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34. In this connection, it is to be noted first of all that Article 50 of the Charter does not preclude a Member State from imposing, for the same acts of non-compliance with declaration obligations in the field of VAT, a combination of tax penalties and criminal penalties. In order to ensure that all VAT revenue is collected and, in so doing, that the financial interests of the European Union are protected, the Member States have freedom to choose the applicable penalties (see, to this effect, Case 68/88 Commission v Greece [1989] ECR 2965, paragraph 24; Case C-213/99 de Andrade [2000] ECR I-11083, paragraph 19; and Case C-91/02 Hannl-Hofstetter [2003] ECR I-12077, paragraph 17). These penalties may therefore take the form of administrative penalties, criminal penalties or a combination of the two. It is only if the tax penalty is criminal in nature for the purposes of Article 50 of the Charter and has become final that that provision precludes criminal proceedings in respect of the same acts from being brought against the same person.

33. Cependant, le caractère raisonnable d’un délai ne saurait être examiné par référence à une limite maximale précise, déterminée de manière abstraite (voir, en ce sens, arrêt du 15 octobre 2002, Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij e.a./Commission, précité, point 192).

20. At the outset, it should be noted that, even though, formally, the referring court has limited its questions to the interpretation of Article 18 TFEU and Article 20(2)(a) TFEU, such a situation does not prevent the Court from providing the referring court with all the elements of interpretation of European Union law which may be of assistance in adjudicating on the case before it, whether or not that court has specifically referred to them in the questions (see, to that effect, judgments in ING. AUER , C‑251/06, EU:C:2007:658, paragraph 38, and van Putten and Others , C‑578/10 to C‑580/10, EU:C:2012:246, paragraph 23).

49. That conclusion is, moreover, endorsed by the explanatory memorandum to the proposal for the Sixth Directive ( Bulletin of the European Communities , supplement 11/73, p. 13) in which the Commission observes that ‘when payments on account are received prior to the chargeable event, receipt of these amounts gives rise to a charge to tax, since the parties to the transaction in this way demonstrate their intention that all the financial consequences of the chargeable event should arise in advance’.

119. The effectiveness of the judicial review guaranteed by Article 47 of the Charter also requires that, as part of the review of the lawfulness of the grounds which are the basis of the decision to list or to maintain the listing of a given person in Annex I to Regulation No 881/2002 (the Kadi judgment, paragraph 336), the Courts of the European Union are to ensure that that decision, which affects that person individually (see, to that effect, the judgment of 23 April 2013 in Joined Cases C‑478/11 P to C‑482/11 P Gbagbo and Others v Council [2013] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 56), is taken on a sufficiently solid factual basis (see, to that effect, Al-Aqsa v Council and Netherlands v Al-Aqsa , paragraph 68). That entails a verification of the allegations factored in the summary of reasons underpinning that decision (see to that effect, E and F , paragraph 57), with the consequence that judicial review cannot be restricted to an assessment of the cogency in the abstract of the reasons relied on, but must concern whether those reasons, or, at the very least, one of those reasons, deemed sufficient in itself to support that decision, is substantiated.

21. Selon une jurisprudence constante, la Cour est compétente pour statuer sur les demandes de décision préjudicielle portant sur des dispositions du droit de l’Union dans des situations dans lesquelles les faits au principal se situent en dehors du champ d’application du droit de l’Union, mais dans lesquelles le droit national renvoie au contenu desdites dispositions du droit de l’Union pour déterminer les règles applicables à une situation purement interne de l’État membre concerné (voir, notamment, arrêts du 16 mars 2006, Poseidon Chartering, C‑3/04, Rec. p. I‑2505, point 15; du 11 décembre 2007, ETI e.a., C‑280/06, Rec. p. I‑10893, points 22 et 26; du 2 mars 2010, Salahadin Abdulla e.a., C‑175/08, C‑176/08, C‑178/08 et C‑179/08, Rec. p. I‑1493, point 48; Cicala, précité, point 17, ainsi que du 18 octobre 2012, Nolan, C‑583/10, point 45).

55. Where the tax authorities find that the right to deduct has been exercised fraudulently, they are permitted to claim repayment of the deducted sums retroactively (see, inter alia, Case 268/83 Rompelman [1985] ECR 655, paragraph 24; Case C‑110/94 INZO [1996] ECR I-857, paragraph 24; and Gabalfrisa , paragraph 46). It is a matter for the national court to refuse to allow the right to deduct where it is established, on the basis of objective evidence, that that right is being relied on for fraudulent ends (see Fini H , paragraph 34).

38. On the other hand, Article 12(3) of Regulation No 2201/2003 establishes a prorogation of jurisdiction rule which allows the courts of a Member State other than that in which the child is habitually resident to hear applications in matters of parental responsibility concerning that child, even if no matrimonial proceedings are pending before those courts (see, to that effect, judgment in L , C‑656/13, EU:C:2014:2364, paragraphs 45 and 52).

82. First, as the Court has repeatedly held, the principle of liability on the part of a Member State for damage caused to individuals as a result of breaches of Community law for which the State is responsible is inherent in the system of the Treaty (see, in particular, Joined Cases C-6/90 and C-9/90 Francovich and Others [1991] ECR I-5357, paragraph 35; Joined Cases C-46/93 and C-48/93Brasserie du Pêcheur and Factortame [1996] ECR I-1029, paragraph 31, and Case C-424/97 Haim [2000] ECR I-5123, paragraph 26).

27 Thus, even on the assumption that the charges at issue in the main proceedings are generally or almost generally applicable in the federal Länder in question, that would not suffice for them to be classified as turnover taxes within the meaning of Article 33 of the Sixth Directive, inasmuch as they are not levied on commercial transactions in a manner comparable to VAT.

33. Having regard to that objective, the aforesaid obligation is limited by the possibility, to be provided for by the Member States in their national legal systems, 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 (see, to that effect, Genius , paragraph 18; Case C-454/98 Schmeink & Cofreth and Strobel [2000] ECR I-6973, paragraphs 56 to 61 and 63; and Joined Cases C-78/02 to C-80/02 Karageorgou and Others [2003] ECR I-13295, paragraph 50).

18 SINCE NEITHER VOMVYX P.V . SVOLOPOULOS AND CHR . KOUTROUBIS A.E . NOR UNICOT HELLAS A.E . PROVIDED EVIDENCE IN THAT RESPECT , THE APPLICATION MUST BE DECLARED INADMISSIBLE IN SO FAR AS THEY ARE CONCERNED .

44. In the present case, the fact remains that a general prohibition on the sale or use of equipment designed to increase the power and/or speed of mopeds, as in the case in the main proceedings, may impede the free movement of these goods (see, by analogy, Case C-110/05 Commission v Italy [2009] ECR I‑519, paragraph 58). Such an obstacle is prohibited by Article 34 TFEU unless it can be justified on one of the public interest grounds set out in Article 36 TFEU or in order to meet imperative requirements.

29 Thus, under the combined provisions of Directive 64/433, as reenacted by Directive 91/497, and Directive 89/662, the measures for the detection of a pronounced sexual odour in uncastrated male pigs have been harmonised at Community level.

18. Accordingly, the Court has ruled in particular that Article 49 EC precludes the application of national rules making reimbursement of medical costs incurred in another Member State subject to a system of prior authorisation where it is apparent that such a system deters, or prevents, insured persons from approaching providers of medical services established in Member States other than the State of insurance, save where the barrier to the freedom to provide services to which it gives rise is justifiable under one of the derogations allowed by the EC Treaty (see, in particular, Case C-158/96 Kohll [1998] ECR I-1931, paragraphs 35 and 36, and Smits and Peerbooms , paragraphs 69 to 75, and Müller-Fauré and Van Riet , paragraphs 44, 67 and 68).

15 It is evident from the judgment in Case C-126/88 Boots Company [1990] ECR I-1235, paragraphs 15 and 16, that before the application of Article 11A(1)(a) of the Sixth Directive can be accepted, the application of Article 11A(2)(b) thereof must be excluded.

94. The ne bis in idem principle must be observed in proceedings for the imposition of fines under competition law (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C‑238/99 P, C‑244/99 P, C‑245/99 P, C‑247/99 P, C‑250/99 P to C‑252/99 P and C‑254/99 P Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij and Others v Commission [2002] ECR I‑8375, paragraph 59; Joined Cases 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 Aalborg Portland and Others v Commission [2004] ECR I‑123, paragraphs 338 to 340; Case C‑289/04 P Showa Denko v Commission [2006] ECR I‑5859, paragraph 50). That principle thus precludes an undertaking being found liable or proceedings being brought against it afresh on the grounds of anti-competitive conduct for which it has been penalised or declared not liable by an earlier decision that can no longer be challenged ( Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij v Commission , paragraph 59).

50. It should be noted, first of all, that the principle of non bis in idem , also enshrined in Article 4 of Protocol No 7 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, constitutes a fundamental principle of Community law the observance of which is guaranteed by the judicature (see, inter alia, Joined Cases 18/65 and 35/65 Gutmann v Commission of the EAEC [1966] ECR 103, 119, and Joined Cases C-238/99 P, C-244/99 P, C-245/99 P, C‑247/99 P, C-250/99 P to C-252/99 P and C-254/99 P Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij and Others v Commission [2002] ECR I-8375, paragraph 59).

203. In the absence of Community rules on the refund of national charges levied though not due, 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 from Community law, provided, first, that such rules are not less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions (principle of equivalence) and, secondly, that they do not render virtually impossible or excessively difficult the exercise of rights conferred by Community law (principle of effectiveness) (see, inter alia, Case 33/76 Rewe [1976] ECR 1989, paragraph 5, and Case 45/76 Comet [1976] ECR 2043, paragraphs 13 and 16; and, more recently, Case C-231/96 Edis [1998] ECR I-4951, paragraphs 19 and 34; Case C-343/96 Dilexport [1999] ECR I‑579, paragraph 25; and Metallgesellschaft and Others , paragraph 85).

Dans cette perspective, il convient de tenir compte du fait que, s’agissant de vérifier l’application correcte, en pratique, des dispositions nationales destinées à assurer la mise en œuvre effective des directives, dont celles adoptées dans le domaine de l’environnement, la Commission, qui ne dispose pas de pouvoirs propres d’investigation en la matière, est largement tributaire des éléments fournis par d’éventuels plaignants, des organismes privés ou publics actifs sur le territoire de l’État membre concerné ainsi que par cet État membre (arrêt du 26 avril 2007, Commission/Italie, C‑135/05, EU:C:2007:250, point 28 et jurisprudence citée). De même, tout document officiel émis par les autorités de l’État membre concerné peut être considéré comme une source valable d’informations aux fins de l’engagement, par la Commission, de la procédure visée à l’article 258 TFUE (arrêt du 11 décembre 2014, Commission/Grèce, C‑677/13, non publié, EU:C:2014:2433, point 66 et jurisprudence citée).

45 S'agissant de la violation du principe de protection de la confiance légitime, la Cour a également jugé que les dispositions des règlements nos 565/80 et 3665/87 ne pouvaient faire naître d'espoir légitime autre que celui de bénéficier du droit à la restitution dans les limites dans lesquelles il a été prévu (voir arrêt Anglo Irish Beef Processors International e.a., précité, points 30 à 33).

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

21. The abolition of restrictions on freedom of establishment also applies to restrictions on the setting up of agencies, branches or subsidiaries by nationals of any Member State established in the territory of another Member State (Case 270/83 Commission v France [1986] ECR 273, paragraph 13, and Royal Bank of Scotland , paragraph 22)

63 In view of the foregoing, the answer to the third part of the second question must be that, in order to decide whether procedural rules are equivalent, the national court must verify objectively, in the abstract, whether the rules at issue are similar taking into account the role played by those rules in the procedure as a whole, as well as the operation of that procedure and any special features of those rules. The third question

34 With regard to the latter condition, it is apparent from Article 2(1) of Directive 80/987 that such a ‘state of insolvency’ requires, first, that the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member State concerned establish a procedure to satisfy collectively the claims of creditors, second, that it is possible under that procedure to take into consideration employees’ claims arising from contracts of employment or employment relationships, third, that an application has been made to open the proceedings and, fourth, that the authority which is competent under the national provisions in question has either decided to open the proceedings or established that the employer’s undertaking or business has been definitively closed down and that the available assets are insufficient to warrant the opening of the proceedings (see judgment in Francovich, C‑479/93, EU:C:1995:372, paragraph 18).

33. À titre liminaire, il y a lieu de relever que le Tribunal a constaté à bon droit qu’il est habilité à examiner d’office le respect du délai de recours, celui-ci étant d’ordre public (voir arrêt du 7 juillet 1971, Müllers/CES, 79/70, Rec. p. 689, point 6, et ordonnance du 9 juillet 2009, Fornaci Laterizi Danesi/Commission, C‑498/08 P, point 19).

38. Thus, Article 11(1)(a) of Directive 90/434 reflects the general Community law principle that abuse of rights is prohibited. Individuals must not improperly or fraudulently take advantage of provisions of Community law. The application of Community legislation cannot be extended to cover abusive practices, that is to say, transactions carried out not in the context of normal commercial operations, but solely for the purpose of wrongfully obtaining advantages provided for by Community law (see, to that effect, Case C‑212/97 Centros [1999] ECR I-1459, paragraph 24; Case C‑255/02 Halifax and Others [2006] ECR I-1609, paragraphs 68 and 69; Case C‑456/04 Agip Petroli [2006] ECR I-3395, paragraphs 19 and 20; and Case C‑196/04 Cadbury Schweppes and Cadbury Schweppes Overseas [2006] ECR I-7995, paragraph 35).

61. Nor is there any indication that the fact that the Commission did not inform Dalmine during the investigation stage that it was in possession of the minutes might have an impact on Dalmine’s subsequent possibilities of defending itself during the administrative procedure initiated by the notification of the statement of objections (see, by analogy, Nederlandse Federatieve Vereniging voor de Groothandel op Elektrotechnisch Gebied v Commission , paragraphs 48 to 50 and 56).

109 Secondly, even when submitting its application, Hoechst was in a position to provide the Court of First Instance with at least minimum evidence of the expediency of measures of organisation of procedure or inquiry for the purposes of the proceedings in order to prove that the Polypropylene Decision had been adopted in breach of the language rules applicable or altered after its adoption by the College of Members of the Commission, or that the originals were lacking, as certain applicants in the PVC cases did (see, to that effect, Baustahlgewebe v Commission, cited above, paragraphs 93 and 94).

55 THAT ARGUMENT CANNOT BE ACCEPTED EITHER . AS THE COMMISSION HAS RIGHTLY OBSERVED , RECOGNITION OF SUCH AN OBLIGATION WOULD BE TANTAMOUNT TO CONFERRING AN UNJUSTIFIED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ON UNDERTAKINGS LEAST WELL ADAPTED TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE MARKET .

31. However, the fact that a national court has, formally speaking, worded the question referred for a preliminary ruling with reference to certain provisions of European Union law does not preclude the Court from providing to the national court all the guidance on points of interpretation which may be of assistance in adjudicating on the case pending before it, whether or not that court has referred to the points in its questions. It is for the Court to extract from all the information provided by the national court, in particular from the grounds of the decision referring the questions, the points of European Union law which require interpretation, having regard to the subject-matter of the dispute (see Case C‑115/08 ČEZ [2009] ECR I‑10265, paragraph 81).

50 The same applies to pleas alleging an infringement of essential procedural requirements, such as that alleging an infringement of the obligation to state the reasons for a measure.

57. It is necessary to point out that, even though the national court does not refer to Article 18 EC in the wording of its preliminary question, the Court is not thereby precluded from providing the national court with all those elements for the interpretation of Community law which may be of assistance in adjudicating on the case pending before it, whether or not that court has specifically referred to them in its question (see, to that effect, Case C-241/89 SARPP [1990] ECR I‑4695, paragraph 8; Case C‑152/03 Ritter‑Coulais [2006] ECR I‑1711, paragraph 29; and Case C-392/05 Alevizos [2007] ECR I‑3505, paragraph 64).

67. In that connection, it must be acknowledged that the grant of exclusive rights to operate games of chance via the internet to a single operator, such as Santa Casa, which is subject to strict control by the public authorities, may, in circumstances such as those in the main proceedings, confine the operation of gambling within controlled channels and be regarded as appropriate for the purpose of protecting consumers against fraud on the part of operators.

29. The Court has already held that the OCTs are subject to the special association arrangements set out in Part Four of the Treaty, with the result that, failing express reference, the general provisions of the Treaty, whose territorial scope is in principle confined to the Member States, do not apply to them (see Case C‑260/90 Leplat [1992] ECR I‑643, paragraph 10; Case C‑181/97 van der Kooy [1999] ECR I‑483, paragraph 37; Case C‑110/97 Netherlands v Council [2001] ECR I‑8763, paragraph 49; and Case C‑300/04 Eman and Sevinger [2006] ECR I‑8055, paragraph 46). OCTs therefore benefit from the provisions of European Union law in a similar manner to the Member States only when European Union law expressly provides that OCTs and Member States are to be treated in such a manner.

36. Objectives of the kind mentioned by the German Government and the referring court clearly belong to employment and labour market policy within the meaning of Article 6(1) of Directive 2000/78.

73. Further, in accordance with the principle of the precedence of European Union law, provisions of the FEU Treaty and directly applicable measures of the institutions have the effect, in their relations with the internal law of the Member States, merely by entering into force, of rendering automatically inapplicable any conflicting provision of national law (Case 106/77 Simmenthal [1978] ECR 629, paragraph 17; Case C-213/89 Factortame and Others [1990] ECR I-2433, paragraph 18, and Case C-409/06 Winner Wetten [2010] ECR I-8015, paragraph 53).

57. As regards the effect on the application of Article 101 TFEU of the fact that the OTOC does not seek to make a profit, it should be noted that that does not prevent an entity which carries out operations on the market from being considered an undertaking, where the corresponding offer of services exists in competition with that of other operators which do seek to make a profit (see, to that effect, Case C-222/04 Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and Others [2006] ECR I-289, paragraphs 122 and 123, and Case C-49/07 MOTOE [2008] ECR I-4863, paragraph 27).

28. According to settled case-law, in the context of the application of the principle of the free movement of goods, the Treaty does not affect the existence of rights recognised by the legislation of a Member State in matters of intellectual property, but only restricts, depending on the circumstances, the exercise of those rights (Case 119/75 Terrapin [1976] ECR 1039, paragraph 5; Case 58/80 Dansk Supermarked [1981] ECR 181, paragraph 11; and order in Matratzen Concord v OHIM , paragraph 40).

31. Selon ces dispositions, le Tribunal est seul compétent, d’une part, pour constater les faits, sauf dans le cas où l’inexactitude matérielle de ses constatations résulterait des pièces du dossier qui lui ont été soumises, et, d’autre part, pour apprécier ces faits. Lorsque le Tribunal a constaté ou apprécié les faits, la Cour est compétente pour exercer, en vertu de l’article 225 CE, un contrôle sur la qualification juridique de ces faits et les conséquences de droit qui en ont été tirées par le Tribunal (voir, notamment, arrêts du 16 mars 2000, Parlement/Bieber, C‑284/98 P, Rec. p. I‑1527, point 31, et du 27 novembre 2001, Z/Parlement, C‑270/99 P, Rec. p. I‑9197, point 37).

16. Moreover, it must be noted, first, that Article 7 of Directive 2003/88 is not one of the provisions from which the directive expressly allows derogation (see Schultz-Hoff and Others , EU:C:2009:18, paragraph 24), and, second, that that directive treats entitlement to annual leave and to a payment on that account as being two aspects of a single right.

37. According to settled case-law, Community law does not detract from the powers of the Member States to organise their social security systems (see, in particular, Case C‑158/96 Kohll [1998] ECR I‑1931, paragraph 17; Case C‑157/99 Smits and Peerbooms [2001] ECR I‑5473, paragraph 44; and Case C‑372/04 Watts [2006] ECR I‑4325, paragraph 92).

69. However, as the Court has already held and in so far as Directive 2009/28 had already entered into force at the time of the facts in the main proceedings, the interpretation of that directive sought by the referring court must be regarded as being useful to that court (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C‑261/07 and C‑299/07 VTB-VAB and Galatea [2009] ECR I‑2949, paragraphs 29 to 41).

70. Ainsi, en l’espèce, le Tribunal a rappelé, au point 143 de l’arrêt attaqué, qu’une demande de mesures d’instruction présentée après la clôture de la procédure orale ne peut être retenue que si elle porte sur des faits de nature à exercer une influence décisive sur la solution du litige et que l’intéressé n’avait pu faire valoir avant la fin de la procédure orale (arrêt du 8 juillet 1999, Hoechst/Commission, C‑227/92 P, Rec. p. I‑4443, point 104). Il a conclu, à la suite de l’examen des arguments présentés par les requérants, que ceux-ci n’avaient pas avancé la moindre justification en vue d’établir que, lors de l’introduction de leur requête, ils n’avaient pu étayer leur affirmation concernant la surexploitation et l’érosion des ressources, en particulier, les raisons pour lesquelles il ne leur avait pas été possible, au stade de la requête ou à tout le moins de la réplique, de demander une expertise. Dès lors, le Tribunal a jugé cette demande irrecevable.

48 It is true that the Memorandum of Understanding leaves Romania some discretion in deciding what measures are most likely to lead to performance of those undertakings. However, on the one hand, where a Member State adopts measures in the exercise of the discretion conferred upon it by an act of EU law, it must be regarded as implementing that law, within the meaning of Article 51(1) of the Charter (see, to that effect, judgment of 21 December 2011, N. S. and Others, C‑411/10 and C‑493/10, EU:C:2011:865, paragraphs 65 to 68). On the other hand, the objectives set out in Article 3(5) of Decision 2009/459, as well as those set out in the Memorandum of Understanding, are sufficiently detailed and precise to permit the inference that the purpose of the prohibition on combining a public-sector retirement pension with income from activities carried out in public institutions, stemming from Law No 329/2009, is to implement both the memorandum and that decision, and thus EU law, within the meaning of Article 51(1) of the Charter. Consequently, the latter is applicable to the dispute in the main proceedings.

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

37 That view is not affected by the German Government's argument that the two directives are so detailed that the national authorities could recognize, and individuals perceive, the right to freedom of movement on the basis of their provisions alone. The right of persons to rely in law on a directive against a Member State in specific circumstances is no more than a minimum guarantee, arising from the binding nature of the obligation imposed on the Member States by the effect of directives under the third paragraph of Article 189 of the Treaty, which cannot justify a Member State's absolving itself from taking in due time implementing measures sufficient to meet the purpose of each directive (see, inter alia, Case 102/79 Commission v Belgium [1980] ECR 1473, paragraph 12).

38. It must be observed at the outset that that clarification is not to be understood as referring to all disruptions in trade. First, any screening procedure is liable to result in some such disruptions, such as delays for example, however minor they may be.

54 According to the Court, the imposition of a system of strict liability is not disproportionate in relation to the objectives pursued if that system is such as to encourage the persons concerned to comply with the provisions of a regulation and where the objective pursued is a matter of public interest which may justify the introduction of such a system (judgment of 9 February 2012, Urbán, C‑210/10, EU:C:2012:64, paragraph 48 and the case-law cited).

Aux points 117 à 119 de l’arrêt attaqué, le Tribunal a répondu au deuxième moyen du recours d’Odile Jacob, tiré du défaut de base légale de la décision litigieuse. Il a constaté en substance que, dès lors que le recours introduit devant le Tribunal contre la décision 2004/422 avait fait l’objet d’un rejet par le Tribunal dans l’arrêt T‑452/04 et que ce rejet avait été confirmé par la Cour, cette décision continuait de bénéficier d’une présomption de légalité impliquant l’obligation, pour tous les sujets du droit de l’Union, de reconnaître sa pleine efficacité tant que son illégalité ne serait pas établie (voir, en ce sens, arrêt Granaria, 101/78, EU:C:1979:38, point 5). Après avoir procédé à une telle constatation, dont le bien-fondé n’est pas contesté par Odile Jacob et qui n’est entachée d’aucune erreur de droit, le Tribunal a conclu que les paragraphes 10 et 14 des engagements de Lagardère constituaient la base légale de la décision litigieuse.

30. Community policy on the environment, to which the legislative act at issue in the main proceedings relates, and one of whose principal objectives is the protection of the environment, aims, in accordance with Article 174(2) EC, at a high level of protection and is based in particular on the precautionary principle, the principle that preventive action should be taken, and the polluter-pays principle (see Case C‑157/96 National Farmers’ Union and Others [1998] ECR I‑2211, paragraph 64, and Joined Cases C‑14/06 and C‑295/06 Parliament and Denmark v Commission [2008] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 75 and the case-law cited).

46. That conclusion is supported both by the subject-matter and purpose of short-term incapacity benefit in youth and by the basis on which it is calculated and the conditions for granting it (see, by analogy, Case 171/82 Valentini [1983] ECR 2157, paragraph 13; De Cuyper , paragraph 25; and Petersen , paragraph 21).

24 Since the Luxembourg company is involved on a stable and continuous basis in the economic life of Italy, that situation falls within the provisions of the chapter of the Treaty on freedom of establishment, namely Articles 52 to 58, and not those of the chapter concerning services (see, to that effect, Case 2/74 Reyners v Belgium [1974] ECR 631, paragraph 21, and Case C-55/94 Gebhard v Consiglio degli Avvocati e Procuratori di Milano [1995] ECR I-4165, paragraph 25).

44. Il convient de rappeler que, selon une jurisprudence constante, le principe de sécurité juridique, qui a pour corollaire celui de la protection de la confiance légitime, exige qu’une législation entraînant des conséquences défavorables à l’égard des particuliers soit claire et précise et que son application soit prévisible pour les justiciables (voir, notamment, arrêt du 7 juin 2005, VEMW e.a., C‑17/03, Rec. p. I‑4983, point 80). Ainsi qu’il a été rappelé au point 33 du présent arrêt, un délai de prescription doit être fixé à l’avance pour remplir sa fonction d’assurer la sécurité juridique.

18. Even though, according to their wording, the provisions concerning freedom of establishment are aimed at ensuring that foreign nationals are treated in the host Member State in the same way as nationals of that State, they also prohibit the State of origin from hindering the establishment in another Member State of one of its nationals or of a company incorporated under its legislation (see Case C‑298/05 Columbus Container Services [2007] ECR I‑10451, paragraph 33; Case C‑157/07 Krankenheim Ruhesitz am Wannsee‑Seniorenheimstatt [2008] ECR I‑8061, paragraph 29; and Filipiak , paragraph 60).

66. However, the Community Courts are required to verify whether the action for compensation before them has as its subject-matter a claim for damages based objectively and overall on rights and obligations of a contractual nature or of a non-contractual nature. For those purposes, as the Advocate General has pointed out in points 49 and 50 of his Opinion, those Courts must examine, on an analysis of the various matters in the file, such as, for example, the rule of law allegedly infringed, the nature of the damage claimed, the conduct complained of and the legal relations between the parties in question, whether there exists between them a genuine contractual context, linked to the subject-matter of the dispute, the in-depth examination of which proves to be indispensable for the resolution of the said action.

46. In the absence of an EC Treaty definition of ‘movement of capital’ within the meaning of Article 56(1) EC, the Court has acknowledged the indicative value of the nomenclature of movements of capital set out in Annex I to Council Directive 88/361/EEC of 24 June 1988 for the implementation of Article [67] of the Treaty (article repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam) (OJ 1988 L 178, p. 5). Thus, the Court has held that movements of capital within the meaning of Article 56(1) EC include in particular ‘direct’ investments, namely investments in the form of participation in an undertaking through the holding of shares which confers the possibility of effectively participating in its management and control, and ‘portfolio’ investments, namely investments in the form of the acquisition of shares on the capital market solely with the intention of making a financial investment without any intention to influence the management and control of the undertaking (see Joined Cases C‑282/04 and C‑283/04 Commission v Netherlands , paragraph 19 and case-law cited; Commission v Germany , paragraph 18; and Case C‑171/08 Commission v Portugal , paragraph 49).

22 IT FOLLOWS THAT AN UNDERTAKING CANNOT CLAIM A VESTED RIGHT TO THE MAINTENANCE OF AN ADVANTAGE WHICH IT OBTAINED FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMON ORGANIZATION OF THE MARKET AND WHICH IT ENJOYED AT A GIVEN TIME . IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES A REDUCTION IN SUCH AN ADVANTAGE CANNOT BE CONSIDERED AS CONSTITUTING AN INFRINGEMENT OF A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT .

55. However, the Court held, in paragraph 61 of its judgment in Case C‑295/02 Gerken [2004] ECR I-6369, that Article 2(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests is to be interpreted as meaning that where, in an application for ‘livestock’ aid covered ratione temporis by Regulation No 3887/92, there is an irregularity giving rise to a penalty under Article 10(2)(a) of that regulation (now Article 10b(2), first and second subparagraphs, following the amendments made by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2801/1999 of 21 December 1999 (OJ 1999 L 340, p. 29)), the competent authorities must apply the provisions of Article 44(1) of Regulation No 2419/2001 retroactively on the ground that those provisions are less severe as regards the conduct in question (see also Case C-45/06 Campina [2007] ECR I-0000, paragraphs 32 and 33).

53. None the less, the Court must ascertain whether the restrictive measure goes beyond what is necessary to attain the objectives pursued.

41. That legal basis is designed to fill the gap where no specific provisions of the Treaty confer on the Community institutions express or implied powers to act, if such powers appear none the less to be necessary to enable the Community to carry out its functions with a view to attaining one of the objectives laid down by the Treaty (Opinion 2/94 [1996] ECR I‑1759, paragraph 29, and Joined Cases C‑402/05 P and C‑415/05 P Kadi and Al Barakaat International Foundation v Council and Commission [2008] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 211).

105. Toutefois, ces circonstances sont dénuées de pertinence, dès lors qu’il ressort clairement du dossier que l’organisation des ressources humaines dépend de chaque bureau de liquidation. Le personnel employé dans lesdits bureaux ne fait pas partie des effectifs des Communautés autonomes et n’a aucun lien direct avec lesdites Communautés. Ainsi qu’il ressort de la loi hypothécaire, ce personnel est lié aux registrador-liquidador par une relation de travail, dépend du registrador-liquidador et est rémunéré par celui-ci.

51 As regards the proportionality of the restriction at issue, it is settled case-law that requirements imposed on the providers of services must be appropriate to ensure achievement of the intended aim and must not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that aim (see, in particular, Collectieve Antennevoorziening Gouda, cited above, paragraph 15, and Case C-384/93 Alpine Investments v Minister van Financiën [1995] ECR I-1141, paragraph 45).

39 La directive 2009/103 impose aux États membres l’obligation d’adopter des mesures garantissant que la victime d’un accident de la circulation et le détenteur du véhicule en cause dans cet accident soient protégés. Selon son considérant 12, cette directive a pour objectif général d’assurer la protection des victimes d’accidents en garantissant que ceux-ci bénéficient d’une couverture d’assurance minimale.

50 With regard to the question whether Article 16 of the Charter precludes the possibility, for a NRA, to require an operator to update its prices on an annual basis and to submit them for periodic monitoring, it is appropriate to recall that, according to the settled case-law of the Court, the protection afforded by that provision covers the freedom to exercise an economic or commercial activity, freedom of contract and free competition. In addition, freedom of contract includes, in particular, the freedom to choose with whom to do business and the freedom to determine the price of a service. However, the freedom to conduct a business does not constitute an absolute prerogative, but must be viewed in relation to its function in society (see, to that effect, judgments of 22 January 2013, Sky Österreich, C‑283/11, EU:C:2013:28, paragraphs 42, 43, 45 and the case-law cited, and of 17 October 2013, Schaible, C‑101/12, EU:C:2013:661, paragraphs 25 and 28).

28. According to the case-law of the Court, the freedom to conduct a business is not absolute. It may be subject to a broad range of interventions on the part of public authorities which may limit the exercise of economic activity in the public interest (see, to that effect, Sky Österreich , paragraphs 45 and 46 and the case-law cited).

45. As regards the possibility, under Article 183 of the VAT Directive, of providing that excess VAT is to be carried forward to the following tax period or refunded, the Court has made it clear that, the conditions for the refund of excess VAT cannot undermine the principle of fiscal neutrality by making the taxable person bear the burden of the VAT in whole or in part. In particular, such conditions must enable the taxable person, in appropriate circumstances, to recover the entirety of the credit arising from that excess VAT. This implies that the refund is made within a reasonable period of time by a payment in liquid funds or equivalent means, and that, in any event, the method of refund adopted must not entail any financial risk for the taxable person (see Commission v Italy , paragraphs 33 and 34; Sosnowska , paragraph 17, and Enel Maritsa Iztok 3 , paragraphs 33 and 64).

30. Secondly, it follows from the wording of Note 5(E) to Chapter 84 of the CN that the ‘specific function’ performed by a machine working with an automatic data-processing machine must be a function ‘other than data-processing’. Since the combined cards are designed to transfer data between a number of computers and, in order to do so, render incoming external signals comprehensible to the computer and transform outgoing signals processed by it into signals usable externally, regardless of whether the signal received or emitted is analogue or digital, the function which they perform consists of data-processing. It follows that such cards do not perform a ‘specific function’ within the meaning of that note.

36. First of all, it is apparent from Case C‑66/99 D. Wandel [2001] ECR I‑873, paragraphs 35 to 38 and 45 – a judgment given in relation to imported goods intended for release for free circulation – that those goods remain in temporary storage until released and that their customs status does not change until they are released by the customs authorities.

4 THE FACT THAT THE SAID PROVISION EVEN REFERS TO PERSONS WHO COME OR HAVE COME UNDER THE LEGISLATION OF A SINGLE MEMBER STATE SHOWS THAT, FAR FROM REFERRING SOLELY TO MIGRANT WORKERS WITHIN THE STRICT MEANING OF THE TERM, THE REGULATION IS APPLICABLE TO ANY WAGE - EARNER OR ASSIMILATED WORKER WHO FINDS HIMSELF IN ONE OF THE SITUATIONS INVOLVING INTERNATIONAL ELEMENTS AS PROVIDED FOR IN THE SAID REGULATION, AS AS TO HIS SURVIVORS .

39. Likewise, the simple acquisition and the mere sale of other negotiable securities cannot amount to exploitation of an asset for the purpose of obtaining income on a continuing basis, the only consideration for those transactions consisting of a possible profit on the sale of those securities (see EDM , paragraph 58).

82. The competent authorities enjoy a wide margin of discretion in that regard. Nevertheless, it is necessary to determine whether the restrictions placed upon intra-Community trade are proportionate in the light of the legitimate objective pursued, namely, in the present case, the protection of fundamental rights.

27 That argument cannot be upheld, either. The right to property is certainly one of the fundamental rights whose observance is ensured by the Court. Such rights are not, however, absolute rights but must be considered in relation to their social function. Consequently, restrictions may be imposed on the exercise of those rights, in particular in the context of a common organization of the markets, provided that those restrictions in fact correspond to objectives of general interest pursued by the Community and do not constitute, with regard to the aim pursued, a disproportionate and intolerable interference, impairing the very substance of those rights (Kühn, cited above, paragraph 16).

76. By these questions, the referring courts ask in essence whether, on a proper construction of Articles 34 TFEU, 36 TFEU and 56 TFEU, those articles preclude legislation of a Member State which makes it unlawful to import into and sell and use in that State foreign decoding devices which give access to an encrypted satellite broadcasting service from another Member State that includes subject-matter protected by the legislation of that first State. i) Identification of the applicable provisions

60 Nevertheless, the Court has taken the view that, in order to determine whether it has jurisdiction, it should examine the conditions in which the case was referred to it by the national court. The spirit of cooperation which must prevail in the preliminary-ruling procedure requires the national court, for its part, to have regard to the function entrusted to the Court of Justice, which is to assist in the administration of justice in the Member States and not to deliver advisory opinions on general or hypothetical questions (see, inter alia, Case C-83/91 Meilicke v ADV/ORGA [1992] ECR I-4871, paragraph 25).

34 However, Sardegna Lines is in a different position. It is concerned by Decision 98/95 not only by virtue of being an undertaking in the shipping sector in Sardinia and a potential beneficiary of the aid scheme for Sardinian shipowners but also by virtue of being an actual beneficiary of individual aid granted under that scheme, the recovery of which has been ordered by the Commission.

10. En outre, il convient également de rappeler qu’un État membre ne saurait exciper de dispositions, pratiques ou situations de son ordre juridique interne pour justifier l’inobservation des obligations et délais prescrits par une directive (arrêts du 7 décembre 2000, Commission/Italie, C‑423/99, Rec. p. I‑11167, point 10; du 5 avril 2001, Commission/Grèce, C‑494/99, Rec. p. I‑2761, point 10, et du 4 octobre 2001, Commission/Luxembourg, C‑450/00, Rec. p. I‑7069, point 8).

46 In the third place, the system of exemptions, as a support measure for local production, which encounters difficulties as a result of its isolation and distance from metropolitan France, is subject to strict conditions.

24. In the light of the objectives of proximity and predictability, the Court held that the rule set out in the first indent of Article 5(1)(b) of the regulation is also applicable where there are several places of delivery of goods within a single Member State, since one court must have jurisdiction to hear all the claims arising out of the contract ( Color Drack , paragraphs 36 and 38, and Rehder , paragraph 34).

59. In that regard, it should be observed first of all that, in accordance with recital 20 to Directive 98/8, close coordination should be ensured with other Community legislation and in particular with Directive 91/414.

19. The issue of whether that activity is designed to obtain income on a continuing basis is an issue of fact which must be assessed having regard to all the circumstances of the case, which include the nature of the property concerned (see Case C‑263/11 Rēdlihs [2012] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 33).

52 None of those arguments can be upheld.

88 The Court of Justice has nevertheless held that judicial review is limited with regard to whether a measure comes within the scope of Article 107(1) TFEU, in a case where the appraisals by the Commission are technical or complex in nature (judgment of 21 June 2012, BNP Paribas and BNL v Commission, C‑452/10 P, EU:C:2012:366, paragraph 103).

22 However, that criterion does not serve to include substances such as certain cosmetics which, while having an effect on the human body, do not significantly affect the metabolism and thus do not strictly modify the way in which it functions.

104. However, a requirement of establishment is the very negation of the freedom to provide services and has the result of depriving Article 56 TFEU of all effectiveness (see, to that effect, Case 205/84 Commission v Germany EU:C:1986:463, paragraph 52, and Case C‑546/07 Commission v Germany EU:C:2010:25, paragraph 39).

12 Furthermore, it has been held on several occasions that the first paragraph of Article 95 is infringed where the taxation on the imported product and that on the similar domestic product are calculated in a different manner on the basis of different criteria which lead, if only in certain cases, to higher taxation being imposed on the imported product (see in particular the judgment in Case 45/75 REWE-Zentrale v Hauptzollamt Landau [1976] ECR 181, paragraph 15).

31. It is clear that Ms Schulz-Delzers left France in order to reside in Germany and her status as worker within the meaning of Article 39 EC is not in dispute. Thus, it is in the light only of Article 39 EC that it is necessary to examine the questions referred (see, to that effect, inter alia, Leyman , paragraphs 18 to 20 and case-law cited).

20. According to settled case-law, Article 18 EC, which sets out generally the right of every citizen of the Union to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, finds specific expression in Article 39 EC in relation to freedom of movement for workers (see Case C‑392/05 Alevizos [2007] ECR I‑3505, paragraph 66, and Case C‑287/05 Hendrix [2007] ECR I‑6909, paragraph 61).

44. It is thus clear from the case-law that, whatever the mechanism adopted for preventing or mitigating the imposition of a series of charges to tax or economic double taxation, the freedoms of movement guaranteed by the Treaty preclude a Member State from treating foreign-sourced dividends less favourably than nationally-sourced dividends, unless such a difference in treatment concerns situations which are not objectively comparable or is justified by overriding reasons in the public interest (see, to that effect, Case C‑315/02 Lenz [2004] ECR I‑7063, paragraphs 20 to 49; Case C‑319/02 Manninen [2004] ECR I‑7477, paragraphs 20 to 55; and Test Claimants in the FII Group Litigation , paragraph 46).

55. In the light of the foregoing observations, the answer to the first question must be that Article 2 of the Directive must be interpreted as meaning that a trade mark may consist of a sign which is not in itself capable of being perceived visually, provided that it can be represented graphically, particularly by means of images, lines or characters, and that the representation is clear, precise, self-contained, easily accessible, intelligible, durable and objective. The second question

36. It is clear from those provisions that a ‘body governed by public law’ is any body which, firstly, was established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, secondly, has legal personality and, thirdly, is financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public law, or subject to management supervision by those bodies, or having an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law. In accordance with the case-law of the Court, those three conditions are cumulative (Case C­‑237/99 Commission v France [2001] ECR I‑939, paragraph 40, and the case-law cited).

35. Article 234 EC provides that the Court has jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning the validity and interpretation of acts of the Community institutions and the European Central Bank.

62 Those guarantees of independence and impartiality require rules, particularly statutory and procedural rules, in order to dismiss any reasonable doubt in the minds of individuals as to the imperviousness of that body to external factors and its neutrality with respect to the interests before it (see, to that effect, judgment of 9 October 2014, TDC, C‑222/13, EU:C:2014:2265, paragraph 32 and the case-law cited).

31 In paragraphs 9 and 10 of Merck, the Court then stated that it followed from the definition of the specific purpose of a patent that the substance of a patent right lies essentially in according the inventor an exclusive right to put the product on the market for the first time, thereby allowing him a monopoly in exploiting his product and enabling him to obtain the reward for his creative effort without, however, guaranteeing such reward in all circumstances.