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

20 It was by reference to the particular features of Mita' s sales to OEMs, especially the differences in costs incurred by Mita in its sales to OEMs as compared with its costs in sales of plain paper photocopiers under its own brand name, that the Council saw fit, in constructing the normal value, to set the profit margin of exporters at 5%, that is to say, at a lower rate than the average profit margin, which was estimated at 14.6 %.

33. Secondly, the Court has also held that, in order to ensure the neutrality of VAT, it is for the Member States to provide, in their domestic legal systems, for the possibility of adjusting any tax improperly invoiced where the person who issued the invoice shows that he acted in good faith. However, where the issuer of the invoice has, in sufficient time, wholly eliminated the risk of any loss of tax revenue, the principle of the neutrality of VAT requires that VAT which has been improperly invoiced can be corrected without such adjustment being made conditional by the Member States upon the good faith of the issuer of the relevant invoice. The adjustment cannot be dependent upon the discretion of the tax authority (judgment in Rusedespred , C‑138/12, EU:C:2013:233, paragraphs 26 and 27 and the case-law cited).

26. The Court has held that, in order to ensure the neutrality of VAT, it is for the Member States to provide, in their domestic legal systems, for the possibility of adjusting any tax improperly invoiced where the person who issued the invoice shows that he acted in good faith (see Case C‑342/87 Genius [1989] ECR 4227, paragraph 18, and Stadeco , paragraph 36).

22. It is also necessary to point out that, according to settled case‑law, where it is necessary to interpret a provision of secondary Community law, preference should as far as possible be given to the interpretation which renders the provision consistent with the EC Treaty and the general principles of Community law (Case 218/82 Commission v Council [1993] ECR 4063, paragraph 15; Joined Cases 201/85 and 202/85 Klensch and Others [1986] ECR 3477, paragraph 21, Case C‑314/89 Rauh [1991] ECR I‑1647, paragraph 17; Case C‑98/91 Herbrink [1994] ECR I‑223, paragraph 9; and Borgmann , paragraph 30).

77 Accordingly, for a Member State to impose a severe penalty, whether criminal or administrative, such as a custodial sentence or a heavy fine, on a driver, such as I, who had the right to drive in another Member State, but who had not yet been issued with a driving licence conforming to the requirements of the model driving licence of Directive 2006/126, would be disproportionate to the seriousness of the facts at issue in the main proceedings and thus undermine the right of that driver to move and reside freely in the territory of the Member States, conferred on citizens of the Union by Article 21 TFEU, or the fundamental freedoms under Articles 45, 49 and 56 TFEU. By contrast, to impose a minor penalty, such as an administrative fine in a reasonable amount would not be disproportionate.

44. Under Articles 6 and 7 of Directive 98/5, a European lawyer must comply not only with the rules of professional conduct applicable in his home Member State but also with those of the host Member State, failing which he will incur disciplinary sanctions and exposure to professional liability (see Luxembourg v Parliament and Council , paragraphs 36 to 41). One of the rules of professional conduct applicable to lawyers is an obligation, like that provided for in the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of the European Union (CCBE), breach of which may lead to disciplinary sanctions, not to handle matters which the professionals concerned know or ought to know they are not competent to handle, for instance owing to lack of linguistic knowledge (see, to that effect, Luxembourg v Parliament and Council , paragraph 42). Communication with clients, the administrative authorities and professional bodies of the host Member State, like compliance with the rules of professional conduct laid down by the authorities of that Member State, requires a European lawyer to have sufficient linguistic knowledge or recourse to assistance where that knowledge is insufficient.

36. It follows that the status of ‘worker’ within the meaning of EU law is not affected by the fact that a person has been hired as a self-employed person under national law, for tax, administrative or organisational reasons, as long as that persons acts under the direction of his employer as regards, in particular, his freedom to choose the time, place and content of his work (see judgment in Allonby , EU:C:2004:18, paragraph 72), does not share in the employer’s commercial risks (judgment in Agegate , C‑3/87, EU:C:1989:650, paragraph 36), and, for the duration of that relationship, forms an integral part of that employer’s undertaking, so forming an economic unit with that undertaking (see judgment in Becu and Others , C‑22/98, EU:C:1999:419, paragraph 26).

72. Moreover, where the Court still has a doubt, the benefit of that doubt must be given to the undertakings accused of the infringement (see, to that effect, Case 27/76 United Brands and United Brands Continentaal v Commission [1978] ECR 207, paragraph 265). Indeed, the presumption of innocence constitutes a general principle of European Union law, currently laid down in Article 48(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

28 That test, based on the principle of proportionality, also applies in the context of the marketing of cosmetic products where, as in the case in the main proceedings, a mistake as to the product's characteristics cannot pose any risk to public health.

142. In that regard, the fact that an economic sector has been liberalised at Community level may serve to determine that the aid has a real or potential effect on competition and affects trade between Member States (see Case C‑409/00 Spain v Commission [2003] ECR I‑1487, paragraph 75; Italy v Commission , cited in paragraph 131 above, paragraph 116, and Unicredito Italiano , paragraph 57) .

27. If the condition relating to ‘special reasons’ were to be interpreted differently in the various Member States, the same circumstances could give rise to prohibitions of further infringement or threatened infringement in some Member States and not in others. Consequently, the protection afforded to Community trade marks would not be uniform throughout the entire area of the Community.

35. The Court has previously stated that an economic entity is able, in certain sectors, to function without any significant tangible or intangible assets, and therefore the maintenance of the identity of such an entity following the transaction affecting it cannot, logically, depend on the transfer of such assets (see Süzen , paragraph 18; Hernández Vidal and Others , paragraph 31; and UGT-FSP , paragraph 28).

43 For example, the category of projects entitled `Construction of motorways, express roads and lines for long-distance railway traffic and of airports ...' under point 7 in Annex I cannot correspond, as a class of projects, to the category under point 10 of Annex II, entitled `Infrastructure projects'; it must rather correspond to subdivision (d) within that point, which refers to `Construction of roads, harbours, including fishing harbours, and airfields (projects not listed in Annex I)'.

21. Conformément au principe de précaution, tel qu’interprété par la Cour, lorsque des incertitudes subsistent quant à l’existence ou à la portée de risques pour la santé des personnes, des mesures de protection peuvent être prises sans avoir à attendre que la réalité et la gravité de ces risques soient pleinement démontrées (arrêt Monsanto Agricoltura Itali a e.a., C‑236/01, EU:C:2003:431, point 111, ainsi que, en ce sens, arrêts Codacons et Federconsumatori, C‑132/03, EU:C:2005:310, point 61, et Agrarproduktion Staebelow, C‑504/04, EU:C:2006:30, point 39).

46. In contrast, Article 35 EU confers no jurisdiction on the Court of Justice to entertain any action for damages whatsoever.

86. It should be noted in that regard that, according to settled case-law, medical services provided for consideration fall within the scope of the provisions on the freedom to provide services (see, inter alia, Case C-159/90 Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Ireland [1991] ECR I-4685, paragraph 18, and Kohll , paragraph 29), there being no need to distinguish between care provided in a hospital environment and care provided outside such an environment ( Vanbraekel , paragraph 41; Smits and Peerbooms , paragraph 53; Müller-Fauré and van Riet , paragraph 38; and Inizan , paragraph 16).

13 AS THE COURT HAS REPEATEDLY HELD , THE DECISIVE CRITERION FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS FOR CUSTOMS PURPOSES IS IN GENERAL TO BE SOUGHT IN THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND OBJECTIVE PROPERTIES AS DEFINED IN THE WORDING OF THE RELEVANT HEADING OF THE COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF AND OF THE NOTES TO THE SECTIONS OR CHAPTERS .

24. The Court answered in the negative, pointing out that, under Article 5(1) of Directive 77/388, ‘“[s]upply of goods” shall mean the transfer of the right to dispose of tangible property as owner’. The Court stated that the concept of a supply of goods includes any transaction of a supply of tangible property by a party which empowers the other party to dispose of it as if he were the owner of that property. It held that the oil companies transferred to the lessee of the leased vehicle the right actually to dispose of the fuel as owner and that there was not a supply of fuel by those companies to the lessor of the leased vehicle nor, as a result, from that lessor to the lessee of that vehicle (judgment in Auto Lease Holland , C‑185/01, EU:C:2003:73, paragraphs 31 to 36).

33. Consequently, in order to answer the question referred, it is necessary to determine to whom, whether the lessor or the lessee, the oil companies transferred, in the main proceedings, that right actually to dispose of the fuel as owner.

76 As regards restrictive measures, without going so far as to require a detailed response to the comments made by the person concerned, the obligation to state reasons laid down in Article 296 TFEU entails in all circumstances, not least when the reasons stated for the EU measure represent reasons stated by an international body, that that statement of reasons identifies the individual, specific and concrete reasons why the competent authorities consider that the person concerned must be subject to restrictive measures. The Courts of the European Union must, therefore, in particular determine whether the reasons relied on are sufficiently detailed and specific (see, to that effect, judgment in Commission and Others v Kadi, C‑584/10 P, C‑593/10 P and C‑595/10 P, EU:C:2013:518, paragraphs 116 and 118).

96. Tout d’abord, s’agissant de la prétendue dénaturation de la réponse de Cetarsa à la communication des griefs prétendument commise par le Tribunal, il y a lieu de rappeler que, lorsqu’il allègue une dénaturation d’éléments de preuve par le Tribunal, un requérant doit, en application des articles 256 TFUE, 58, premier alinéa, du statut de la Cour et 112, paragraphe 1, premier alinéa, sous c), du règlement de procédure de cette dernière, indiquer de façon précise les éléments qui auraient été dénaturés par celui-ci et démontrer les erreurs d’analyse qui, dans son appréciation, auraient conduit le Tribunal à cette dénaturation (arrêt du 17 juin 2010, Lafarge/Commission, C‑413/08 P, Rec. p. I‑5361, point 16 et jurisprudence citée).

50. In this connection, it must be recalled that it is for the legal system of each Member State to determine which court or tribunal has jurisdiction to hear disputes involving individual rights derived from European Union law. However, it is the Member States’ responsibility to ensure that those rights are effectively protected in each case. Subject to that reservation, it is not for the Court to involve itself in the resolution of questions of jurisdiction to which the classification of certain legal situations based on European Union law may give rise in the national judicial system (see, inter alia, Case C‑54/96 Dorsch Consult [1997] ECR I‑4961, paragraph 40, and Case C‑462/99 Connect Austria [2003] ECR I‑5197, paragraph 35).

16 In that regard it must be pointed out that a redundancy payment made by the employer, such as that which is at issue, cannot cease to constitute a form of pay on the sole ground that, rather than deriving from the contract of employment, it is a statutory or ex gratia payment .

34. Thus the Court held that Directive 76/207 was applicable to access to posts in the armed forces and that it was for the Court to verify whether the measures taken by the national authorities, in the exercise of their recognised discretion, did in fact have the purpose of guaranteeing public security and whether they were appropriate and necessary to achieve that aim (see Sirdar , paragraph 28, and Kreil , paragraph 25).

12 Actions to establish non-contractual liability are governed, pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 215 of the EEC Treaty, by the general principles common to the laws of the Member States . A comparison of the legal systems of the Member States shows that as a general rule, subject to very few exceptions, a court may not of its own motion raise the issue of time limitation .

71 Moreover, when approving the operational programme concerned, it was already well established that, in the context of financing the common agricultural policy, a strict interpretation of the conditions for the European Union taking over costs was necessary, since the management of the common agricultural policy, on the basis of equality between traders in the Member States, requires that the national authorities of a Member State, by means of a wide interpretation of a specific provision, should not favour traders of that Member State (see, to that effect, judgment of 27 February 1985, Italy v Commission, 55/83, EU:C:1985:84, paragraph 31 and the case-law cited, and of 6 November 2014, Netherlands v Commission, C‑610/13 P, not published, EU:C:2014:2349, paragraph 41).

56. It follows that an action undertaken by a Member State in order to ensure that its resident population is highly educated and to promote the development of the economy pursues a legitimate objective which can justify indirect discrimination on grounds of nationality. The appropriateness of the residence condition

27 It should be borne in mind that, under Article 1(2) of that directive, the concept of a ‘technical regulation’ covers solely regulations relating to information society services, that is, any service provided at a distance by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services (see judgments of 13 October 2016, M. and S., C‑303/15, EU:C:2016:771, paragraph 21, and 1 February 2017, Município de Palmela, C‑144/16, EU:C:2017:76, paragraph 28).

39. It follows that the managing body of the airport is authorised to collect a fee in return for granting access to airport "installations" .

104 In the light of all of the foregoing considerations, it must be held that the Commission did not exceed the limits of its discretion in finding that the aid scheme in question could not benefit from any of the exemptions provided for in Article 87(2) or (3) EC. It is settled case-law that State aid, certain conditions of which contravene other provisions of the Treaty, cannot be declared by the Commission to be compatible with the common market (see, inter alia, Case C-21/88 Du Pont de Nemours Italiana [1990] ECR I-889, paragraph 20; Case C-156/98 Germany v Commission [2000] ECR I-6857, paragraph 78; and Case C-204/97 Portugal v Commission [2001] ECR I-3175, paragraph 41).

89 Three series of arguments have been put forward to no avail in opposition to that ruling.

10 In this respect, the Court has consistently held (see, most recently, the judgments in Case C-154/89 Commission v France [1991] ECR I-659, paragraph 12, Case C-180/89 Commission v Italy [1991] ECR I-709, paragraph 15, and Case C-198/89 Commission v Greece [1991] ECR I-727, paragraph 16) that Article 59 of the Treaty entails, in the first place, the abolition of any discrimination against a person providing services on account of his nationality or the fact that he is established in a Member State other than the one in which the service is provided.

15 Articles 59 and 60 of the Treaty require not only the abolition of any discrimination against a person providing services on account of his nationality but also the abolition of any restriction on the freedom to provide services imposed on the ground that the person providing a service is established in a Member State other than the one in which the service is provided. In particular, the Member State cannot make the performance of the services in its territory subject to observance of all the conditions required for establishment; were it to do so the provisions securing freedom to provide services would be deprived of all practical effect.

57. It is solely because of the exercise by that State of its power of taxation that, irrespective of any taxation in another Member State, a risk of a series of charges to tax or economic double taxation may arise. In such a case, in order for non‑resident companies receiving dividends not to be subject to a restriction on the free movement of capital prohibited in principle by Article 56 EC, the State in which the company making the distribution is resident is obliged to ensure that, under the procedures laid down by its national law in order to prevent or mitigate a series of liabilities to tax or economic double taxation, non-resident companies are subject to the same treatment as resident companies (see Test Claimants in Class IV of the ACT Group Litigation , paragraph 70; Amurta , paragraph 39; Commission v Italy , paragraph 53; and Commission v Spain , paragraph 52).

37. En revanche, la Cour a jugé, dans une affaire mettant en cause des gardes effectuées par des médecins appartenant à des équipes de premiers soins, qu’il en va différemment de la situation dans laquelle les médecins effectuent les gardes selon le système qui veut qu’ils soient accessibles en permanence sans pour autant être obligés d’être présents dans l’établissement de santé. Même s’ils sont à la disposition de leur employeur dans la mesure où ils doivent pouvoir être joints, dans cette situation, les médecins peuvent gérer leur temps avec moins de contraintes et se consacrer à leurs propres intérêts. Dans ces conditions, seul le temps lié à la prestation effective de services de premiers soins doit être considéré comme du temps de travail au sens de la directive 2003/88 (arrêt Simap, C‑303/98, EU:C:2000:528, point 50).

63. While, in the absence of relevant EU rules, the detailed rules for implementing such measures are a matter for the domestic legal order of the Member States, under the principle of their procedural autonomy, they must not, however, be less favourable than those governing similar domestic situations (principle of equivalence) or render impossible in practice or excessively difficult the exercise of rights conferred by EU law (principle of effectiveness) (see, in particular, Angelidaki and Others , EU:C:2009:250, paragraph 159, and the orders in Affatato , EU:C:2010:574, paragraph 46, and Papalia , EU:C:2013:873, paragraph 21).

15 Consequently, it is the acquisition of the goods by a taxable person acting as such that gives rise to the application of the VAT system and therefore of the deduction mechanism. The use to which the goods are put, or intended to be put, merely determines the extent of the initial deduction to which the taxable person is entitled under Article 17 and the extent of any adjustments in the course of the following periods.

47. According to settled case-law, where an appeal merely repeats or reproduces verbatim the pleas in law and arguments previously submitted to the Court of First Instance, without even including an argument specifically identifying the error of law allegedly vitiating the judgment under appeal, it fails to satisfy the requirements under Article 58 of the Statute of the Court of Justice and Article 112(1)(c) of its Rules of Procedure. In reality, such an appeal amounts to no more than a request for re-examination of the application submitted to the Court of First Instance, which, under Article 56 of that Statute, falls outside the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice (see Case C-352/98 P Bergaderm and Goupil v Commission [2000] ECR I-5291, paragraph 35, Case C-210/98 P Salzgitter v Commission [2000] ECR I-5843, paragraph 42, and Case C-321/99 P ARAP and Others v Commission [2002] ECR I-4287, paragraph 48).

35 That requirement is not satisfied by an appeal which, without even including an argument specifically identifying the error of law allegedly vitiating the contested judgment, confines itself to reproducing the pleas in law and arguments previously submitted to the Court of First Instance. Such an appeal amounts in reality to no more than a request for re-examination of the application submitted to the Court of First Instance, which the Court of Justice does not have jurisdiction to undertake.

25. However, the Court has also held that, in exceptional circumstances, it can examine the conditions in which the case was referred to it by the national court in order to establish whether it has jurisdiction. The Court may refuse to rule on a question referred by a national court only where it is quite obvious that the interpretation of European Union 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 (see, in particular, PreussenElektra , paragraph 39; Case C‑544/07 Rüffler [2009] ECR I‑3389, paragraph 38; Case C‑314/08 Filipiak [2009] ECR I‑11049, paragraph 42; and Case C‑399/11 Melloni [2013] ECR I-0000, paragraph 29).

23 Where accommodation in the hotel sector (as a taxable transaction) is distinguished from the letting of dwelling accommodation (as an exempted transaction) on the basis of its duration, that constitutes an appropriate criterion of distinction, since one of the ways in which hotel accommodation specifically differs from the letting of dwelling accommodation is the duration of the stay. In general, a stay in a hotel tends to be rather short and that in a rented flat fairly long.

22. As the Court has already held, it follows that, pursuant to the first sentence of Article 93(3) of the Treaty, plans to grant or alter aid must be notified to the Commission before they are implemented (see, inter alia, Case C-367/95 P Commission v Sytraval and Brink’s France [1998] ECR I‑1719, paragraph 35; Case C-295/97 Piaggio [1999] ECR I‑3735, paragraph 44; and Case C-278/00 Greece v Commission [2004] ECR I-3997, paragraph 30).

32. It must also be stated that, on the one hand, it is required not that the situations be identical, but only that they be comparable and, on the other hand, the assessment of that comparability must be carried out not in a global and abstract manner, but in a specific and concrete manner in the light of the benefit concerned (judgment in Hay , C‑267/12, EU:C:2013:823, paragraph 33 and the case-law cited therein).

19. Similarly, it is also settled case-law that, in order to provide a useful reply to the court which has referred to it a question for a preliminary ruling, the Court may be required to take into consideration rules of European Union law to which the national court did not refer in its questions (see, inter alia, Case C-60/03 Wolff & Müller [2004] ECR I‑9553, paragraph 24; Case C‑153/03 Weide [2005] ECR I‑6017, paragraph 25; and Case C‑513/03 van Hilten-van der Heijden [2006] ECR I‑1957, paragraph 26).

35 Consequently, it must be held that, by precluding by regulation or administrative practice on the grounds of their nationality employed or self-employed workers from other Member States and the members of their families from being attributed large-family status for the purpose of the award of special benefits for such families and from being awarded family allowances, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 48 and 52 of the EC Treaty, Article 7 of Regulation No 1612/68, Article 7 of Regulation No 1251/70, Article 7 of Directive 75/34 and Article 3 of Regulation No 1408/71.

44. Thus, what must be ascertained is not whether the measure adopted by the legislature was the only measure possible or the best measure possible, but whether it was manifestly inappropriate (Case C-33/08 Agrana Zucker , paragraph 33 and the case-law cited).

51. It is for the national court, which alone has jurisdiction to assess the facts and to interpret the national legislation, to determine whether that is so. It is necessary in that regard to ascertain, in the light of all the relevant factors and taking into account the possibility of achieving by other means the aims pursued by the provisions in question, whether such aims appear to be unrelated to any discrimination based on sex and whether those provisions, as a means to the achievement of certain aims, are capable of advancing those aims (see, in that regard, Case C-167/97 Seymour-Smith and Perez [1999] ECR I-623, paragraph 72).

33. With regard to objective justification of such a restriction, it is to be borne in mind that the Court has on several occasions held that planning requirements relating, on the one hand, to the object of ensuring sufficient and permanent access to a balanced range of high-quality treatment in the Member State concerned and, on the other, to the wish to control costs and avoid, so far as possible, any waste of financial, technical and human resources may justify the requirement of prior authorisation for financial responsibility on the part of the competent institution for treatment proposed in another Member State (see, to that effect, Case C‑157/99 Smits and Peerbooms [2001] ECR I‑5473, paragraphs 76 to 81; Müller-Fauré and van Riet , paragraphs 76 to 81, and Watts , paragraphs 108 to 110).

48 It follows from the foregoing that that provision must be interpreted as ensuring that the applicant for international protection has effective judicial protection by, inter alia, guaranteeing him the opportunity of bringing an action against a transfer decision made in respect of him, which may concern the examination of the application of that regulation, including respect of the procedural guarantees laid down in that regulation (see, to that effect, judgment of 7 June 2016, Karim, C‑155/15, EU:C:2016:410, paragraph 22).

33. On this point, it should be recalled that although the Court has held that the need to preserve the coherence of a tax system may justify a restriction on the exercise of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty, it is however necessary, for such a justification to be accepted, that a direct link be established between the granting of the tax advantage concerned and the offsetting of that advantage by a particular tax (see, inter alia, Case C‑181/12 Welte EU:C:2013:662, paragraph 59 and the case-law cited).

16 It should be noted at the outset that the second indent of Article 13A(2)(a) of the Sixth Directive is an optional condition which Member States are at liberty to impose additionally for the grant of certain exemptions mentioned in Article 13A(1) of the Sixth Directive.

32 However, as the use of the expression in particular in paragraph 38 of Von Deetzen II suggests, those are not the only transactions capable of favouring the potential beneficiary in the sense indicated by the Court in that judgment.

38 The term "similar transaction" must be interpreted as referring to any transaction, whatever its legal basis, which produces effects comparable to those of inheritance. It thus embraces, in particular, transactions concluded in respect of the holding concerned between a producer and the potential beneficiary of his estate, provided that the terms of the transaction in question are such that, according to its purpose and subject-matter, the main intention is that the holding should continue to be exploited by the potential beneficiary and not that the marketable value of the holding should be realized by the person from whom he stands to inherit.

86 Where there is a dispute as to the existence of an infringement of the competition rules, it is incumbent on the Commission to prove the infringements which it has found and to adduce evidence capable of demonstrating to the requisite legal standard the existence of circumstances constituting an infringement (Case C-185/95 P Baustahlgewebe v Commission [1998] ECR I-8417, paragraph 58). In doing this, the Commission must establish in particular all the facts enabling the conclusion to be drawn that an undertaking participated in such an infringement and that it was responsible for the various aspects of it.

63. The general principles of Community law have constitutional status while the principle proposed by Audiolux is characterised by a degree of detail requiring legislation to be drafted and enacted at Community level by a measure of secondary Community law. Therefore, the principle proposed by Audiolux cannot be regarded as an independent general principle of Community law.

50 In this connection, it is clear from the settled case-law of the Court that the terms used to specify the exemptions from VAT set out in Article 132 of Directive 2006/112 must be interpreted strictly since those exemptions constitute exceptions to the general principle that all services supplied for consideration by a taxable person are subject to that tax. Nevertheless, the interpretation of those terms must be consistent with the objectives pursued by those exemptions and comply with the requirements of the principle of fiscal neutrality inherent in the common system of VAT. Accordingly, the requirement of strict interpretation does not mean that the terms used to specify the exemptions referred to in Article 132 should be construed in such a way as to deprive the exemptions of their intended effects. It is not the purpose of the case-law of the Court to impose an interpretation which would make the exemptions concerned almost inapplicable in practice (see, to that effect, judgment of 11 December 2008, Stichting Centraal Begeleidingsorgaan voor de Intercollegiale Toetsing, C‑407/07, EU:C:2008:713, paragraph 30 and the case-law cited).

69 IN ADDITION, THE ITALIAN REGULATIONS IMPEDED, INDIRECTLY BUT FUNDAMENTALLY, THE BUYER'S FREEDOM TO CHOOSE HIS SUPPLIER AND VICE VERSA .

36. As is apparent in particular from the third recital in the preamble thereto, Directive 90/435 seeks to eliminate, by the introduction of a common system, any penalisation of cooperation between companies of different Member States as compared with cooperation between companies of the same Member State and to facilitate thereby the grouping together of companies at the Community level (Case C‑294/99 Athinaiki Zithopiia [2001] ECR I‑6797, paragraph 25; Case C‑446/04 Test Claimants in the FII Group Litigation [2006] ECR I‑11753, paragraph 103; Case C‑27/07 Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel [2008] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 23; and, to that effect, Case C‑284/06 Burda [2008] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 51).

En outre, bien que la Cour ait considéré, s’agissant de décisions d’inspections, que, s’il incombe à la Commission d’indiquer, avec autant de précision que possible, ce qui est recherché et les éléments sur lesquels doit porter la vérification, il n’est en revanche pas indispensable de faire apparaître dans une décision d’inspection une délimitation précise du marché en cause, ni la qualification juridique exacte des infractions présumées ou l’indication de la période au cours de laquelle ces infractions auraient été commises, elle a justifié cette considération par le fait que les inspections interviennent au début de l’enquête, à une période au cours de laquelle la Commission ne dispose pas encore d’informations précises (voir, en ce sens, arrêt Nexans et Nexans France/Commission, C-37/13 P, EU:C:2014:2030, points 36 ainsi que 37).

28. In that regard, whilst, in areas giving rise to complex economic assessments, the Commission has a margin of discretion with regard to economic matters, that does not mean that the Courts of the European Union must refrain from reviewing the Commission’s interpretation of information of an economic nature. Those Courts must, among other things, not only establish whether the evidence relied on is factually accurate, reliable and consistent but also ascertain whether that evidence contains all the information which must be taken into account in order to assess a complex situation and whether it is capable of substantiating the conclusions drawn from it (see Case C‑12/03 P Commission v Tetra Laval [2005] ECR I‑987, paragraph 39; Case C‑525/04 P Spain v Lenzing [2007] ECR I‑9947, paragraphs 56 and 57; Chalkor v Commission , paragraph 54, and Otis and Others , paragraph 59).

35 It must be observed at the outset that the EAGGF finances only intervention undertaken in accordance with the Community rules in the framework of the common organisation of agricultural markets.

26. The VAT Directive, which seeks to establish a common system of VAT, confers a very wide scope on VAT. In order to ensure the uniform application of that directive, it is important that the terms which define that scope, such as the terms ‘taxable transactions’, ‘taxable persons’ and ‘economic activities’, are interpreted in an autonomous and uniform manner, regardless of the purpose and results of the transactions concerned (see, to that effect, judgment in Halifax and Others , C‑255/02, EU:C:2006:121, paragraphs 48 to 56).

56. The deduction system is intended to relieve the trader entirely of the burden of the VAT payable or paid in the course of all his economic activities. The common system of VAT consequently ensures neutrality of taxation of all economic activities, whatever their purpose or results, provided that they are themselves subject in principle to VAT (see, inter alia, Case C‑137/02 Faxworld [2004] ECR I‑5547, paragraph 37; Investrand , paragraph 22; Securenta , paragraph 25; and SALIX Grundstücks-Vermietungsgesellschaft , paragraph 71).

15 It is settled case-law that the prohibition of discrimination laid down in that provision is merely a specific enunciation of the general principle of equality which is one of the fundamental principles of Community law (see the judgments in Case C-177/90 Kuehn [1992] ECR I-35, paragraph 18, and in Case C-98/91 Herbrink [1994] ECR I-223, paragraph 27); that principle precludes comparable situations from being treated in a different manner unless the difference in treatment is objectively justified (see the judgments in Joined Cases 201/85 and 202/85 Klensch [1986] ECR 3477, paragraph 9, and in Joined Cases C-267/88 to 285/88 Wuidart [1990] ECR I-435, paragraph 13).

18 Finally, as so interpreted, the regulations do not infringe the prohibition of discrimination laid down in Article 40(3) of the EEC Treaty, which is the specific expression of the general principle of equality (see, most recently, the judgment in Joined Cases C-267/88 to C-285/88 Wuidart and Others [1990] ECR I-467, paragraph 13). The situation of which the plaintiff in the main proceedings complains is the result of the fact that, by not providing the allocation of a reference quantity based on a representative production for producers whose milk deliveries began during the reference year chosen by the Member State concerned, the regulations in question affect that category of producers more severely than those who can show a representative production during that year. Such an effect is justified by the need to limit to the greatest extent possible, in the interests of both legal certainty and the effectiveness of the additional levy scheme, the situations which may justify the reference to another reference year. The difference in treatment concerned is therefore objectively justified and cannot, consequently, be regarded as discriminatory within the meaning of Article 40(3) of the EEC Treaty, as interpreted by the Court.

35. First, as regards the condition as to non-discrimination, it is clear from Paragraph 3 of the VGVG that the rules on the acquisition of land by foreigners do not apply, " in so far as such is clearly required by the law of the European Union" , to " persons and companies carrying out ... investments in immovable property and other transactions involving the free movement of capital" . Those provisions observe the requirement of equal treatment between Austrian acquirers of title and persons who are not of that nationality but who are resident in one of the Member States and exercise the freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty (see, to that effect, Reisch and Others , cited above, paragraph 34).

33 In the second place, as Stock ‘94 itself acknowledges in its observations, not having authorisation to act as a credit institution, it could not grant loans to the integrated producers without their being intended for the purchase of its current assets.

9 It should be recalled also, that, even where the default has been remedied after the time-limit given in the reasoned opinion has expired, there is still an interest in pursuing the action in order to establish the basis of liability which a Member State may incur, as a result of its default, towards other Member States, the Community or private parties (see, inter alia, Case C-29/90 Commission v Greece [1992] ECR I-1971, paragraph 12, and Case C-207/00 Commission v Italy [2001] ECR I-4571, paragraph 28).

31. In the main proceedings, since Mr Eind is a Netherlands national, his right to reside in the territory of the Netherlands cannot be refused or made conditional.

66. As the Court has held in this connection, the elements of the human body are not patentable in themselves and their discovery cannot be the subject of protection. Only inventions which combine a natural element with a technical process enabling it to be isolated or produced for an industrial application can be the subject of an application for a patent ( Netherlands v Parliament and Council , cited above, paragraph 72).

11 It is also established that this pension scheme is funded wholly by the employees and employers in the industry concerned, to the exclusion of any financial contribution from the public purse.

33. It must be observed, as a preliminary point, that the question of shipments of waste is regulated by harmonisation at Community level by the Regulation, in order to ensure the protection of the environment (Case C-324/99 DaimlerChrysler [2001] ECR I-9897, paragraph 42).

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

28. The Court has also held that the fact that the marketability of a product in ‘normal conditions’ is an aspect inherent in the concept of ‘sound and fair marketable quality’ is indeed clearly apparent from the rules relating to export refunds for agricultural products inasmuch as, from Regulation No 1041/67 onwards, all the relevant regulations have adopted the concept of ‘sound and fair marketable quality’ as well as the criterion of the product’s marketability ‘in normal conditions’. As regards Regulation No 3665/87, it is the ninth recital which refers to that requirement (see SEPA , paragraphs 23 and 26, and Fleisch-Winter , paragraph 21).

46. So far as concerns the treatment of VAT that has been improperly invoiced because there is no taxable transaction, it follows from Directive 2006/112 that the two traders involved are not necessarily treated identically in so far as the issuer of the invoice has not corrected it, as is apparent from paragraphs 33 to 37 above.

27. Il importe également de rappeler qu’il est de jurisprudence constante qu’un État membre ne saurait exciper de dispositions, de pratiques ou de situations de son ordre juridique interne pour justifier l’inobservation des obligations et des délais prescrits par une directive (voir arrêts du 15 juin 2000, Commission/Grèce, C‑470/98, Rec. p. I-4657, point 11, et du 7 décembre 2000, Commission/Italie, C‑423/99, Rec. p. I-11167, point 10).

53. However, precisely because of its general nature, that procedure must take account of the specific features which the Treaties lay down in respect of each field of EU activity, particularly as regards the powers of the institutions.

29. As the Court has already held (Case 126/86 Giménez Zaera [1987] ECR 3697, paragraph 11, and Joined Cases C-78/90 to C-83/90 Compagnie commerciale de l’Ouest and Others [1992] ECR I-1847, paragraphs 17 and 18), Articles 2 and 3 EC set out general aims made explicit by other provisions of the Treaty. They cannot be applied independently of the more specific provisions of the Treaty mentioned in the question referred.

46 In that regard, it must be pointed out that in its reply to questions put by the Court, the Commission explained that the declarations made by paid employees or by public servants are to be regarded as having been made by customs forwarding agents in the broad sense, given that, by virtue of the required level of specialization and the nature of their work, such persons may be treated as customs forwarding agents by occupation. In its reply to a question put by the Court at the hearing, the Commission nonetheless agreed that those persons, who make 22% of all declarations, are not subject to the business tariff. It follows that an importer does have a genuine choice in that he is not obliged to have recourse to a forwarding agent by occupation, and that consequently the tariff is not binding on anyone who wishes to make a customs declaration.

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).

39. First, preserving agricultural communities, maintaining a distribution of land ownership which allows the development of viable farms and sympathetic management of green spaces and the countryside as well as encouraging a reasonable use of the available land by resisting pressure on land, and preventing natural disasters are social objectives.

49 In adopting measures such as the setting of a time-limit for adapting existing work equipment, which involves taking into account complex economic and technical circumstances, the Member States have wide discretion (see, to that effect, inter alia Case 174/82 Sandoz [1983] ECR 2445, paragraph 19).

46 In that regard, the Court has held that benefits which are granted objectively on the basis of a statutorily defined position and are intended to improve the state of health and quality of life of persons reliant on care have as their essential purpose supplementing sickness insurance benefits and must be regarded as ‘sickness benefits’ for the purposes of Article 4(1)(a) of Regulation No 1408/71 (judgments of 5 March 1998, Molenaar, C‑160/96, EU:C:1998:84, paragraphs 23 to 25, and of 18 October 2007, Commission v Parliament and Council, C‑299/05, EU:C:2007:608, paragraph 61 and the case-law cited).

67. As regards the relevance of that ground of justification in the light of circumstances such as those of the main proceedings, to permit resident companies to grant unusual or gratuitous advantages to companies with which they have a relationship of interdependence that are established in other Member States, without making provision for any corrective tax measures, carries the risk that, by means of artificial arrangements, income transfers may be organised within companies having a relationship of interdependence towards those established in Member States applying the lowest rates of taxation or in Member States in which such income is not taxed (see, to that effect, Oy AA , paragraph 58).

25 Secondly, it is important to note that it is undisputed that the Owenduff-Nephin Beg Complex has been classified as an SPA since October 1996. In so far as concerns land classified as an SPA, Article 7 of the Habitats Directive provides that the obligations arising under the first sentence of Article 4(4) of the Birds Directive are replaced, inter alia, by the obligations arising under Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive as from the date of implementation of the Habitats Directive or the date of classification under the Birds Directive, where the latter date is later. It follows that, in the present case, Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive, rather than the first sentence of Article 4(4) of the Birds Directive, has applied to the Owenduff-Nephin Beg Complex SPA since October 1996. That being so, the Commission's plea must be dismissed in so far as it is based on infringement of the first sentence of Article 4(4) of the Birds Directive and the Court must confine itself to considering whether there has been an infringement of Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive.

50. Whilst the principle of freedom of expression is expressly recognised by Article 10 ECHR and constitutes one of the fundamental pillars of a democratic society, it nevertheless follows from the wording of Article 10(2) that freedom of expression is also subject to certain limitations justified by objectives in the public interest, in so far as those derogations are in accordance with the law, motivated by one or more of the legitimate aims under that provision and necessary in a democratic society, that is to say justified by a pressing social need and, in particular, proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued (see, to that effect, Case C-368/95 Familiapress [1997] ECR I-3689, paragraph 26; Case C-60/00 Carpenter [2002] ECR I-6279, paragraph 42; and Schmidberger , cited above, paragraph 79).

24. It is apparent from the foregoing that a charge the trigger for which is linked to a general authorisation procedure for access to the electronic telecommunications services market falls within the scope of Article 12 of the Authorisation Directive. The Member States must ensure that such an administrative charge is levied only for the purposes described in Article 12 of the Authorisation Directive and complies with the requirements set out in that provision.

39. It is settled case-law, however, that the principle of equal treatment or non-discrimination requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently and that different situations must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment is objectively justified (see IATA and ELFAA , paragraph 95; Case C‑300/04 Eman and Sevinger [2006] ECR I‑8055, paragraph 57; and Case C‑227/04 P Lindorfer v Council [2007] ECR I‑6767, paragraph 63).

26 As regards the definition of the market in question, it appears from the order for reference that it is that of the organisation on behalf of third persons of dock work relating to container freight in the port of La Spezia. Having regard to the volume of traffic in that port, which is regarded as the leading Mediterranean port for container traffic, and its importance in intra-Community trade, that market may be regarded as constituting a substantial part of the common market (Case C-179/90, paragraph 15).

41. To obtain that result, the actual depreciation of imported second-hand vehicles must be taken into account in calculating the amount of tax. That taking into account need not necessarily involve an assessment or inspection of every vehicle. A Member State may, avoiding the inherent burden of such a system, establish, by means of fixed scales determined by statute, regulation or administrative provision and calculated on the basis of criteria such as a vehicle’s age, kilometrage, general condition, propulsion method, make or model, a value for second-hand vehicles which, as a general rule, would be very close to their actual value ( Gomes Valente , paragraph 24; Weigel , paragraph 73; and Commission v Greece , paragraph 29).

85 Since the concept of the ‘total amount payable by the consumer’ is defined in Article 3(h) of Directive 2008/48 as being ‘the sum of the total amount of the credit and the total cost of the credit to the consumer’, it follows that the concepts of ‘total amount of the credit’ and of ‘total cost of the credit to the consumer’ are mutually exclusive and that, accordingly, the total amount of the credit cannot include any of the sums included in the total cost of the credit to the consumer.

Enfin, il convient d’ajouter que, contrairement à ce que suggère Ori Martin, le fait que le Tribunal a constaté qu’il n’y avait pas lieu de renverser la présomption de l’exercice effectif d’une influence déterminante d’Ori Martin sur SLM n’implique pas qu’il a conféré à cette présomption un caractère irréfragable. En effet, ainsi que la Cour l’a déjà jugé, la simple circonstance qu’une entité ne produise pas, dans un cas donné, d’éléments de preuve de nature à renverser la présomption de l’exercice effectif d’une influence déterminante de la société mère sur sa filiale ne signifie pas que cette présomption ne peut, en aucun cas, être renversée (arrêt du 26 novembre 2013, Groupe Gascogne/Commission, C‑58/12 P, EU:C:2013:770, point 41 et jurisprudence citée).

3 ESTIMANT QUE LE LITIGE SOULEVAIT DES QUESTIONS D' INTERPRETATION DU DROIT COMMUNAUTAIRE, LE TRIBUNALE DI MILANO A SURSIS A STATUER JUSQU' A CE QUE LA COUR SE SOIT PRONONCEE SUR LES QUESTIONS PREJUDICIELLES SUIVANTES : "1 ) UNE IMPOSITION DENOMMEE IMPOT DE CONSOMMATION (' IMPOSTA ERARIALE DI CONSUMO' ) FRAPPANT TANT LES PRODUITS IMPORTES QUE LES PRODUITS NATIONAUX, MAIS QUI, EN FAIT, S' APPLIQUE UNIQUEMENT AUX PRODUITS IMPORTES PARCE QUE, EN RAISON DES CONDITIONS CLIMATIQUES, IL N' EXISTE PAS DE PRODUCTION NATIONALE ( A SAVOIR, EN L' ESPECE, DES BANANES ), CONSTITUE-T-ELLE UNE TAXE D' EFFET EQUIVALANT A UN DROIT DE DOUANE, INTERDITE PAR LES ARTICLES 9 ET 12 DU TRAITE*CEE? 2 ) UNE TELLE IMPOSITION DOIT-ELLE, AU CONTRAIRE, ETRE CONSIDEREE COMME UNE IMPOSITION INTERIEURE AU SENS DE L' ARTICLE 95 DU TRAITE PRECITE DES LORS QUE, D' APRES SA DENOMINATION, ELLE FRAPPE LA CONSOMMATION DU PRODUIT, ET NON L' IMPORTATION, MEME SI ELLE EST MATERIELLEMENT PERCUE LORS DU DEDOUANEMENT ET QU' ELLE FRAPPE UNIQUEMENT LES BANANES, A L' EXCLUSION DE TOUTE AUTRE SORTE DE FRUITS? 3 ) AU CAS OU L' IMPOT EN QUESTION DEVRAIT ETRE CONSIDERE COMME UNE IMPOSITION INTERIEURE, EST-IL CONTRAIRE A L' ALINEA 2 DE L' ARTICLE 95 ET, EN TANT QUE TEL, INTERDIT DANS LA MESURE OU IL VISE A PROTEGER D' AUTRES PRODUCTIONS DE FRUITS, ET NOTAMMENT TOUS LES FRUITS NATIONAUX?

41. As regards the question whether national legislation falls within the scope of one or other of the fundamental freedoms, it is clear from well-established case-law that the purpose of the legislation concerned must be taken into consideration (see, inter alia, Case C‑157/05 Holböck [2007] ECR I‑4051, paragraph 22; Case C‑326/07 Commission v Italy , paragraph 33; and Case C-543/08 Commission v Portugal , paragraph 40).

47 It follows that a person who has the intention, confirmed by objective evidence, to commence independently an economic activity within the meaning of Article 4 of the Sixth Directive and who incurs the first investment expenditure for those purposes must be regarded as a taxable person. Acting in that capacity, he has therefore, in accordance with Article 17 et seq. of the Sixth Directive, the right immediately to deduct the VAT payable or paid on the investment expenditure incurred for the purposes of the transactions which he intends to carry out and which give rise to the right to deduct, without having to wait for the actual exploitation of his business to begin.

30. Next, contrary to the assertions made by the Belgian Government, situations such as those at issue in the main proceedings cannot be compared with the facts at issue in the case which gave rise to the judgment in Astra Zeneca UK . As evidenced by paragraphs 29 to 31 of that judgment, it was established that, in that case, there was a direct link between the provision of retail vouchers by Astra Zeneca Ltd to its employees and the part of the cash remuneration which the employees had to give up as consideration for that provision. In the cases at hand here, by contrast, it is not established either that the managers have suffered a reduction in salary corresponding to the value of having the building in question being made available to them or certain that part of the work done by those managers can be regarded as consideration for having the building in question being made available to them (see, by analogy, Case C‑258/95 Fillibeck [1997] ECR I‑5577, paragraphs 15 and 16).

114. In a situation such as that which is the subject of the present judgment, in light of the fact that the breach of obligations has persisted for a long period since the judgment which initially established it and of the public and private interests at issue, it is essential to order payment of a lump sum (see paragraph 81 of the present judgment).

19. It must be borne in mind that, in accordance with the case-law of the Court, the exemptions referred to in Article 13 of the Sixth Directive constitute independent concepts of European Union law whose purpose is to avoid divergences in the application of the VAT system as between one Member State and another (see, in particular, Case C‑349/96 CPP [1999] ECR I‑973, paragraph 15, and Case C‑473/08 Eulitz [2010] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 25 and the case-law cited).

77. En effet, la réglementation litigieuse considère, en principe, les héritiers ou les donataires tant résidents que non-résidents comme assujettis aux fins de la perception de droits de succession ou de mutation sur des biens immeubles situés en Espagne. Partant, il n’existe entre un résident et un non-résident aucune différence de situation objective de nature à fonder une différence de traitement (voir, en ce sens, arrêt Schumacker, EU:C:1995:31, point 37).

38. According to settled case-law, whilst the choice of penalties remains within their discretion, Member States must ensure that infringements of EU law are penalised under conditions, both procedural and substantive, which are analogous to those applicable to infringements of national law of a similar nature and importance and which, in any event, make the penalty effective, proportionate and dissuasive (see to that effect, judgment in Lidl Italia , C‑315/05, EU:C:2006:736, paragraph 58, and Berlusconi and Others , C‑387/02, C‑391/02 and C‑403/02, EU:C:2005:270, paragraphs 65 and the case-law cited).

Selon une jurisprudence constante de la Cour, l’article 56 TFUE s’oppose à l’application de toute réglementation nationale qui, sans justification objective, entrave la possibilité pour un prestataire de services d’exercer effectivement la liberté de prestation des services (voir, notamment, arrêts Cura Anlagen, C‑451/99, EU:C:2002:195, point 29, et Commission/France, C‑496/01, EU:C:2004:137, point 64).

68 That said, it is also apparent from the Court’s case-law that it is necessary to ensure that exercise of the rights of the defence, in the context of a procedure that may result in an act finding the existence of an infringement, is not impaired where operations are organised before the initiation of that procedure which enable information to be gathered that may be decisive for establishing such an infringement (see, to that effect, judgments of 7 January 2004, Aalborg Portland and Others v Commission, C‑204/00 P, C‑205/00 P, C‑211/00 P, C‑213/00 P, C‑217/00 P and C‑219/00 P, EU:C:2004:6, paragraphs 63 to 65, and of 27 April 2017, FSL and Others v Commission, C‑469/15 P, EU:C:2017:308, paragraph 43).

28. On that point, it should be noted that, although, clearly, the Member States were under an obligation to bring their national provisions into conformity with Directive 2002/74 before 8 October 2005, they are obliged under the second subparagraph of Article 2(1) of that directive to apply those provisions only to cases of insolvency which have occurred after their entry into force.

59 However, as the United Kingdom Government and the Commission have correctly pointed out, under the Court's case-law a national authority's use of a public-policy derogation presupposes that there is a genuine and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society (see Joined Cases 115/81 and 116/81 Adoui and Cornuaille [1982] ECR 1665, paragraph 8, Case C-348/96 Calfa [1999] ECR I-11, paragraph 21, and, on the interpretation of the provisions adopted within the context of the association arrangements between the European Economic Community and Turkey, Case C-340/97 Nazli [2000] ECR I-957, paragraphs 56 to 61).

42 As the Court held in its judgment in Case 105/83 Pakvries [1984] ECR 2101, paragraph 11, the aim of Article 233 of the Treaty is to prevent the application of Community law from causing the disintegration of the Benelux Union or from hindering its development. It therefore enables the three Member States concerned to apply, in derogation from the Community rules, the rules in force within their union in so far as that union is further advanced than the common market.

120 It is the individual nature of those acts which, in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 275 TFEU and the fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU, permits natural and legal persons to have access to the Courts of the European Union (judgment in Gbagbo and Others v Council, C‑478/11 P to C‑482/11 P, EU:C:2013:258, paragraph 57). However, the fact that the persons and entities who are the subject of the restrictive measures imposed by the regulation at issue are expressly named, so that they appear to be directly and individually concerned by it within the meaning of the fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU, does not mean that that act is not of general application within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article 288 TFEU or that it is not to be classified as a ‘regulation’ (judgment in Kadi and Al Barakaat International Foundation v Council and Commission, C‑402/05 P and C‑415/05 P, EU:C:2008:461, paragraph 241).

60. En troisième lieu, en ce qui concerne la capacité de paiement de l’État membre en cause, il y a lieu de tenir compte des arguments de la République hellénique, selon lesquels son produit intérieur brut (PIB) de l’année 2010, qui a été pris en compte pour le calcul du facteur «n» par la Commission dans sa communication C(2012) 6106 final, a entre-temps diminué. À cet égard, il échet de relever que le facteur «n» retenu pour la République hellénique par la Commission dans ladite communication, à savoir 4,12, a été fixé à 3,68 dans la communication C(2014) 6767 final de la Commission, du 17 septembre 2014, intitulée «Mise à jour des données utilisées pour le calcul des sommes forfaitaires et des astreintes que la Commission proposera à la Cour de justice dans le cadre de procédures d’infraction». En tout état de cause, il ressort de la jurisprudence de la Cour qu’il convient de prendre en compte l’évolution récente du PIB d’un État membre telle qu’elle se présente à la date de l’examen des faits par la Cour (voir, en ce sens, arrêt Commission/Grèce, C‑378/13, EU:C:2014:2405, point 58).

22 In that regard, it must be stated that it is clear from paragraphs 30 to 61 of the judgment of 7 June 2016 in Ghezelbash (C‑63/15) that Article 27(1) of Regulation No 604/2013, read in the light of recital 19 thereof, provides an asylum applicant with an effective remedy against a transfer decision made in respect of him, which may, inter alia, concern the examination of the application of that regulation and which may therefore result in a Member State’s responsibility being called into question, even where there are no systemic deficiencies in the asylum process or in the reception conditions for asylum applicants in that Member State, resulting in a risk of inhuman or degrading treatment within the meaning of Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

16 The term "supply of goods for the fuelling and provisioning of vessels" is capable of bearing several literal meanings . It could refer to the supply of goods which the recipient will use for the fuelling and provisioning of his vessels or the supply, at whatever stage it takes place, of goods which will subsequently be used for that purpose .

119 The same principle applies to clauses contained in the regulations of sporting associations which restrict the right of nationals of other Member States to take part, as professional players, in football matches (see the judgment in Donà, cited above, paragraph 19).

82. The same is true when the conduct of an undertaking with a dominant position in a given market tends to extend that position to a neighbouring but separate market by distorting competition.

59. On the other hand, it cannot be concluded therefrom that the Commission is barred from initiating an inquiry in order to verify or supplement information which it happened to obtain during a previous investigation if that information indicates the existence of conduct contrary to the competition rules in the Treaty. Such a bar would go beyond what is required to safeguard professional secrecy and the rights of the defence and would thus constitute an unjustified hindrance to the Commission in the accomplishment of its task of ensuring compliance with the competition rules in the common market and identifying infringements of Articles 101 TFEU and 102 TFEU (see, to that effect, judgment in Dow Benelux v Commission , 85/87, EU:C:1989:379, paragraph 19).

33. In this regard, it is settled case-law that the risk that the public might believe that the goods or services in question come from the same undertaking or, as the case may be, from economically-linked undertakings, constitutes a likelihood of confusion within the meaning of Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation No 40/94 (see First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (OJ 1989 L 40, p. 1); Case C-342/97 Lloyd Schuhfabrik Meyer [1999] ECR I‑3819, paragraph 17; and Case C-120/04 Medion [2005] ECR I‑8551, paragraph 26).

56. It is true that the Court has also held that, where the European Union intends to implement a particular obligation assumed in the context of the agreements concluded in the context of the World Trade Organization (‘the WTO agreements’) or where the EU act at issue refers explicitly to specific provisions of those agreements, the Court should review the legality of the act at issue and the acts adopted for its implementation in the light of the rules of those agreements (see judgments in Fediol v Commission , EU:C:1989:254, paragraphs 19 to 23; Nakajima v Council , EU:C:1991:186, paragraphs 29 to 32; Germany v Council , C‑280/93, EU:C:1994:367, paragraph 111; and Italy v Council , C‑352/96, EU:C:1998:531, paragraph 19).

40. S’agissant des moyens invoqués par la République italienne dans le cadre de sa défense, il y a lieu de relever que, selon une jurisprudence constante, le seul moyen de défense susceptible d’être invoqué par un État membre contre un recours en manquement introduit par la Commission sur le fondement de l’article 108, paragraphe 2, TFUE est celui tiré d’une impossibilité absolue d’exécuter correctement la décision en cause (voir, notamment, arrêts du 22 décembre 2010, Commission/Italie, C‑304/09, non encore publié au Recueil, point 35, et du 6 octobre 2011, Commission/Italie, C‑302/09, point 40).

72. With regard, next, to the question whether there was, in the case in the main proceedings, an "outbreak ... of any zoonoses, diseases or other cause likely to constitute a serious hazard to animals or to human health" within the meaning of the first subparagraph of Article 10(1) of Directive 90/425, it should be recalled, as follows from the Court's case-law, that this condition is likely to be met when new information significantly alters the perception of the danger represented by the disease (see, along these lines, Case C-157/96 National Farmers' Union and Others [1998] ECR I-2211, paragraphs 29 to 32, and Case C-180/96 United Kingdom v Commission [1998] ECR I-2265, paragraphs 50 to 53).

53. Third, it should be observed that the Court has ruled that a measure extending a definitive anti-dumping duty is merely ancillary to the initial act establishing that duty (judgment in Paltrade , C‑667/11, EU:C:2013:368, paragraph 28).

132. Notwithstanding their preventive nature, the restrictive measures at issue have, as regards those rights and freedoms, a substantial negative impact related, first, to the serious disruption of the working and family life of the person concerned due to the restrictions on the exercise of his right to property which stem from their general scope combined, as in this case, with the actual duration of their application, and, on the other, the public opprobrium and suspicion of that person which those measures provoke (see, to that effect, the Kadi judgment, paragraphs 358, 369 and 375; France v People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran , paragraph 64; Al-Aqsa v Council and Netherlands v Al-Aqsa , paragraph 120, and the judgment of 28 May 2013 in Case C‑239/12 P Abdulrahim v Council and Commission [2013] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 70 and case-law cited).

358. That freezing measure constitutes a temporary precautionary measure which is not supposed to deprive those persons of their property. It does, however, undeniably entail a restriction of the exercise of Mr Kadi’s right to property that must, moreover, be classified as considerable, having regard to the general application of the freezing measure and the fact that it has been applied to him since 20 October 2001.

77. It must be recalled here that a justification connected with the need to safeguard the balanced allocation between the Member States of the power to tax may be accepted, in particular, where the system in question is designed to prevent conduct capable of jeopardising the right of a Member State to exercise its powers of taxation in relation to activities carried on in its territory (see Case C‑347/04 Rewe Zentralfinanz [2007] ECR I‑2647, paragraph 42; Case C‑231/05 Oy AA [2007] ECR I‑6373, paragraph 54; Amurta , paragraph 58; and Case C‑303/07 Aberdeen Property Fininvest Alpha [2009] ECR I‑5145, paragraph 66).

En effet, à l’instar des lignes directrices de 1998, c’est dans un souci de transparence que la Commission a adopté les lignes directrices de 2006, dans lesquelles elle indique à quel titre elle prendra en considération telle ou telle circonstance de l’infraction et les conséquences qui pourront en être tirées sur le montant de l’amende (voir, en ce sens, s’agissant des lignes directrices de 1998, arrêt du 8 décembre 2011, KME Germany e.a./Commission, C‑389/10 P, EU:C:2011:816, point 126, et, s’agissant des lignes directrices de 2006, arrêt du 20 janvier 2016, Toshiba Corporation/Commission, C‑373/14 P, EU:C:2016:26, point 83).

23 In order to determine whether a body making a reference is a court or tribunal for the purposes of Article 177 of the Treaty, which is a question governed by Community law alone, the Court takes account of a number of factors, such as whether the body is established by law, whether it is permanent, whether its jurisdiction is compulsory, whether its procedure is inter partes, whether it applies rules of law and whether it is independent (see, in particular, the judgments in Case 61/65 Vaassen (neé Göbbels) [1966] ECR 261; Case 14/86 Pretore di Salò v Persons unkown [1987] ECR 2545, paragraph 7; Case 109/88 Danfoss [1989] ECR 3199, paragraphs 7 and 8; Case C-393/92 Almelo and Others [1994] ECR I-1477; and Case C-111/94 Job Centre [1995] ECR I-3361, paragraph 9).

63. In this respect the Member States unarguably enjoy broad discretion in their choice of the measures capable of attaining their objectives in the field of social and employment policy.

47. In any event, if the Court decides to impose a lump sum payment, it must, in exercising its discretion, do so in a manner that is, on the one hand, appropriate to the circumstances and, on the other, proportionate both to the breach that has been established and the ability to pay of the Member State concerned (see Case C‑278/01 Commission v Spain [2003] ECR I‑14141, paragraph 41).

33. As is clear from Article 59(1) of the Customs Code, European Union customs law establishes the principle whereby all goods intended to be placed under a customs procedure must be covered by a declaration.

54. The rule that the parties should be heard does not merely confer on each party to proceedings the right to be apprised of the documents produced and observations made to the Court by the other party and to discuss them. It also implies a right for the parties to be apprised of the matters raised by those courts of their own motion, on which they intend basing their decision, and to discuss them. In order to satisfy the requirements relating to the right to a fair hearing, it is important for the parties to be apprised of, and to be able to debate and be heard on, the matters of fact and of law which will determine the outcome of the proceedings ( Commission v Ireland and Others , paragraphs 55 and 56, and Case C‑472/11 Banif Plus Bank [2013] ECR, paragraph 30).

157. The tasks allocated to the ECB consist of assessing the urgency of requests for stability support (Article 4(4)), participating in the meetings of the Board of Governors and the Board of Directors as an observer (Articles 5(3) and 6(2)) and, in liaison with the Commission, assessing requests for stability support (Article 13(1)), negotiating an MoU (Article 13(3)) and monitoring compliance with the conditionality attached to the financial assistance (Article 13(7)).

34. Accordingly, the main objective pursued in recovering unlawfully paid State aid is to eliminate the distortion of competition caused by the competitive advantage which such aid affords (Case C‑277/00 Germany v Commission [2004] ECR I‑3925, paragraph 76, and Case C-520/07 P Commission v MTU Friedrichshafen [2009] ECR I‑8555, paragraph 57). By repaying the aid, the beneficiary forfeits the advantage which it had over its competitors on the market, and the situation prior to payment of the aid is restored (Case C‑350/93 Commission v Italy [1995] ECR I‑699, paragraph 22).

19. That analysis is borne out by the fact, which constitutes the subject-matter of the third question referred by the national court, that a new car bought for a purpose other than being put into circulation within the areas in which the Danish Law on road traffic applies (for example, a collector’s vehicle, a vehicle intended for use exclusively on private ground or a vehicle destined for transfer outside the national territory) does not give rise to the levying of the registration duty in spite of a supply taking place within that territory.

30. In that regard, it must be noted that Article 3(1)(b) of the directive is intended to preclude registration of trade marks which are devoid of the distinctive character which alone renders them capable of fulfilling the essential function of a trade mark, which is to guarantee the identity of the origin of the marked product or service to the consumer or end-user by enabling him, without any possibility of confusion, to distinguish that product or service from others which have another origin (see Case C‑299/99 Philips [2002] ECR I‑5475, paragraph 30, and SAT.1 v OHIM , paragraph 23).

50. With regard to the argument put forward by the Italian Republic that default interest is not due in respect of the operations in question on the ground that no customs debt was ever incurred, the Commission argues first that the wording of Article 379 of the Implementing Regulation indicates precisely the contrary, that is to say, it shows that a customs debt can be incurred where one of the two structural conditions laid down in that provision materialise, in other words, where the customs operation is irregular or where the debtor has failed to furnish proof of its regularity.

27 In this regard, it should be noted that Directive 93/42, which constitutes a harmonisation measure adopted pursuant to Article 100a of the EC Treaty (subsequently Article 95 EC), is intended to promote the free movement of medical devices which comply with the requirements of that directive, by replacing the various legislative, regulatory and administrative measures in force in the Member States which create barriers to free trade (judgments of 14 June 2007, Medipac-Kazantzidis, C‑6/05, EU:C:2007:337, paragraph 51, and of 19 November 2009, Nordiska Dental, C‑288/08, EU:C:2009:718, paragraph 20).

63. However, it is necessary for that purpose that the application of such a convention should allow the effects of the difference in treatment under national legislation to be compensated for (see Commission v Italy , para graph 37, and Commission v Spain , paragraph 59).

50. The First Directive is therefore part of a series of directives which came progressively to define the obligations of Member States concerning civil liability in respect of the use of vehicles. Although the Court has repeatedly held that it is apparent from the recitals in the preambles to the First and Second Directives that the aim of those directives is to ensure the free movement of vehicles normally based on European Union territory and of persons travelling in those vehicles, it has also repeatedly held that they also have the objective of guaranteeing that the victims of accidents caused by those vehicles receive comparable treatment irrespective of where in the European Union the accident occurred (see, inter alia, to that effect Ruiz Bernáldez , C‑129/94, EU:C:1996:143, paragraph 13, and Csonka and Others , C‑409/11, EU:C:2013:512, paragraph 26 and the case-law cited).

24. It follows that it is for the appellant to establish not only that it did not have access to certain exculpatory evidence, but also that it could have used that evidence for its defence.

32 However, it is settled case-law of the Court that EU law may not be relied on for abusive or fraudulent ends. The application of EU legislation may not be extended to cover abusive practices by economic operators, that is to say, transactions carried out not in the context of normal commercial operations, but solely for the purpose of wrongfully obtaining advantages under EU law (see, inter alia, judgments in Halifax and Others, C‑255/02, EU:C:2006:121, paragraphs 68 and 69 and the case-law cited, and SICES and Others, C‑155/13, EU:C:2014:145, paragraphs 29 and 30).

88. D’autre part, le pouvoir accordé au Conseil par l’article 88, paragraphe 2, troisième alinéa, CE ne trouve à s’appliquer que dans les limites indiquées par cette disposition, à savoir en présence de circonstances exceptionnelles (voir, en ce sens, arrêt du 29 février 1996, Commission/Conseil, C‑122/94, Rec. p. I‑881, point 13).

16. À cet égard, il convient 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 que les changements intervenus par la suite ne sauraient être pris en compte par la Cour (voir, notamment, arrêt du 17 janvier 2008, Commission/Allemagne, C‑152/05, Rec. p. I‑39, point 15 et jurisprudence citée).

34 Consequently, where the competent institution for the payment of family benefits is German, the notion of self-employed person within the meaning of Article 73 of Regulation No 1408/71 must be interpreted as referring only to persons satisfying the specific conditions set forth in the second indent of Article 1(a)(ii) and point I, C, (b) of Annex I, the definitions set out in Article 1(a)(i) and (iv) being applicable as appropriate to the other contingencies against which the worker is voluntarily insured.

29 It follows from the clear terms of Article 5(2)(b) of Directive 2001/29 that the private copying exception is intended exclusively for natural persons making, or having the capacity to make, reproductions of protected works or subject matter for private use and for purposes neither directly nor indirectly commercial (see, to that effect, judgments of 21 October 2010 in Padawan, C‑467/08, EU:C:2010:620, paragraphs 43 to 45 and 54 to 56, and 5 March 2015 in Copydan Båndkopi, C‑463/12, EU:C:2015:144, paragraphs 22 to 25 and 64).

48. In such a situation, compliance with the principle of fiscal neutrality is ensured by the possibility, to be provided for by the Member States and noted in paragraph 37 above, of correcting any tax improperly invoiced where the issuer of the invoice shows that he acted in good faith or where he has, in sufficient time, wholly eliminated the risk of any loss of tax revenue.

42 In the present case, it is apparent from the order for reference that a large number of subscribers to Ziggo and XS4ALL have downloaded media files using the online sharing platform TPB. It is also clear from the observations submitted to the Court that this platform is used by a considerable number of persons, the operators of TPB claiming, on their online sharing platform, to have several dozens of millions of ‘peers’. In this respect, the communication at issue in the main proceedings covers, at the very least, all of the platform’s users. These users can access, at any time and simultaneously, the protected works which are shared by means of the platform. Thus, that communication is aimed at an indeterminate number of potential recipients and involves a large number of persons (see, to this effect, judgment of 26 April 2017, Stichting Brein, C‑527/15, EU:C:2017:300, paragraph 45 and the case-law cited).

66. As a result, it must be held that, by restricting the concept of collective redundancies to redundancies for structural, technological or cyclical reasons, and by failing to extend that concept to dismissals for any reason not related to the individual workers concerned, the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 1 and 6 of the Directive, and the remainder of the action must be dismissed.

88. On the other hand, a national provision which merely authorises recourse to successive fixed-term employment contracts in a general and abstract manner by a rule of statute or secondary legislation does not accord with the requirements as stated in the previous paragraph. Such a provision, which is of a purely formal nature, does not permit objective and transparent criteria to be identified in order to verify whether the renewal of such contracts actually responds to a genuine need, is capable of achieving the objective pursued and is necessary for that purpose. Such a provision therefore carries a real risk that it will result in misuse of that type of contract and, accordingly, is not compatible with the objective of the Framework Agreement and the requirement that it have practical effect (judgment in Kücük , EU:C:2012:39, paragraphs 28 and 29 and the case-law cited).

30. Under the transitional arrangements laid down in Title XVIa of the Sixth Directive, firstly, the vendor effects an exempted supply in the Member State of the departure of the dispatch or intra-Community transport of the goods in accordance with Article 8(1)(a) and the first subparagraph of Article 28c(A)(a) of that directive and, then, is granted by that Member State a deduction or refund of the VAT due or paid as input tax in that Member State in respect of those goods under Article 17(3)(b) of that directive, as amended by Article 28f(1) of that directive. For his part, the person acquiring the goods makes an intra-Community acquisition that is taxed in the Member State in which that dispatch or intra-Community transport ends under the first subparagraph of Article 28a(1)(a) and Article 28b(A)(1) of the Sixth Directive.

27. As the Court has already pointed out, the purpose of the Directive is to lay down a number of rules on the holding, movement and monitoring of products subject to excise duty, in particular so as to ensure that chargeability of excise duties is identical in all the Member States ( EMU Tabac and Others , paragraph 22; Case C-325/99 Van de Water [2001] ECR I-2729, paragraph 39; and Case C-395/00 Cipriani [2002] ECR I-11877, paragraph 41).

45 That definition, which is set out in paragraph 11 above, now refers expressly to any breach of EU law or national law relating to its application. Read in the light of the foregoing considerations, that elucidation concerning breaches of national law clarifies the scope of the term ‘irregularity’ in Article 2(7) of Regulation No 1083/2006 (see, to that effect, a contrario, judgment of 7 April 2016 in PARTNER Apelski Dariusz, C‑324/14, EU:C:2016:214, paragraphs 90 and 91).

60. As the German Government submitted, it follows from the settled case-law of the Court that, in the absence of Community rules governing the 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 for safeguarding rights which individuals derive directly from Community law, provided that such rules are not less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions (the principle of equivalence) and that they do not render practically impossible or excessively difficult the exercise of rights conferred by Community law (the principle of effectiveness) (see, inter alia , Case C-453/99 Courage and Crehan [2001] ECR I-6297, paragraph 29, and Case C-255/00 Grundig Italiana [2002] ECR I-8003, paragraph 33).

33 It follows that a restriction on the freedom to provide services, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, cannot be justified by the fact that non-resident financial institutions are subject to a tax rate which is lower than the rate for resident financial institutions.

51. When they are based on Article 108(1) TFEU, those guidelines constitute one element of the regular and periodic cooperation under which the Commission, in conjunction with the Member States, must keep under constant review existing systems of aid and propose to them any appropriate measures required by the progressive development or by the functioning of the common market (see, to that effect, Case C‑311/94 IJssel-Vliet [1996] ECR I‑5023, paragraphs 36 and 37, and Case C‑288/96 Germany v Commission [2000] ECR I‑8237, paragraph 64). To the extent that those proposals for appropriate measures are accepted by a Member State, they are binding upon that State (see, to that effect, IJssel-Vliet , paragraphs 42 and 43, and Case C‑288/96 Germany v Commission , paragraph 65), which must, as Article 19(1) of Regulation No 659/1999 states, implement them.

187 In that regard, it should be borne in mind that the reasonableness of a period is to be appraised in the light of the circumstances specific to each case and, in particular, the importance of the case for the person concerned, its complexity and the conduct of the applicant and of the competent authorities (Baustahlgewebe, paragraph 29).

37. It must be pointed out in that regard that, in the absence of Community rules on applications for the repayment of taxes, it is for the domestic legal system of each Member State to lay down the conditions under which such applications may be made; those conditions must observe the principles of equivalence and effectiveness, that is to say, they must not be less favourable than those relating to similar claims founded on provisions of domestic law or framed so as to render virtually impossible the exercise of rights conferred by the Community legal order (see, inter alia, Case C‑30/02 Recheio – Cash & Carry [2004] ECR I‑6051, paragraph 17, and Case C‑291/03 MyTravel [2005] ECR I‑8477, paragraph 17).

227. It follows that the Habitats Directive requires that any plan or project undergo an appropriate assessment of its implications if it cannot be excluded on the basis of objective information that that plan or project will have a significant effect on the site concerned.

24 The finding that the pension scheme is governed directly by statute is without doubt a strong indication that the benefits provided by the scheme are social security benefits. As the Court has consistently held (Case 80/70 Defrenne v Belgian State [1971] ECR 445 ° Defrenne I, paragraphs 7 and 8, and, most recently, Ten Oever, cited above, paragraph 9), although consideration in the nature of social security benefits is not in principle alien to the concept of pay, that concept, as defined in Article 119, cannot embrace social security schemes or benefits such as, for example, retirement pensions, directly governed by statute to the exclusion of any element of negotiation within the undertaking or occupational sector concerned, which are obligatorily applicable to general categories of employees. Such schemes give employees the benefit of a statutory scheme, to whose financing the contributions of workers, employers and possibly the public authorities are determined not so much by the employment relationship between the employer and the worker as by considerations of social policy.

30. To refuse generally, in a Member State, to register in the commercial register a merger between a company established in that State and one established in another Member State has the result of preventing the realisation of cross-border mergers even if the interests mentioned in paragraph 28 of this judgment are not threatened. In any event, such a rule goes beyond what is necessary to protect those interests.

69. In view of the purpose of Directive 2003/86, which is to promote family reunification (Case C-578/08 Chakroun [2010] ECR I-1839, paragraph 43), and the protection it aims to give to third country nationals, in particular minors, the application of that directive cannot be excluded solely because one of the parents of a minor third country national is also the parent of a Union citizen, born of a previous marriage.

117. The Court thus held in Van Parys , paragraph 51, that the expiry of the period granted by the DSB for implementation of its decision of 25 September 1997 does not imply that the Community had exhausted the possibilities under the DSU of finding a solution to the dispute between it and the other parties. In those circumstances, to require the Community courts, merely on the basis that that period has expired, to review the legality of the Community measures concerned in the light of the WTO rules could have the effect of undermining the Community’s position in its attempt to reach a mutually acceptable solution to the dispute in conformity with those rules.

37 It is clear, however, from the judgments in Case C-57/93 Vroege [1994] ECR I-4541, paragraphs 20 to 27, Case C-128/93 Fisscher [1994] ECR I-4583, paragraphs 17 to 24, and Case C-246/96 Magorrian and Cunningham v EHSSB and DHSS [1997] ECR I-7153, paragraphs 27 to 35, that the limitation in time of the effects of Article 119 resulting from both the Barber judgment and the Protocol concerns only those kinds of discrimination which employers and pension schemes could reasonably have considered to be permissible owing to the transitional derogations for which Community law provided and which were capable of being applied to occupational pensions (see Case C-435/93 Dietz v Stichting Thuiszorg Rotterdam [1996] ECR I-5223, paragraph 19).

2 That question was raised in proceedings in which the National Farmers' Union, a trade association which represents the majority of farmers in England and Wales, and nine undertakings engaged in the raising for sale, feeding, lairage, transport and export of livestock, bovine semen and embryos and the processing and export of beef and beef-related products (hereinafter referred to collectively as `the NFU') are contesting various acts adopted pursuant to Article 1 of the decision by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Commissioners of Customs and Excise. Twelve parties have intervened in the main proceedings in support of the applicants. The first to eleventh interveners are meat exporters and members of the International Meat Traders Association, whilst the twelfth is the British Association of Sheep Exporters, which claims to have suffered serious injury in consequence of the decision, since it has resulted in the discontinuance of the transportation of sheep by ferries, which is not economically viable for exports of sheep alone.

64 In that regard, information, before and at the time of concluding a contract, on the terms of the contract and the consequences of concluding it is of fundamental importance for a consumer. It is, in particular, on the basis of that information that the consumer decides whether he wishes to be bound by the conditions drafted in advance by the seller or supplier (see, to that effect, judgment of 16 January 2014 in Constructora Principado, C‑226/12, EU:C:2014:10, paragraph 25 and the case-law cited).

38. Firstly, even if two successive supplies give rise only to a single movement of goods, they must be regarded as having followed each other in time. The intermediary acquiring the goods can transfer the right to dispose of the goods as owner to the second person acquiring the goods only if it has previously been transferred to him by the first vendor and, therefore, the second supply can take place only after the first supply has been effected.

18 In that same judgment, at paragraph 33, the Court held that, in the light of the wording of Article 21 of the Convention and the objective set out above, that article must be understood as requiring, as a condition of the obligation of the second court seised to decline jurisdiction, that the parties to the two actions be identical.

46 As regards, secondly, the supply by the retailer who receives the reimbursement, it is important to note that the fact that a portion of the consideration received for that supply was not actually paid by the final consumer himself but was made available on behalf of the final consumer by a third party not connected with that transaction is immaterial for the purposes of determining that retailer's taxable amount (see, in that connection, Case C-18/92 Bally [1993] ECR I-2871, paragraph 17).

60. Next, it is clear from settled case-law of the Court that the question whether a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations must be determined by reference to the situation in that Member State as it stood at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion (see, inter alia, Case C‑110/00 Commission v Austria [2001] ECR I‑7545, paragraph 13, and Case C‑487/08 Commission v Spain [2010] ECR I‑4843, paragraph 34). Further, the rules laid down in Article 258 TFEU are to be applied without the Commission being required to comply with fixed time-limits. The Commission is thus entitled to decide, in its discretion, on what date it may be appropriate to bring an action and it is not for the Court, as a general rule to review the exercise of that discretion (Case C‑297/08 Commission v Italy [2010] ECR I‑1749, paragraph 87 and case-law cited).

55 It follows from that information and the description of the video multiplexer given by the referring court, as set out in paragraphs 24 to 33 above, that the video multiplexer, having regard to its objective characteristics and properties and its intended purpose, has a principal function of recording and reproducing video within a security and surveillance system.

28. However, Member States must exercise that competence in accordance with Community law, in particular with the Treaty provisions concerning the freedom accorded to every citizen of the Union to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States ( Tas-Hagen and Tas , paragraph 22, and Nerkowska , point 24).

30 Secondly, a scheme under which nursery places made available by an employer to his staff are reserved only for female employees does in fact create a difference of treatment on grounds of sex, within the meaning of Articles 2(1) and 5(1) of the Directive. The situations of a male employee and a female employee, respectively father and mother of young children, are comparable as regards the possible need for them to use nursery facilities because they are in employment (see, to that effect, Case 312/86 Commission v France [1988] ECR 6315, paragraph 14, and, by analogy, as regards the situation of female employees and male employees assuming the upbringing of their children, judgment of 29 November 2001 in Case C-366/99 Griesmar [2001] ECR I-9383, paragraph 56).

57. In those circumstances, it is sufficient for the Commission to prove that the subsidiary is wholly owned by the parent company in order to presume that the parent actually exercises decisive influence over the subsidiary’s commercial policy. The Commission will then be able to regard the parent company as jointly and severally liable for payment of the fine imposed on its subsidiary, unless the parent company, which has the burden of rebutting that presumption, adduces sufficient evidence to show that its subsidiary acts independently on the market (see Case 286/98 P Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags v Commission [2000] ECR I‑9925, paragraph 29; Akzo Nobel and Others v Commission , paragraph 61; General Química and Others v Commission , paragraph 40; and ArcelorMittal Luxembourg v Commission and Commission v ArcelorMittal Luxembourg and Others , paragraph 98).

61. Article 1(2)(d) of the Regulation provides that such matters may deal with ‘the placement of the child in a foster family or in institutional care’.

47 As the Court has already held, the common organisations of the markets in agricultural products are not a competition-free zone (judgment of 9 September 2003, Milk Marque and National Farmers’ Union, C‑137/00, EU:C:2003:429, paragraph 61).

76. Accordingly, since the conditions that the act of which annulment is sought should be of direct concern and individual concern are cumulative, the consequence, if one of those conditions is not met by an applicant, is that an action brought by him for annulment of that act must be held to be inadmissible.

51 It must be recalled that, as regards the requirement that a hallmark must be affixed by a legal person satisfying certain requirements as to competence and independence, the Court has indeed previously held that a Member State cannot, by arguing that the guarantee function of the hallmark can be ensured only by action by the competent body of the Member State of import, prevent the marketing in its territory of articles of precious metals hallmarked in the Member State of export by an independent body. The existence of double controls in the Member State of export and the Member State of import cannot be justified if the results of the control carried out in the Member State of origin satisfy the requirements of the Member State of import. The Court has also held that the hallmark’s guarantee function is satisfied if it is affixed by an independent body in the Member State of export (see, to that effect, judgment of 15 September 1994, Houtwipper, C‑293/93, EU:C:1994:330, paragraphs 17 to 19).

75. That said, it must be borne in mind that an undertaking remains at liberty to demonstrate that its pricing practice, albeit producing an exclusionary effect, is economically justified (see, to that effect, Case C‑95/04 P British Airways v Commission [2007] ECR I‑2331, paragraph 69, and France Télécom v Commission , paragraph 111).

75. As regards, in that respect, InnoLux’s argument that taking those sales into account in order to calculate the fine imposed for breach of Article 101 TFEU is likely to result in the same anti-competitive conduct giving rise to concurrent penalties imposed by the competition authorities of a non-member State, it must be pointed out that, contrary to the Commission’s contentions, that claim is admissible at the appeal stage in the light of Article 170(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, since it does not change the subject-matter of the proceedings. However, it must be borne in mind that, as the Court has held, neither the principle non bis in idem nor any other principle of law obliges the Commission to take account of proceedings and penalties to which the undertaking has been subject in non-member States (see judgments in Showa Denko v Commission , C‑289/04 P, EU:C:2006:431, paragraphs 52 to 58; SGL Carbon v Commission , C‑308/04 P, EU:C:2006:433, paragraphs 28 to 34; and SGL Carbon v Commission , C‑328/05 P, EU:C:2007:277, paragraphs 24 to 35).

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

164. It is therefore for the referring court to determine to what extent the conditions for application and effective implementation of the relevant provisions of domestic law constitute a measure adequate for the punishment of the misuse by the public authorities of successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships (see, to that effect, Vassallo , paragraph 41; and Marrosu and Sardino , paragraph 56; also order in Vassilakis and Others , paragraph 135).

19 According to the third recital in its preamble, Decision No 1/80 on the development of the Association, which the Council of Association subsequently adopted on 19 September 1980, seeks to improve, in the social field, the treatment accorded to workers and members of their families in relation to the arrangements introduced by Decision No 2/76.

20. In that regard, the Court notes that, in the context of the cooperation between the Court and the national courts provided for by Article 234 EC, it is solely for the national court before which the dispute has been brought, and which must assume responsibility for the subsequ ent judicial decision, to determine in the light of the particular circumstances of the case both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to enable it to deliver judgment and the relevance of the questions which it submits to the Court (see, inter alia, Case C‑306/99 BIAO [2003] ECR I‑1, paragraph 88; Case C‑217/05 Confederación Española de Empresarios de Estaciones de Servicio [2006] ECR I‑11987, paragraph 16; and Case C‑260/07 Pedro IV Servicios [2009] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 28).

54. The periodicity of the penalty payment should therefore be fixed by determining it on a half-yearly basis, so as to allow the Commission to assess the state of progress of the recovery operations by reference to the situation prevailing at the end of that period, while allowing the defendant Member State the time needed to compile and transmit to the Commission the evidence capable of establishing, for the period in question, the recovery of the sums wrongly paid.

35. Secondly, that legislation must make provision for a procedure enabling interested parties to have new species of mammals included in the national list of authorised species. The procedure must be one which is readily accessible, which presupposes that it is expressly provided for in a measure of general application, and can be completed within a reasonable time, and, if it leads to a refusal to include a species – it being obligatory to state the reasons for that refusal – the refusal decision must be open to challenge before the courts (see, by analogy, Case C-344/90 Commission v France , paragraph 9, and Case C-24/00 Commission v France , paragraphs 26 and 37).

74. Removing unlawful aid by means of recovery is the logical consequence of a finding that it is unlawful and seeks to re-establish the previous situation ( Italy and SIM 2 Multimedia , paragraph 66).

36. In that connection it is important to bear in mind that, since the harmfulness of narcotic drugs, including those derived from hemp, such as cannabis, is generally recognised, there is a prohibition in all the Member States on marketing them, with the exception of strictly controlled trade for use for medical and scientific purposes (see, to that effect, Case 50/80 Horvath [1981] ECR 385, paragraph 10; Case 221/81 Wolf [1982] ECR 3681, paragraph 8; Case 240/81 Einberger [1982] ECR 3699, paragraph 8; Case 294/82 Einberger [1984] ECR 1177, paragraph 15; Case 269/86 Mol [1988] ECR 3627, paragraph 15; and Vereniging Happy Family Rustenburgerstraat , paragraph 17).

265UBC ' S RETRACTATION , WHICH THE COMMISSION HAS NOT EFFECTIVELY REFUTED , ESTABLISHES BEYOND DOUBT THAT THE BASIS FOR THE CALCULATION ADOPTED BY THE LATTER TO PROVE THAT UBC ' S PRICES ARE EXCESSIVE IS OPEN TO CRITICISM AND ON THIS PARTICULAR POINT THERE IS DOUBT WHICH MUST BENEFIT THE APPLICANT , ESPECIALLY AS FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS BANANA PRICES , IN REAL TERMS , HAVE NOT RISEN ON THE RELEVANT MARKET .

53 Moreover, survivors' pensions are, like the determination of retirement age, among the exceptions provided for by Article 9 of Council Directive 86/378/EEC of 24 July 1986 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes (OJ 1986 L 225, p. 40). It was precisely the existence of those exceptions which led the Court to hold that the Member States and parties concerned were reasonably entitled to consider that Article 119 did not apply in this context and consequently to limit the effects in time of the Barber judgment (paragraphs 42 and 43).

36 While it is true that the WTO agreements, as the Portuguese Government observes, differ significantly from the provisions of GATT 1947, in particular by reason of the strengthening of the system of safeguards and the mechanism for resolving disputes, the system resulting from those agreements nevertheless accords considerable importance to negotiation between the parties.

37 It is settled case-law that Community law does not preclude more favourable rules under national law than those under Community law itself provided that such rules are compatible with Community law (see Case 34/69 Duffy [1969] ECR 597, paragraph 9; Case 100/78 Rossi [1979] ECR 831, paragraph 14; Case 733/79 Laterza [1980] ECR 1915, paragraph 8; Case 807/79 Gravina and Others [1980] ECR 2205, paragraph 7; Rönfeldt, cited above, paragraph 26, and Case C-370/90 Singh [1992] ECR I-4265, paragraph 23).

17TO THIS FINDING MUST BE ADDED THE FACT THAT THE COMPULSORY JURISDICTION PROVIDED FOR IN THE SECOND PARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE 14 OF THE CONVENTION MUST , BECAUSE IT DEROGATES FROM THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE SYSTEM LAID DOWN BY THE CONVENTION IN MATTERS OF CONTRACT , SUCH AS MAY BE DERIVED IN PARTICULAR FROM ARTICLES 2 AND 5 ( 1 ), BE STRICTLY LIMITED TO THE OBJECTIVES PROPER TO SECTION 4 OF THE SAID CONVENTION .

27. Furthermore, it is settled case-law that the principle of equal treatment requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently and that different situations must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment is objectively justified (Case C-434/02 Arnold André [2004] ECR I-0000, paragraph 68 and the case-law cited there, and Case C-210/03 Swedish Match [2004] ECR I-0000, paragraph 70 and the case-law cited there).

55 It follows from that information and the description of the video multiplexer given by the referring court, as set out in paragraphs 24 to 33 above, that the video multiplexer, having regard to its objective characteristics and properties and its intended purpose, has a principal function of recording and reproducing video within a security and surveillance system.

36. In the present case, since the Commission would, as is apparent from paragraph 22 above, have been entitled to seek a declaration that the French Republic had failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 228(1) EC because it had not, by the date on which the period prescribed in the reasoned opinion expired, made provision for exclusion of suppliers’ liability in any of the cases referred to in Article 3(3) of Directive 85/374, it cannot be criticised for seeking such a declaration with respect to one of those cases only, as a result of the adoption by that Member State of partial measures for compliance with the judgment in Case C‑52/00 Commission v France (see, by analogy, Case C‑174/91 Commission v Belgium [1993] ECR I‑2275, paragraphs 8 to 12).

23. In that regard, it must be recalled at the outset that the question whether an operation is to be classified as a ‘service concession’ or a ‘public service contract’ must be considered exclusively in the light of European Union law (see, inter alia, Case C‑382/05 Commission v Italy [2007] ECR I‑6657, paragraph 31, and Case C-196/08 Acoset [2009] ECR I‑9913, paragraph 38).

38 With regard to judicial review of the conditions governing implementation of that prohibition, the Community institutions none the less have, in regard to the common agricultural policy, a wide discretion which reflects the responsibilities which the Treaty imposes on them (judgments in Joined Cases C-267/88 to C-285/88 Wuidart and Others [1990] ECR I-435, paragraph 14 and Case C-375/96 Zaninotto [1998] ECR I-6629, paragraph 46).

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

30. Thus, the Court has held that, as a general rule, the principle of audi alteram partem does not merely confer on each party to proceedings the right to be apprised of the documents produced and observations made to the court by the other party and to discuss them, but it also implies a right for the parties to be apprised of pleas in law raised by the court of its own motion, on which it intends to base its decision, and to discuss them. The Court has pointed out that, in order to satisfy the requirements associated with the right to a fair hearing, it is important for the parties to be apprised of, and to be able to debate and be heard on, the matters of fact and of law which will determine the outcome of the proceedings (see Commission v Ireland and Others , paragraphs 55 and 56).

75. In addition, in so far as, by changing the information that would be reflected in the indicators, the reformulation was designed to improve the ranking of the amended application in order for it to be included in the list with a ranking that would enable it to be successful when the funds were allocated to the invitation to apply concerned in descending order, the result of extending the benefit of the transitional provision to the undertakings in the first category would be that the chances of those undertakings’ projects of obtaining the aid applied for would be better than those of undertakings competing for the first time, for which the necessity of the aid was not in doubt.

31 While it is true, therefore, that the method for calculating the amount of the contract is defined in the Community provisions, that is to say, Article 7 of Directive 92/50 and Article 5 of Directive 93/36, on the interpretation of which the national court may, if necessary, submit questions for a preliminary ruling, it is, none the less, by virtue of the division of functions provided for by Article 177 of the Treaty, for the national court to apply the rules of Community law to a specific case. No such application is possible without a comprehensive appraisal of the facts of the case (see Case C-320/88 Staatssecretaris van Financiën v Shipping and Forwarding Enterprise Safe [1990] ECR I-285, paragraph 11).

11 By referring in the second question to the four elements thus defined, the national court is in reality asking the Court to apply Article 5(1 ) of the Sixth Directive to the contract at issue in the main proceedings . Under the division of functions provided for by Article 177 of the Treaty, however, it is for the national court to apply the rules of Community law, as interpreted by the Court, to an individual case . No such application is possible without a comprehensive appraisal of the facts of the case .

30. The Court has already held that the Framework Agreement proceeds on the premiss that employment contracts of indefinite duration are the general form of employment relationship (see Case C‑212/04 Adeneler and Others [2006] ECR I‑6057, paragraph 61). The use of fixed-term contracts as opposed to contracts of indefinite duration is therefore exceptional.

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 .