European Court of Justice (News)

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

flightright (Transport aérien de Stuttgart à Kansas City)
Transport
The right to compensation for air passengers subject to long delays applies to connecting flights made up of flights operated by separate operating air carriers

Szef Krajowej Administracji Skarbowej
Taxation
Les services financiers fournis au titre d’un contrat de sous-participation sont exonérés de la TVA

Spain v Commission
State aid
Advocate General Pikamäe proposes that the judgment of the General Court and the Commission's decision on the ‘Spanish tax leasing scheme’ should be partially annulled

LOT (Indemnisation imposée par l’autorité administrative)
Transport
The national authority responsible for the enforcement of the Air Passengers Rights Regulation may, in response to individual complaints, compel a carrier to pay compensation to passengers

Agrofert v Parliament
Law governing the institutions
The Parliament’s decision to refuse access to two documents relating to the investigation against Mr Andrej Babiš, the former Czech Prime Minister, on misuse of European funds and potential conflicts of interest is valid.

Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Suspension administrative de la décision de transfert)
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The suspension, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, of the implementation of a decision to transfer an asylum seeker to the Member State responsible does not have the effect of interrupting the six-month time limit for transfer

Országos Idegenrendeszeti Főigazgatóság and Others
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Withdrawal of international protection further to a danger to national security: EU law precludes Hungarian legislation which provides that the person concerned or his or her legal representative can access the case file only after obtaining authorisation to that end, and without being provided with the grounds of the decision

France v Commission
Agriculture and fisheries
Financement de la PAC et aides aux États membres : le Tribunal rejette le recours de la France contestant une correction financière d’un montant de 46 millions d’euros proposée par la Commission