European Court of Justice (News)

MEKH v ACER
Energy
The General Court declares inapplicable the provisions of Regulation 2017/459 relating to the process for the creation of incremental capacity for gas transmission

Autorité des marchés financiers
Freedom of establishment
Freedom of the press: the disclosure by a journalist of inside information relating to the forthcoming publication of an article reporting rumours concerning companies listed on the stock exchange is lawful where it is necessary for the purpose of carrying out a journalistic activity and respects the principle of proportionality

ˮGrossmaniaˮ
Free movement of capital
Persons deprived of their rights of usufruct over agricultural land in Hungary in breach of EU law must be able to claim the reinstatement of those rights in the land register or compensation

Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld (Effet direct)
Freedom of establishment
Posting of workers: national courts must ensure that penalties for non-compliance with administrative obligations are proportionate

Commission v United Kingdom
Own resources of the Communities
The United Kingdom has failed to fulfil its obligations in relation to customs control and the availability of EU own resources by failing to adopt the measures necessary to combat fraud with regards to undervalued imports of textiles and footwear from China

Deutsche Umwelthilfe (Réception des véhicules à moteur)
Environment and consumers
Advocate General Rantos: 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

Judicial statistics 2021: despite the pandemic, the judicial institution of the European Union has been able to ensure the continuity of its activities in full

Préfet du Gers and Institut National de la Statistique and des Études Économiques
DGEN
Advocate General Collins: British nationals who enjoyed the benefits of Union citizenship do not retain those advantages following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU

TGSS (Chômage des employés de maison)
SOPO
Spanish legislation excluding domestic workers from unemployment benefit while they are almost exclusively women is contrary to EU law

A (Contrats d’assurance « unit-linked »)
Freedom of establishment
Court of Justice clarifies the scope of the pre-contractual information disclosure obligation in relation to ‘unit-linked’ group life assurance contracts

Agenzia delle dogane e dei monopoli and Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze
Freedom of establishment
Combatting tobacco consumption among young people: Member States may impose administrative sanctions on economic operators who infringe the prohibition on sales to minors, such as suspension of their trading licence for a period of 15 days

Govern d'Andorra v EUIPO (Andorra)
Intellectual and industrial property
The General Court confirms that the figurative sign ANDORRA cannot be registered as an EU trade mark for several goods and services

United Parcel Service v Commission, ASL Aviation Holdings, ASL Airlines (Ireland)/Commission
Law governing the institutions
The General Court dismisses two actions for damages brought by UPS and ASL Aviation Holdings

Openbaar Ministerie (Tribunal établi par la loi dans l’État membre d’émission)
DFON
Refusal to execute a European arrest warrant: the Court of Justice specifies the criteria permitting an executing judicial authority to assess whether there is any risk of breach of the requested person’s fundamental right to a fair trial

Sea Watch
Transport
According to Advocate General Rantos, the compliance with international standards of private ships engaged in regular sea search and rescue activities may be monitored by the port State

Commissaire général aux réfugiés and aux apatrides (Unité familiale - Protection déjà accordée)
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
A Member State may exercise its option to declare an application for international protection inadmissible on the ground that the applicant has already been granted refugee status by another Member State

Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd and Others
Freedom of establishment
Filter cigarettes: the method which has been established by ISO for determining the maximum emission levels for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide and to which EU law refers is valid and binding on cigarette manufacturers

RS (Effet des arrêts d’une cour constitutionnelle)
Law governing the institutions
EU law precludes a national rule under which national courts have no jurisdiction to examine the conformity with EU law of national legislation which has been held to be constitutional by a judgment of the constitutional court of the Member State

Hungary v Parliament and Council, C-157/21 Poland v Parliament and Council
Principles of Community law
Measures for the protection of the Union budget: the Court of Justice, sitting as a full Court, dismisses the actions brought by Hungary and Poland against the conditionality mechanism which makes the receipt of financing from the Union budget subject to the respect by the Member States for the principles of the rule of law

OE (Résidence habituelle d’un époux - Critère de nationalité)
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The period of residence required in order for the courts of a Member State to exercise their jurisdiction to hear and determine an application for divorce may legitimately vary according to the nationality of the applicant