European Court of Justice (News)

Commission v France
Freedom of establishment
The Conseil d’État should have referred a question to the Court for a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of EU law, in order to determine whether it was necessary to refuse to take into account the tax incurred by a non-resident subsidiary on the profits underlying dividends redistributed by a non-resident company

Kamenova
Environment and consumers
A person who publishes a number of sales advertisements on a website is not automatically a ‘trader’

Società Immobiliare Al Bosco Srl
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The Brussels I Regulation does not preclude legislation of a Member State which provides for the application of a time limit for the enforcement of a preventive attachment order from being applied in the case of such an order which has been adopted in another Member State and is enforceable in the Member State in which enforcement is sought

Feniks
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
A creditor’s action seeking to render a fraudulent disposal of property by its debtor ineffective as regards that creditor is a ‘matter related to a contract’ within the meaning of the regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters

L.E.G.O.
Environment and consumers
The requirement to submit sustainability certificates imposed by Italy on intermediaries which do not take physical possession of the bioliquids which are the subject of the transaction in which those intermediaries are involved complies with EU law

Dicu
SOPO
A provision of national law which, for the purpose of determining the duration of paid annual leave to which a worker is entitled, does not include a period of parental leave taken by that worker complies with EU law

France v Parliament
Law governing the institutions
The European Parliament may exercise some of its budgetary powers in Brussels, instead of Strasbourg, if that is required for the proper functioning of the budgetary procedure

OTP Bank and OTP Faktoring
Environment and consumers
The unfairness of an unclear contractual term which places the exchange rate risk on the borrower and does not reflect statutory provisions may be subject to judicial review

Oeuvre d’assistance aux bêtes d’abattoirs
Agriculture and fisheries
Advocate General Wahl proposes that the Court find that products from animals that have been the subject of ritual slaughter without prior stunning can be issued the European ‘organic farming’ label

R O
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The notification, by the United Kingdom, of its intention to withdraw from the EU does not have the consequence that execution of a European arrest warrant issued by that Member State must be refused or postponed

González Castro
SOPO
Pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding who work shifts, some of which are at night, must be regarded as performing night work and enjoy specific protection against the risks that night work is liable to pose

Commission v France and IFP Énergies nouvelles
State aid
The Court holds that the General Court of the European Union must reconsider whether the Commission was justified in classifying the implied and unlimited guarantee granted by the French Republic to the Institut français du pétrole as State aid

Ahmed
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
A person cannot be excluded from eligibility for subsidiary protection if he is deemed to have ‘committed a serious crime’ on the basis of the sole criterion of the penalty provided for under the law of the Member State concerned

NK Rosneft and Others v Council
External relations
The General Court of the EU upholds restrictive measures adopted by the Council against a number of Russian banks and oil and gas companies in connection with the crisis in Ukraine

Wind Tre
Freedom of establishment
The sale of SIM cards on which services that can incur fees have been pre-loaded and pre-activated constitutes an aggressive unfair commercial practice when the consumers are not informed of that fact in advance

UBS Europe and Others
MARI
National financial supervisory authorities may have an obligation to disclose information covered by professional secrecy in order to safeguard the rights of the defence or in order that the information may be used in civil or commercial proceedings

Harms
Transport
In the event of cancellation of a flight, the airline company must also reimburse commissions collected by intermediaries when tickets are bought, as long as it was aware of them

IR
SOPO
Dismissal of a Catholic doctor from a managerial position by a Catholic hospital due to his remarriage after a divorce may constitute unlawful discrimination on grounds of religion

Alpenrind and Others
Freedom of movement for persons
A posted worker is covered by the social security system of his place of work if he replaces another posted worker, even if those workers were not posted by the same employer

Juliana
SERV
A vehicle which is not formally withdrawn from use and which is capable of being used must be covered by motor vehicle insurance against civil liability even if its owner, who no longer intends to drive it, has chosen to park it on private land