European Court of Justice (News)

Kočner v EUROPOL
Principles of Community law
Advocate General Rantos: Europol and a Member State in which damage occurred in relation to unlawful data processing can be jointly and severally liable

Silver and Others v Council
Citizenship of the Union
Definitive dismissal of the actions brought by British citizens challenging the loss of their rights as EU citizens as a result of Brexit

Thermalhotel Fontana
Social security for migrant workers
The freedom of movement for workers precludes the legislation of a Member State, which makes compensation conditional on the imposition of an isolation measure by its own administrative authorities

Bank M. (Conséquences de l’annulation du contrat)
Approximation of laws
EU law does not preclude, in the event of the annulment of a mortgage loan agreement vitiated by unfair terms, the consumers from seeking compensation from the bank going beyond reimbursement of the monthly instalments paid

Google Ireland and Others
Freedom of establishment
According to Advocate General Szpunar, platforms like Google, Meta Platforms and Tik Tok may not have additional obligations imposed on them in a Member State other than the one in which they have their registered office, except by measures taken on a case-by-case basis

Commission v Amazon.com and Others
State aid
Tax rulings: Advocate General Kokott is of the view that the Commission erred in deciding that Luxembourg had granted unauthorised state aid to Amazon in the form of tax advantages

Comune di Copertino
Freedom of movement for persons
Advocate General Ćapeta: Member States may restrict the monetisation of unused paid annual leave at the end of the employment relationship

UFC - Que choisir and CLCV
Approximation of laws
Package travel and the COVID-19 pandemic: national legislation which temporarily releases organisers from their obligation to provide a full refund in the event of termination of a package travel contract is incompatible with EU law

Austrian Airlines (Vol de rapatriement)
Transport
COVID19 pandemic: a repatriation flight organised in the context of consular assistance does not constitute a re-routed flight that the operating air carrier must offer to passengers whose flight has been cancelled

Prestige and Limousine
Freedom of establishment
Limiting the number of private hire vehicle service licences in the Barcelona metropolitan area is contrary to European Union law

Aprile and Commerciale Italiana v EUIPO - DC Comics (Représentation d’une chauve-souris dans un cadre ovale)
Intellectual and industrial property
The Batman logo: the evidence submitted to the General Court is not sufficient to show that the EU trade mark representing a bat in an oval surround was devoid of distinctive character on the date of filing of the application for registration

Shakutin v Council
External relations
Restrictive measures against Belarus: the General Court dismisses the action brought by Mr Aleksandr Vasilevich Shakutin against the restrictive measures imposed on him

O. G. (Mandat d’arrêt européen à l’encontre d’un ressortissant d’un État tiers)
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The option of refusing to execute a European Arrest Warrant in order for the sentence to be executed in the Member State of residence must be equally applicable to third-country nationals

Commission v Poland () and vie privée des juges)
Principles of Community law
Rule of law: the Polish justice reform of December 2019 infringes EU law

WertInvest Hotelbetrieb
Environment and consumers
The requirement to carry out an environmental impact assessment for an urban development project cannot be dependent exclusively on the size of that project

AKM (Fourniture de bouquets satellitaires en Autriche)
Cross-border satellite retransmission of programmes: the broadcasting Member State principle also applies to the satellite package provider

Ryanair v Commission (Italie; régime d’aide; Covid-19)
State aid
The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision to approve an aid measure consisting in subsidies paid by Italy to Italian airlines in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Emmentaler Switzerland v EUIPO (EMMENTALER)
Intellectual and industrial property
The term ‘emmentaler’ cannot be protected as a European Union trade mark for cheeses

Meta Platforms Ireland v Commission
Competition
Competition: The action brought by Meta Platforms Ireland (Facebook group) against a Commission request seeking disclosure of documents identified by means of search terms is dismissed

EVH v Commission
Competition
The action brought by the German electricity producer EVH against the approval by the Commission of the acquisition of E.ON assets by RWE is dismissed