European Court of Justice (News)

ANTEA POLSKA and Others
Freedom of establishment
The protection of confidentiality in the field of public procurement must be weighed against the requirements of transparency and effective judicial protection

Volotea v Commission
State aid
The Court of Justice sets aside the two judgments of the General Court which dismissed the actions of Volotea and easyJet against the decision of the Commission concerning State aid granted by Italy to Sardinian airports

Netherlands v Commission
State aid
Le Tribunal annule la décision de la Commission européenne validant la compensation pour la fermeture de centrales électriques au charbon opérant aux Pays-Bas

Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Automatic recognition of extrajudicial divorces: a divorce decree drawn up by the civil registrar of a Member State, containing a divorce agreement concluded by the spouses and confirmed by them before that registrar in accordance with the conditions laid down by the legislation of that Member State, constitutes a ‘judgment’ within the meaning of the Brussels IIa Regulation

PACCAR and Others
Competition
The disclosure of ‘relevant evidence’, within the meaning of EU law, includes documents that a party may be required to create by compiling or classifying information, knowledge or data in its possession

Commission v Valencia Club de Fútbol
State aid
Decision on State aid granted by Spain to Valencia CF annulled by the General Court: the Court of Justice dismisses the Commission’s appeal

Ferriera Valsabbia and Valsabbia Investimenti v Commission
Competition
Le Tribunal confirme les sanctions allant de 2,2 à 5,1 millions d’euros infligées par la Commission à quatre entreprises pour leur participation à une entente sur le marché italien des ronds à béton

Minority SafePack - one million signatures for diversity in Europe v Commission
Law governing the institutions
The General Court confirms the Commission communication refusing to take the action requested in the European citizens’ initiative ‘Minority SafePack - one million signatures for diversity in Europe’

Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe v Commission
State aid
Tax rulings: The Court of Justice holds that the General Court was wrong to confirm the reference framework used by the Commission to apply the arm’s length principle to integrated companies in Luxembourg, in failing to take into account the specific rules implementing that principle in that Member State

Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid (Examen d’office de la rétention)
Justice and Home Affairs
A national court is required to ascertain of its own motion whether a detention measure taken in respect of an illegally staying foreign national or an asylum seeker is lawful

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (Réception des véhicules à moteur)
Environment and consumers
Approved environmental associations must be able to bring legal proceedings to challenge an EC type-approval of vehicles equipped with ‘defeat devices’ that may be prohibited (see Press Release 41/22)

Generalstaatsanwaltschaft München
Citizenship of the Union
The authorities of a Member State are not to extradite a third-country national to another third country where that national has been convicted by final judgment in another Member State for the same acts as those referred to in the extradition request and has been subject to the sentence imposed in that State

Minister for Justice and Equality (Levée du sursis)
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
European Arrest Warrant: Advocate General Ćapeta proposes that the term ‘trial resulting in the decision’ is to be interpreted as any step of the proceedings, which has the decisive influence on the deprivation of a person’s liberty.

Confédération paysanne and Others (Mutagenèse aléatoire in vitro)
Approximation of laws
Genetically modified plant varieties: according to the First Advocate General Szpunar, random mutagenesis applied in vitro must be excluded from the scope of EU law concerning deliberate release into the environment of GMOs

La Quadrature du Net and Others
Approximation of laws
First Advocate General Szpunar: a national authority should be able to access civil identity data linked to IP addresses where such data are the only means of investigation enabling the identification of the holders of those addresses suspected of online copyright infringement

Proximus (Annuaires électroniques publics)
Approximation of laws
The controller of personal data is required to take reasonable steps to inform internet search engine providers of a request for erasure by the data subject

Commission v CK Telecoms UK Investments
Competition
Merger control: Advocate General Kokott clarifies the standards of proof of the existence of non-coordinated effects satisfying the concept of ‘significant impediment to effective competition’ on an oligopolistic market where the merged entity does not have a dominant position

IG Metall and ver.di
Freedom of establishment
The transformation of a company governed by national law into a European company (SE) must not reduce the participation of trade unions in the composition of the Supervisory Board

Towercast
Competition
According to Advocate General Kokott, a concentration between undertakings that has not been the subject of any ex ante assessment under merger control law may be assessed ex post on the basis of the prohibition of abuse of a dominant position under primary law

S.C.R.L. (Vêtement à connotation religieuse)
Principles of Community law
The internal rule of an undertaking prohibiting the visible wearing of religious, philosophical or spiritual signs does not constitute direct discrimination if it is applied to all workers in a general and undifferentiated way