European Court of Justice (News)

European Union v Gascogne Sack Deutschland and Gascogne
Law governing the institutions
The Court sets aside the damages imposed on the EU by the General Court on account of bank guarantee charges incurred by several undertakings in the context of excessively long proceedings before the General Court

Ville de Paris v Commission
Environment and consumers
The General Court upholds the actions brought by the cities of Paris, Brussels and Madrid and annuls in part the Commission’s regulation setting excessively high oxides of nitrogen emission limits for the tests for new light passenger and commercial vehicles

VG Media
Approximation of laws
Advocate General Hogan: the Court should rule that the new German rules prohibiting search engines from providing excerpts of press products without prior authorisation by the publisher must not be applied

Deutsche Telekom v Commission
Competition
The General Court partially annuls the Commission decision relating to anticompetitive practices on the Slovakian telecommunications market

Touring Tours und Travel
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The Schengen Borders Code precludes Germany from requiring coach transport operators of cross-border services to check the passports and residence permits of passengers before entering or leaving German territory

Mubarak v Council
External relations
The General Court upholds the Council’s decisions of 2017 and 2018 to renew the restrictive measures taken against Mr Mubarak, former President of Egypt, in the light of ongoing judicial proceedings relating to the misappropriation of Egyptian State funds

Biogaran v Commission
Competition
The General Court annuls in part the European Commission’s decision finding the existence of restrictive agreements and an abuse of a dominant position on the market for perindopril, a medicine used to treat hypertension and heart failure

Pelham and Others
Freedom of establishment
Advocate General Szpunar proposes that the Court should rule that sampling constitutes an infringement of the rights of the producer of a phonogram when it is done without his authorisation

Weiss and Others
Economic policy
The ECB’s PSPP programme for the purchase of government bonds on secondary markets does not infringe EU law

Wightman and Others
DGEN
The United Kingdom is free to revoke unilaterally the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU

Belgium v Commission
State aid
Le Tribunal annule l’interdiction pour la Belgique de procéder à tout paiement en vertu du régime de garantie pour les coopérants ARCO

FENS
Energy
Member States may not impose a charge on the export of electricity generated in their own territory

Preindl
Freedom of movement for persons
Academic qualifications obtained as a result of taking partially overlapping courses must be automatically recognised in all Member States if the minimum training conditions, laid down by EU law, are complied with

Wightman and Others
DGEN
Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona proposes that the Court of Justice should declare that Article 50 TEU allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU

Inter-Environnement Wallonie and Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen
Environment and consumers
Advocate General Kokott sees grounds for taking the view that the Belgian Law on the extension of the lifetime of the Doel 1 and 2 nuclear power stations was adopted without the necessary prior environmental impact assessments

Klyuyev v Council
External relations
The application for interim measures of Mr Andriy Klyuyev, former Head of Administration of the President of Ukraine, to suspend the operation of restrictive measures, is dismissed

Shindler and Others v Council
Law governing the institutions
Brexit: the application for annulment of the decision authorising the opening of Brexit negotiations, brought by thirteen British citizens who live in EU Member States other than the UK, is inadmissible

Meeting of Judges of the Member States at the Court of Justice of the European Union

Saleh Thabet v Council
External relations
The General Court upholds the Council’s decision to freeze the assets of members of the Mubarak family, on the basis of judicial proceedings relating to misappropriation of Egyptian State funds

Novartis Farma
Approximation of laws
The reimbursement by a national healthcare insurance system of a medicinal product for a use not covered by its marketing authorisation (off-label use) is not contrary to EU law