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Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions) |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions) >> Unilever Italia (Approximation of laws) [2000] EUECJ C-443/98 (26 September 2000) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2000/C44398.html Cite as: [2000] EUECJ C-443/98, ECLI:EU:C:2000:496, [2000] ECR I-7535, EU:C:2000:496 |
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JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
26 September 2000 (1)
(Technical standards and regulations - Obligations of notification and postponement of adoption - Applicability in civil proceedings)
In Case C-443/98,
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) by the Pretore di Milano (Italy) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Unilever Italia SpA
and
Central Food SpA
on the interpretation of Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (OJ 1983 L 109, p. 8), as amended by Directive 94/10/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 March 1994 materially amending for the second time Directive 83/189/EEC (OJ 1994 L 100, p. 30),
THE COURT,
composed of: G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President, L. Sevón and R. Schintgen (Presidents of Chambers), P.J.G. Kapteyn, C. Gulmann (Rapporteur), J.-P. Puissochet, H. Ragnemalm, M. Wathelet and V. Skouris, Judges,
Advocate General: F.G. Jacobs,
Registrar: D. Louterman-Hubeau, Principal Administrator,
after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:
- Unilever Italia SpA, by F. Capelli and G. Votta, of the Milan Bar,
- the Italian Government, by Professor U. Leanza, Head of the Legal Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, assisted by I.M. Braguglia, Avvocato dello Stato,
- the Belgian Government, by A. Snoecx, Assistant Adviser in the Directorate General for Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, External Trade and Development Cooperation, acting as Agent,
- the Danish Government, by J. Molde, Head of Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent,
- the Netherlands Government, by M.A. Fierstra, Head of the European Law Service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent,
- the Commission of the European Communities, by P. Stancanelli, of its Legal Service, and M. Shotter, a national civil servant on secondment to that service, acting as Agents,
having regard to the Report for the Hearing,
after hearing the oral observations of Unilever Italia SpA, the Italian Government and the Commission at the hearing on 16 November 1999,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 27 January 2000,
gives the following
Community law
'For the purposes of this directive, the following meanings shall apply :
1. product, any industrially manufactured product and any agricultural product;
2. technical specification, a specification contained in a document which lays down the characteristics required of a product such as levels of quality, performance, safety or dimensions, including the requirements applicable to the product as regards the name under which the product is sold, terminology, symbols, testing and test methods, packaging, marking or labelling and conformity assessment procedures;
The term technical specification also covers production methods and processes used in respect of agricultural products as referred to in Article 38(1) of the Treaty, products intended for human and animal consumption, and medicinal products as defined in Article 1 of Directive 65/65/EEC, as well as production methods and processes relating to other products, where these have an effect on their characteristics.
...
9. technical regulation, technical specifications and other requirements, including the relevant administrative provisions, the observance of which is compulsory, de jure or de facto, in the case of marketing or use in a Member State or a major part thereof, as well as laws, regulations or administrative provisions of Member States, except those provided for in Article 10, prohibiting the manufacture, importation, marketing or use of a product.
...
'1. Subject to Article 10, Member States shall immediately communicate to the Commission any draft technical regulation, except where it merely transposes the full text of an international or European standard, in which case information regarding the relevant standard shall suffice; they shall also let the Commission have a statement of the grounds which make the enactment of such a technical regulation necessary, where these have not already been made clear in the draft.
...
The Commission shall immediately notify the other Member States of the draft and all documents which have been forwarded to it; it may also refer this draft, for an opinion, to the Committee referred to in Article 5 and, where appropriate, to the committee responsible for the field in question.
...
2. The Commission and the Member States may make comments to the Member State which has forwarded a draft technical regulation; that Member State shall take such comments into account as far as possible in the subsequent preparation of the technical regulation.
3. Member States shall communicate the definitive text of a technical regulation to the Commission without delay.
'1. Member States shall postpone the adoption of a draft technical regulation for three months from the date of receipt by the Commission of the communication referred to in Article 8(1).
2. Member States shall postpone:
- for four months the adoption of a draft technical regulation in the form of a voluntary agreement within the meaning of Article 1(9), second indent,
- without prejudice to paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, for six months the adoption of any other draft technical regulation,
from the date of receipt by the Commission of the communication referred to in Article 8(1) if the Commission or another Member State delivers a detailed opinion, within three months of that date, to the effect that the measure envisaged may create obstacles to the free movement of goods within the internal market.
The Member State concerned shall report to the Commission on the action it proposes to take on such detailed opinions. The Commission shall comment on this reaction.
3. Member States shall postpone the adoption of a draft technical regulation for 12 months from the date of receipt by the Commission of the communication referred to in Article 8(1) if, within the three months following that date, the Commission announces its intention to propose or adopt a Directive, Regulation or Decision on the matter in accordance with Article 189 of the Treaty.
4. Member States shall postpone the adoption of a draft technical regulation for 12 months from the date of receipt by the Commission of the communication referred to in Article 8(1) if, within the three months following that date, the Commission announces its finding that the draft technical regulation concerns a matter which is covered by a proposal for a Directive, Regulation or Decision presented to the Council in accordance with Article 189 of the Treaty.
5. If the Council adopts a common position during the standstill period referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4, that period shall, subject to Article 9(6), be extended to 18 months.
6. The obligations referred to in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 shall lapse:
- when the Commission informs the Member States that it no longer intends to propose or adopt a binding Community act,
- when the Commission informs the Member States of the withdrawal of its draft or proposal,
- when the Commission or the Council has adopted a binding Community act.
7. Paragraphs 1 to 5 shall not apply in those cases where, for urgent reasons, occasioned by serious and unforeseeable circumstances, relating to the protection of public health or safety, the protection of animals or the preservation of plants, a Member State is obliged to prepare technical regulations in a very short space of time in order to enact and introduce them immediately without any consultations being possible. The Member State shall give, in the communication referred to inArticle 8, the reasons which warrant the urgency of the measures taken. The Commission shall give its views on the communication as soon as possible. It shall take appropriate action in cases where improper use is made of this procedure. The European Parliament shall be kept informed by the Commission.
'Articles 8 and 9 shall not apply to those laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States or voluntary agreements by means of which Member States:
- comply with binding Community acts which result in the adoption of technical specifications.
The Italian legislation and the notification procedure
The main proceedings and the question referred to the Court
'May a national provision which has been promulgated and entered into force in the Member State (Law No 313 of 3 August 1998) be disapplied by a national court called upon to issue an order for payment in relation to the supply of extra virgin olive oil labelled in a manner not in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned national provision, in circumstances where, following the notification and the subsequent examination of a draft national Law concerning the labelling of extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil and olive oil, the European Commission, on the basis of Article 9(3) of Council Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, formally requested the notifying State not to legislate during a prescribed period (until [5 May] 1999) in relation to the marketing rules for olive oil, pending adoption of a Community regulation on the matter at issue?
The question referred to the Court
The status as technical regulations of the rules on labelling contained in the contested Law
The effects of failure to comply with Article 9 of Directive 83/189
Costs
53. The costs incurred by the Italian, Belgian, Danish and Netherlands Governments and by the Commission, which have submitted observations to the Court, are not recoverable. Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court.
On those grounds,
THE COURT,
in answer to the question referred to it by the Pretore di Milano by order of 6 November 1998, hereby rules:
A national court is required, in civil proceedings between individuals concerning contractual rights and obligations, to refuse to apply a national technical regulation which was adopted during a period of postponement of adoption prescribed in Article 9 of Council Directive 83/189/EEC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, as amended by Directive 94/10/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 March 1994 materially amending for the second time Directive 83/189.
Rodríguez Iglesias
Kapteyn
Ragnemalm |
Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 26 September 2000.
R. Grass G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias
Registrar President
1: Language of the case: Italian.