply with a judgment granting annulment (see, in particular, the judgment in Case 53/85 AKZO v Commission [1986] ECR 1965, paragraph 23).

29. Not only the national provisions specifically intended to transpose Directive 2002/74 but also, from the date of that directive’s entry into force, the pre-existing national provisions capable of ensuring that the national law is consistent with it must be considered to fall within its scope.

46. It should be noted at the outset that, according to consistent case‑law, Article 56(1) EC generally prohibits restrictions on movements of capital between Member States (see, inter alia, Joined Cases C‑282/04 and C‑283/04 Commission v Netherlands [2006] ECR I‑9141, paragraph 18 and the case-law cited; Case C‑112/05 Commission v Germany , paragraph 17; Case C‑171/08 Commission v Portugal , paragraph 48; and Case C‑543/08 Commission v Portugal , paragraph 45).

19 Mr Debouche nevertheless relies on that fifth recital in the preamble to the directive in order to obtain a refund. However, if that were so, he would be treated more favourably than Netherlands lawyers who are entitled to deduct input tax because they effect taxed transactions whereas Mr Debouche carries out exempted transactions.

50 International agreements which are concerned with safeguarding and organising the protection of intellectual property rights on the territory of the parties are among those that may fall within that policy, provided that they satisfy the two conditions recalled in the preceding paragraph of the present judgment (see, to that effect, judgment of 18 July 2013, Daiichi Sankyo and Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland, C‑414/11, EU:C:2013:520, paragraphs 58 to 61, and Opinion 2/15 (Free Trade Agreement with Singapore) of 16 May 2017, EU:C:2017:376, paragraphs 116, 121, 122, 125 and 127).

71 However, nothing in the Act of Accession requires the existing Member States to treat Austrian nationals in the same way as they treated nationals of the other Member States prior to accession of Austria to the European Union (see, by analogy, judgment of 26 May 1993, Tsiotras, C‑171/91, EU:C:1993:215, paragraph 12, and of 15 June 1999, Andersson and Wåkerås-Andersson, C‑321/97, EU:C:1999:307, paragraph 46).

49 Relying, in particular, on the case-law arising from the judgments of 16 November 2000, Weig v Commission (C‑280/98 P, EU:C:2000:627, paragraphs 52 to 68), and of 16 November 2000, Sarrió v Commission (C‑291/98 P, EU:C:2000:631, paragraphs 91 to 100), the appellant submits that there are numerous precedents in which the Court of Justice considered that it had to set aside the judgment of the General Court in so far as it had used a different calculation method, when reviewing fines, from that used by the Commission or by the General Court itself with regard to other undertakings implicated in the infringement at issue. Although it is true that the Court of Justice has already held, in particular in paragraph 181 of its judgment of 10 July 2014, Telefónica and Telefónica de España v Commission (C‑295/12 P, EU:C:2014:2062), that the Commission is not required to indicate the figures relating to the method of calculating the fines, it nevertheless pointed out that it is, at the very least, ‘preferable’ that the mechanism used to set the amount of the fine be given.

28. Thus, under Article 17(1) of Directive 2004/39, the Member States must ensure that the competent authorities continuously monitor the activities of investment firms so as to assess compliance with their obligations.

38. It must be observed on this point, however, that the mere fact that the treatment was given outside Community territory is not enough to exclude the application of those regulations, since the decisive criterion for their applicability is that the insured person concerned is affiliated to a social security scheme of a Member State (see, to that effect, Case 300/84 van Roosmalen [1986] ECR 3097, paragraph 30; Joined Cases 82/86 and 103/86 Laborero and Sabato [1987] ECR 3401, paragraph 25; and Case C‑60/93 Aldewereld [1994] ECR I‑2991, paragraph 14).

41 In that regard, it should be noted that, in accordance with settled case-law, the interpretation which the Court, in the exercise of the jurisdiction conferred upon it by Article 267 TFEU, gives to a rule of EU law clarifies and, where necessary, defines the meaning and scope of that rule as it must be, or ought to have been, understood and applied from the date of its entry into force. It follows that the rule as thus interpreted may, and must, be applied by the courts even to legal relationships arising and established before the delivery of the judgment ruling on the request for interpretation, provided that in other respects the conditions under which an action relating to the application of that rule may be brought before the courts having jurisdiction are satisfied (judgment of 14 April 2015, Manea, C‑76/14, EU:C:2015:216, paragraph 53 and the case-law cited).

59 It follows from the case-law of the Court of Justice, however, that the taking into account, by virtue of the principle of equal treatment, of differences between the undertakings that have participated in a single cartel (in particular with regard to the geographic scope of their respective involvement) for the purpose of assessing the gravity of an infringement need not necessarily occur when the multipliers for the ‘gravity of the infringement’ and for the ‘additional amount’ are set but may occur at another stage in the setting of the fine, such as when the basic amount of the fine is adjusted in the light of mitigating and aggravating circumstances under points 28 and 29 of the 2006 Guidelines (see, to that effect, judgments of 11 July 2013, Gosselin Group v Commission, C‑429/11 P, not published, EU:C:2013:463, paragraphs 96 to 100, and of 11 July 2013, Team Relocations and Others v Commission, C‑444/11 P, not published, EU:C:2013:464, paragraphs 104 and 105).

46. As the Court indicated at paragraph 56 of its judgment in Portugal v Commission , in order to determine whether the measure at issue is selective, it is appropriate to examine whether, within the context of a particular legal system, that measure constitutes an advantage for certain undertakings in comparison with others which are in a comparable legal and factual situation.

28. It should be recalled that a Member State which lacks competence retains the possibility of granting family benefits if there are specific and particularly close connecting factors between the territory of that State and the situation at issue, on condition that the predictability and effectiveness of the application of the coordination rules of Regulation No 1408/71 are not disproportionately affected (see, to that effect, Hudzinski and Wawrzyniak , EU:C:2012:339, paragraphs 65 to 67).

37. Pour les sociétés, leur «siège», au sens de l’article 48 CE, sert à déterminer, à l’instar de la nationalité des personnes physiques, leur rattachement à l’ordre juridique d’un État. Admettre que l’État membre d’établissement d’une filiale puisse librement appliquer un traitement différent à cette filiale en raison du seul fait que le siège de sa société mère est situé dans un autre État membre viderait l’article 43 CE de son contenu (voir, en ce sens, arrêt Royal Bank of Scotland, précité, point 23). La liberté d’établissement vise ainsi à garantir le bénéfice du traitement national dans l’État membre d’accueil, en interdisant toute discrimination fondée sur le lieu du siège des sociétés (voir, en ce sens, arrêts précités Saint-Gobain ZN, point 35; Test Claimants in the Thin Cap Group Litigation, point 37, ainsi que Lammers & Van Cleeff, point 19).

101. In order for clause 5(1)(a) of the Framework Agreement to be complied with, it must therefore be specifically verified that the renewal of successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships is intended to cover temporary needs and that a national provision such as Article 4(1) of Law No 124/1999, read in conjunction with Article 1 of Decree No 131/2007 is not, in fact, being used to meet fixed and permanent staffing needs of the employer (see, to this effect, judgment in Kücük , EU:C:2012:39, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited).

50. Accordingly, the nature of the goods or services for which the conflicting marks are registered must be taken into consideration for the purposes of assessing whether there is a link between those marks.

67. As regards the argument that the General Court erred in law in examining whether there was any form of sex discrimination, it is sufficient to observe, as is also evidenced by paragraph 22 of the appeal, that the appellant expressly raised infringement of Article 141 EC before that court. That provision is a specific expression of the general principle of equality of the sexes (see Case C‑277/04 P Lindorfer v Council [2007] ECR I‑6767, paragraph 50).

50. Il convient de constater que M me Lindorfer, en invoquant la méconnaissance par le Tribunal du principe de non‑discrimination et celui d’égalité de traitement des sexes estime, en effet, que l’un des principes généraux protégés par l’ordre juridique communautaire a été violé. À cet égard, il y a également lieu de relever que l’article 141 CE et les diverses dispositions du droit dérivé auxquelles M me Lindorfer fait référence, ainsi que l’article 1 er bis, paragraphe 1, du statut, sont des expressions spécifiques du principe général d’égalité des sexes.

79. Such interpretation of provisions of domestic law in a manner consistent with a directive cannot in itself achieve the clarity and precision needed to meet the requirement of legal certainty (see, to this effect, Case C-236/95 Commission v Greece [1996] ECR I‑4459, paragraph 13, and Case C-144/99 Commission v Netherlands [2001] ECR I‑3541, paragraph 21).

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

26 As the Court has already held in Joined Cases 21/72 to 24/72 International Fruit Company v Produktschap voor Groenten en Fruit [1972] ECR 1219, paragraph 5, the jurisdiction of the Court to give preliminary rulings under Article 177 of the Treaty concerning the validity of acts of the Community institutions cannot be limited by the grounds on which the validity of those measures may be contested.

54 There is therefore nothing to prevent the E 101 certificate from producing retroactive effects, according to the circumstances.

44 In order to determine whether the activities in question are those of an ‘undertaking’ within the meaning of EU competition law, it is necessary to ascertain what the nature of those activities is: each of the different activities of a given entity must thus be examined to determine whether it falls to be classified as an ‘economic activity’ (see, to that effect, judgments of 24 October 2002, Aéroports de Paris v Commission, C‑82/01 P, EU:C:2002:617, paragraph 75, and of 1 July 2008, MOTOE, C‑49/07, EU:C:2008:376, paragraph 25).

16 By harmonizing the rules applicable to collective redundancies, the Community legislature intended both to ensure comparable protection for workers' rights in the different Member States and to harmonize the costs which such protective rules entail for Community undertakings.

28. The Court has held that those two elements, essential to the definition of ‘inside information’ and defined more closely in Article 1 of Directive 2003/124, are mutually independent and constitute minimum conditions, each of which must be met if information is to be regarded as ‘inside’ information for the purposes of point (1) of Article 1 of Directive 2003/6 (see, to that effect, judgment in Geltl , EU:C:2012:397, paragraphs 52 and 53).

21 In the first place, it must be recalled that all measures which prohibit, impede or render less attractive the exercise of the freedoms guaranteed by Articles 49 TFEU and 56 TFEU must be regarded as restrictions on the freedom of establishment and/or the freedom to provide services (judgment in Stanley International Betting and Stanleybet Malta, C‑463/13, EU:C:2015:25, paragraph 45 and the case-law cited).

31. According to that case-law, the aim of Directive 2001/23 is to ensure continuity of employment relationships within an economic entity, irrespective of any change of ownership. The decisive criterion for establishing the existence of a transfer within the meaning of that directive is, therefore, whether the entity in question retains its identity, as indicated inter alia by the fact that its operation is actually continued or resumed (see, inter alia, Case 24/85 Spijkers [1986] ECR 1119, paragraphs 11 and 12; Case C-13/95 Süzen [1997] ECR I-1259, paragraph 10 and Case C‑340/01 Abler and Others [2003] ECR I-14023, paragraph 29).

30 First, it is true that, in paragraph 18 of its judgment in CPP, cited above, the Court held that there is no reason for the interpretation of the term insurance to differ according to whether it appears in the directives on insurance or in the Sixth Directive.

33. Furthermore, it must be observed that, in proceedings under Article 234 EC, which is based on a clear separation of functions between the national courts and the Court of Justice, any assessment of the facts in the case is a matter for the national court (see, in particular, Case C‑450/06 Varec [2008] ECR I‑581, paragraph 23 and case-law cited). However, in order to give the national court a useful answer, the Court may, in a spirit of cooperation with national courts, provide it with all the guidance that it deems necessary (see, in particular, Case C‑49/07 MOTOE [2008] ECR I-0000, paragraph 30).

47. As regards the second justification, relating to the danger that losses would be used twice, it must be accepted that Member States must be able to prevent that from occurring.

63. According to settled case-law, the classification as ‘aid’ within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the Treaty requires that all the conditions set out in that provision are fulfilled (see Case C-142/87 Belgium v Commission [1990] ECR I-959, ‘Tubemeuse’ , paragraph 25; Case C‑280/00 Altmark Trans and Regierungspräsidium Magdeburg [2003] ECR I-7747, paragraph 74; and Joined Cases C-341/06 P and C‑342/06 P Chronopost and La Poste v Ufex and Others [2008] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 125).

12 Consequently, Community legislation regarding freedom of movement for workers cannot be applied to the situation of workers who have never exercised the right to freedom of movement within the Community.

43. Thus, the Court has held that, although certain actions between a public authority and a person governed by private law may come within the concept, it is otherwise where the public authority is acting in the exercise of its public powers (see LTU , paragraph 4; Rüffer , paragraph 8; Sonntag , paragraph 20; Préservatrice foncière TIARD , paragraph 22; and Lechouritou and Others , paragraph 31).

6 IT IS ONLY IF THESE POSSIBILITIES ARE SEEN TO BE INADEQUATE THAT THE PROCEDURE FOR COMPETITIONS ON THE BASIS EITHER OF QUALIFICATIONS OR OF TESTS OR OF BOTH QUALIFICATIONS AND TESTS MAY BE FOLLOWED .

22 It is settled case-law that the third sentence of Article 11 of Directive 2004/48, like Article 8(3) of Directive 2001/29 to which it refers, obliges Member States to ensure that an intermediary whose services are used by a third party in order to infringe an intellectual property right may, regardless of any liability of its own in relation to the facts at issue, be ordered to take measures aimed at bringing those infringements to an end and measures seeking to prevent further infringements (see to that effect, in particular, judgments of 12 July 2011 in L’Oréal and Others, C‑324/09, EU:C:2011:474, paragraphs 127 to 134, and 24 November 2011 in Scarlet Extended, C‑70/10, EU:C:2011:771, paragraphs 30 and 31).

24 It should be noted here that the Court, when answering questions referred for a preliminary ruling, must take account, under the division of jurisdiction between the EU judicature and the national courts and tribunals, of the factual and legislative context of the questions as described in the order for reference (judgment of 26 October 2017, Argenta Spaarbank, C‑39/16, EU:C:2017:813, paragraph 38).

43. In adopting national measures to protect public health within the meaning of Article 30 EC, it is for the Member States to decide what degree of protection they intend to assure thereto (see, to that effect, Case 272/80 Frans-Nederlandse Maatschappij voor Belgische Producten [1981] ECR 3277, paragraph 12, Case C-293/94 Brandsma [1996] ECR I-3159, paragraph 11, and Case C-400/96 Harpegnies [1998] ECR I-5121, paragraph 33). However, those national rules must be proportionate to the objectives pursued (Case 174/82 Sandoz [1983] ECR 2445, paragraph 18, and Harpegnies , paragraph 34).

31. According to Annex II to the agreement, an express road is a road reserved for motor traffic accessible only from interchanges or controlled junctions and on which stopping and parking are prohibited on the running carriageway(s). It does not follow from that definition that roads sited in urban areas would a priori be excluded. On the contrary, unless roads in built-up areas are expressly excluded, the words ‘express roads’ cover urban roads which have the characteristics set out in that annex.

38 Pursuant to Article 4(2) of Directive 89/106, read in conjunction with the eleventh recital of that directive, such publication has the effect of conferring on products which are covered by that directive, and which satisfy the technical requirements defined in the harmonised standards relating to those products, the benefit of a presumption of conformity with the basic requirements of that directive (see, to that effect, judgment of 21 October 2010, Latchways and Eurosafe Solutions, C‑185/08, EU:C:2010:619, paragraph 31), allowing the CE marking to be affixed to them.

33. What must be ascertained is therefore not whether the measure adopted by the legislature was the only measure possible or the best measure possible but whether it was manifestly inappropriate ( Spain v Council , paragraph 99 and the case-law cited).

26. In that regard, it should be noted that, according to the preambles to the First and Second Directives, their aim is, first, to ensure the free movement of vehicles normally based on EU territory and of persons travelling in those vehicles and, second, to guarantee that the victims of accidents caused by those vehicles receive comparable treatment irrespective of where in the European Union the accident occurred (see Case C-129/94 Ruiz Bernáldez [1996] ECR I-1829, paragraph 13; Case C-348/98 Mendes Ferreira and Delgado Correia Ferreira [2000] ECR I-6711, paragraph 24; Case C-484/09 Carvalho Ferreira Santos [2011] ECR I-1821, paragraph 24; and Case C-409/09 Ambrósio Lavrador and Olival Ferreira Bonifácio [2011] ECR I-4955, paragraph 23).

9. À cet égard, il suffit de rappeler que, selon une jurisprudence constante, 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 et les changements intervenus par la suite ne sauraient être pris en compte par la Cour (arrêts du 2 juin 2005, Commission/Luxembourg, C‑266/03, Rec. p. I‑4805, point 36, et du 27 septembre 2007, Commission/République tchèque, C‑117/07, point 6).

22. According to settled case-law of the Court, in the interpretation of a provision of EU law, account must be taken not only of its wording but also of the context in which it occurs and the objectives pursued by the rules of which it forms part, and if appropriate of the origins of those rules (see, to that effect, judgments in Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Others v Parliament and Council , C‑583/11 P, EU:C:2013:625, paragraph 50; Koushkaki , C‑84/12, EU:C:2013:862, paragraph 34; and Bouman , C‑114/13, EU:C:2015:81, paragraph 31).

32. Il s’ensuit que, avant de conclure, en l’espèce, à l’existence ou à l’inexistence d’une modification importante au sens de l’article 30, paragraphe 4, du règlement n o  1260/1999, la juridiction de renvoi doit notamment vérifier si la modification litigieuse a produit un avantage indu et/ou si la nature ou les conditions de mise en œuvre s’en trouvent affectées.

50. Quite apart from the principle of proportionality, a Member State which adopts protective measures in accordance with Directive 90/425 must comply with the obligations which that directive establishes and the procedure which it lays down. In that regard, the fifth subparagraph of Article 10(1) of that directive provides that the measures are to be communicated immediately to the Commission and the other Member States ( Lennox , paragraph 75; on the obligation to communicate without delay and to cooperate loyally where conservation measures are adopted on the basis of Article 8 of Directive 90/425, see Van den Bor , paragraphs 45 to 48; see also, by analogy, in relation to measures adopted on the basis of Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra-Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market (OJ 1989 L 395, p. 13), Case C-241/01 National Farmers’ Union [2002] ECR I‑9079, paragraph 60).

18 Mr and Mrs Heininger sought an order that the bank reimburse to them the sums paid by way of capital and interest and refund to them the costs they incurred in connection with the execution of the loan agreement, the total sum claimed being DM 118 443.81. They further sought a declaration that no rights accrued to the bank under the loan agreement.

37. It is also settled case-law that the proper conduct of that pre-litigation procedure constitutes an essential guarantee required by the EC Treaty not only in order to protect the rights of the Member State concerned but also to ensure that any contentious procedure will have a clearly defined dispute as its subject-matter. It is only on the basis of a properly conducted pre-litigation procedure that the contentious procedure before the Court will enable the latter to judge whether the Member State has in fact failed to fulfil the specific obligations which the Commission alleges it has breached (see, inter alia, Case C-365/97 Commission v Italy [1999] ECR I-7773, paragraph 35, and Case C-392/99 Commission v Portugal [2003] ECR I-3373, paragraph 133).

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

41. So far as concerns the first ground of justification relied on by the Belgian Government, it should be recalled that the Court has already acknowledged that the need to maintain the coherence of a tax system can justify a restriction on the exercise of the freedoms of movement guaranteed by the Treaty (Case C-204/90 Bachmann [1992] ECR I-249, paragraph 28; Case C-319/02 Manninen [2004] ECR I-7477, paragraph 42; Case C-471/04 Keller Holding [2006] ECR I-2107, paragraph 40; and Case C-418/07 Papillon [2008] ECR I-8947, paragraph 43).

12 It must be recognized that the Member States have an identical discretionary power in the situation referred to in the second indent of the first subparagraph of Article 3(1 ) in which, as in the main proceedings, the development plan has been implemented after 1 January 1981 .

41. Finally, so far as concerns the third argument, it is apparent from Joined Cases C‑403/08 and C-429/08 Football Association Premier League and Others [2011] ECR I-0000, paragraphs 76 to 145, that communications to the public by satellite must be capable of being received in all the Member States and that they therefore by definition have a cross-border nature. Furthermore, the communications at issue in the main proceedings display such a nature since they involve Belgian and Netherlands companies, Airfield and Canal Digitaal, and the programme-carrying signals are intended in particular for television viewers residing in Belgium and Luxembourg.

89 Thus, such a rule imposing a time limit may contribute to the objective of Article 9(3) of the Aarhus Convention, set out in the 18th recital of that convention, of providing effective judicial mechanisms and appears also to be in line with Article 9(4) of that convention, which requires that the procedures referred to, inter alia, in Article 9(3) of the convention provide ‘adequate and effective’ remedies that are ‘equitable’.

47 As the Court has already held in Case C-286/95 P Commission v ICI [2000] ECR I-2341, paragraph 42, it is the mere failure to authenticate an act which constitutes the infringement of an essential procedural requirement and it is not necessary also to establish that the act is vitiated by some other defect or that the lack of authentication resulted in harm to the person relying on it. Moreover, it is indispensable for authentication of the act to precede its notification because otherwise there would always be a risk that the notified text would not be identical to the text adopted by the Commission (Commission v ICI, cited above, paragraph 62).

50 In those circumstances, an intermediate stay of that kind must be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the three-year period of legal residence within the meaning of the first indent of the first paragraph of Article 7 of Decision No 1/80.

30. The fact that a resident company has been granted a loan by a non‑resident company on terms which do not correspond to those which would have been agreed upon at arm’s length constitutes, for the Member State in which the borrowing company is resident, an objective element which can be independently verified in order to determine whether the transaction in question represents, in whole or in part, a purely artificial arrangement, the essential purpose of which is to circumvent the tax legislation of that Member State. In that regard, the question is whether, had there been an arm’s-length relationship between the companies concerned, the loan would not have been granted or would have been granted for a different amount or at a different rate of interest ( Test Claimants in the Thin Cap Group Litigation , paragraph 81).

42 Admittedly, as the Swedish Government has pointed out, Regulation No 1408/71 does not expressly cover family situations following a divorce. However, contrary to that Government's argument, there is nothing to justify the exclusion of such situations from the scope of Regulation No 1408/71.

19 Moreover, under the system established by Article 226 EC, the Commission enjoys a discretionary power as to whether it will bring an action for failure to fulfil obligations and it is not for the Court to judge whether that discretion was wisely exercised (see, in particular, Case C-236/99 Commission v Belgium [2000] ECR I-5657, paragraph 28).

31. It must be held that national legislation such as that in the main proceedings, which makes the grant of debt relief subject to a condition of residence, is capable of dissuading an insolvent worker, whose indebtedness is such that that he cannot be presumed to have the means to pay his or her debts within a foreseeable period, from exercising his right to freedom of movement. He will be dissuaded from leaving his Member State of origin to go and work in another Member State if by doing so he is denied the possibility of obtaining debt relief in that Member State of origin.

70 As regards, next, the context surrounding that provision, it is necessary, for the purposes of interpreting it, to examine it in the light of the general structure of the convention of which it forms part and of the totality of the provisions contained therein (see, to that effect, judgment of 30 April 1974, Haegeman, 181/73, EU:C:1974:41, paragraph 10).

67 In that regard, as the national court pointed out, the infrastructure works referred to in Article 4 of Law No 847/64 are fully capable of constituting public works, partly because they are specifically designed to meet development requirements over and above the construction of housing and partly because they come wholly under the control of the competent administrative authority since it holds a legal right over the use of such works, so as to ensure that they remain at the service of all members of the local community.

51. Thus, in the absence of Community rules governing a matter, it is for the domestic legal system of each Member State to designate the courts and tribunals having jurisdiction and to lay down the detailed procedural rules governing actions before the courts for safeguarding rights which individuals derive from the direct effect of Community law (see, inter alia, Case C‑312/93 Peterbroeck [1995] ECR I‑4599, paragraph 12 and the case‑law cited, and Case C‑255/00 Grundig Italiana [2002] ECR I‑8003, paragraph 33 and the case‑law cited).

53. À cet égard, il y a lieu de rappeler que, selon une jurisprudence constante, lorsque le Tribunal a constaté ou apprécié les faits, la Cour est compétente pour exercer, en vertu de l’article 225 CE, un contrôle sur la qualification juridique de ces faits et les conséquences de droit qui en ont été tirées par le Tribunal (voir arrêts du 6 avril 2006, General Motors/Commission, C‑551/03 P, Rec. p. I‑3173, point 51, et du 22 mai 2008, Degussa/Commission et Conseil, C‑266/06 P, point 72).

45. In that regard, it must be borne in mind that a State measure regarded as compensation for the services provided by the recipient undertakings in order to discharge public service obligations, so that those undertakings do not enjoy a real financial advantage and the measure thus does not have the effect of putting them in a more favourable competitive position than the undertakings competing with them is not caught by Article 107(1) TFEU (see judgments in Libert and Others , C‑197/11 and C‑203/11, EU:C:2013:288, paragraph 84, and Altmark Trans and Regierungspräsidium Magdeburg , C‑280/00, EU:C:2003:415, paragraph 87).

30 In that connection, it should be noted that in Boehringer Mannheim, cited above, at paragraph 18, the Court took the view that the term `not normally', which appears in the commentary on general rule 2(a), means that it cannot be altogether ruled out that that rule of interpretation applies to tariff headings in chapters 1 to 38 of the CCT. In addition, the Court stated that the essential characteristics criterion can only relate to a product `which is so close to the finished product that it can come under the same tariff heading as the finished product', without taking into account the place of that product within the CCT.

37. Moreover, in so far as it is apparent from the order for reference that the Bulgarian tax authorities refused Evita‑K the right to deduct VAT relating to the supplies of goods at issue in the main proceedings on the ground that it was not established that those supplies had in fact been carried out, and in so far as the assertion that they were not carried out is disputed by Evita‑K, it must be borne in the mind that, first, it is for the person seeking deduction of VAT to establish that he meets the conditions for eligibility (see Case C‑230/94 Enkler [1996] ECR I‑4517, paragraph 24), and, second, it is for the referring court to carry out, in accordance with the national rules relating to evidence, an overall assessment of all the facts and circumstances of the dispute in the main proceedings in order to determine whether Evita‑K may exercise a right to deduct on the basis of those supplies of goods (see, to that effect, Case C‑273/11 Mecsek-Gabona [2012] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 53; Case C‑285/11 Bonik [2012] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 32; and Case C‑643/11 LVK – 56 [2013] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 57).

41. As regards, third, the question whether the need to possess high physical capacities is related to age, it should be noted that the German Government submits, without being contradicted, that some of the tasks of persons in the intermediate career of the fire service, such as fighting fires or rescuing persons, require exceptionally high physical capacities and can be performed only by young officials. The German Government produces scientific data deriving from studies in the field of industrial and sports medicine which show that respiratory capacity, musculature and endurance diminish with age. Thus very few officials over 45 years of age have sufficient physical capacity to perform the fire-fighting part of their activities. As for rescuing persons, at the age of 50 the officials concerned no longer have that capacity. Officials who have passed those ages work in the other branches of activities mentioned above. It follows that the need to possess full physical capacity to carry on the occupation of a person in the intermediate career of the fire services is related to the age of the persons in that career.

74. Accordingly, the Court has accepted that a requirement of prior authorisation may, under certain conditions, be justified by such a consideration in the context of hospital care (see, inter alia, Smits and Peerbooms , paragraphs 76 to 81; Müller-Fauré and van Riet , paragraphs 76 to 81; and Watts , paragraphs 108 to 110) and in the context of medical care which, although it may be provided outside a hospital setting, requires the use of major and costly equipment exhaustively listed in the national legislation (see, to that effect, Commission v France , paragraphs 34 to 42).

25 FAR FROM INVOLVING A DEPARTURE FROM THESE FUNDAMENTAL RULES, THEREFORE, THE OBJECT OF THE RULES RELATING TO THE COMMON TRANSPORT POLICY IS TO IMPLEMENT AND COMPLIMENT THEM BY MEANS OF COMMON ACTION .