European Court of Justice (News)

AY
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The execution of a European arrest warrant cannot be refused on the ground that a decision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office has closed a criminal investigation when, during that investigation, the requested person was interviewed as a witness only

Société des produits Nestlé v Mondelez UK Holdings & Services
Intellectual and industrial property
EUIPO must reconsider whether the three-dimensional shape of a ‘4 Finger KitKat’ can be retained as an EU trade mark

Dyson
Energy
Not providing consumers with information on the testing conditions that resulted in the energy classification indicated on the energy label of vacuum cleaners does not constitute a ‘misleading omission’

Commission v Spain and Others
State aid
The Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court on the ‘Spanish tax lease system’

Generalstaatsanwaltschaft (Conditions de détention en Hongrie)
DFON
An assessment of detention conditions in the issuing Member State made prior to the execution of a European arrest warrant must be limited to the prisons in which it is actually intended that the person concerned will be held

Minister for Justice and Equality
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
A judicial authority called upon to execute a European arrest warrant must refrain from giving effect to it if it considers that there is a real risk that the individual concerned would suffer a breach of his fundamental right to an independent tribunal and, therefore, of the essence of his fundamental right to a fair trial on account of deficiencies liable to affect the independence of the judiciary in the issuing Member State

Chrysostomides, K. & Co. and Others v Council and Others
Law governing the institutions
The Court rejects the claims for compensation brought by several individuals and companies in relation to the restructuring of the Cypriot banking sector

Banque postale v ECB
Economic policy
The General Court annuls the decisions of the ECB refusing to allow six French credit institutions to exclude from the calculation of the leverage ratio certain exposure connected to French savings accounts

Curto v Parliament
Staff Regulations of Officials
The General Court orders the European Parliament and the EIB to each pay €10 000 in damages to members of staff who have suffered psychological harassment

The Goldman Sachs Group v Commission
Competition
The General Court confirms the fines of over €300 million that the Commission imposed on the main European and Asian producers of (extra) high voltage power cables for their participation in a worldwide cartel

Tjebbes and Others
Citizenship of the Union
Advocate General Mengozzi proposes that the Court should rule that the automatic loss of Netherlands nationality, which leads to the loss of citizenship of the EU, for minors living outside the EU is incompatible with EU law

Banger
Citizenship of the Union
Where an EU citizen returns to his Member State of origin, that Member State must facilitate the entry and residence of the non-EU partner with whom that citizen has a durable relationship

Austria v Commission
State aid
The General Court confirms the decision by which the Commission approved the aid provided by the UK in favour of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station

Jehovan todistajat
PDON
A religious community, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, is a controller, jointly with its members who engage in preaching, for the processing of personal data carried out by the latter in the context of door-to-door preaching

Generalstaatsanwaltschaft (Conditions de détention en Hongrie)
DFON
Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona proposes that the Court should rule that the existence, in the State issuing a European arrest warrant, of judicial remedies against possible inhuman or degrading treatment is a relevant factor allowing such a risk to be discounted and that, consequently, there are, in principle, no exceptional circumstances capable of justifying the non-execution of that arrest warrant

Kuhn
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Advocate General Bot proposes that the Court of Justice rule that the ‘Brussels Ia’ Regulation is not applicable in determining which Member State’s courts have jurisdiction to rule on claims brought against the Greek State by an individual holding Greek sovereign bonds following their forced exchange in exceptional circumstances and under exceptional conditions

Wirth and Others
Transport
In the case of long delay of a flight, the air company which must pay the compensation owed to passengers is not the air company which leased the aircraft and its crew, but the air company which decided to perform the flight

Planta Tabak
Freedom of establishment
Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe proposes that the Court rule that the broad prohibition on the sale of tobacco products with characterising flavours complies with the principle of equal treatment

Commission v Slovakia
Law governing the institutions
For having delayed in implementing EU law on the landfill of waste, Slovakia is fined a lump sum of €1 000 000 and a penalty payment of €5 000 per day of delay

Keramag Keramische Werke and Others v Commission
Competition
The General Court upholds the fine of €57 million imposed on Sanitec Europe and its subsidiaries in the context of the cartel on the bathroom fixtures and fittings market