European Court of Justice (News)

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

From 1 July 2018, requests for preliminary rulings involving natural persons will be anonymised

Minister for Justice and Equality
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
According to Advocate General Tanchev, the execution of a European arrest warrant must be postponed where the competent judicial authority finds not only that there is a real risk of flagrant denial of justice on account of deficiencies in the system of justice of the issuing Member State but also that the person who is the subject of the warrant is exposed to such a risk

C and A
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Advocate General Mengozzi proposes that the Court should rule that the Netherlands law requiring a person who already has the right to family reunification to pass a second civic integration examination in order to obtain an autonomous residence permit is incompatible with EU law.

Berlusconi and Fininvest
Freedom of establishment
Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona proposes that the Court of Justice should declare that the EU Courts have exclusive jurisdiction to review the legality of ECB measures and of preparatory measures adopted in procedures for authorisation to acquire or increase qualifying holdings in banks

France.com v EUIPO - France (FRANCE.com)
Intellectual and industrial property
The sign ‘france.com’ cannot be registered as an EU trade mark

MB
SOPO
A person who has changed gender cannot be required to annul the marriage which he or she entered into before that change of gender in order to be entitled to receive a retirement pension at the age provided for persons of the sex which he or she has acquired

Commission v Malta
Environment and consumers
By adopting a certain derogation regime allowing the capture of seven species of wild birds, Malta has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law

M
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
According to Advocate General Wathelet, the provisions of the Qualification Directive allowing a Member State to refuse or to revoke refugee status are compatible with EU law

Gnandi
Justice and Home Affairs
Member States are entitled to adopt a return decision as soon as an application for international protection is rejected, provided that the return procedure is suspended pending the outcome of an appeal against that rejection

Le Pen v Parliament
Law governing the institutions
The General Court confirms the decision of the European Parliament to recover from Marine Le Pen MEP almost €300 000 for the employment of a parliamentary assistant, on the ground that she did not prove the effectiveness of that assistant’s work

Baumeister
MARI
All the information in the file of a financial supervision authority is not necessarily confidential

Makhlouf v Council
External relations
The Court of Justice confirms that the fund-freezing measures imposed on Rami Makhlouf, cousin of Bashar al-Assad, must be maintained for the period 2016-2017

Scotch Whisky Association
Agriculture and fisheries
In order to decide whether there is an ‘evocation’ prohibited by EU law, the national court must determine whether a consumer thinks directly of the protected geographical indication ‘Scotch Whisky’ when he sees a comparable product bearing the designation ‘Glen’

Louboutin and Christian Louboutin
Intellectual and industrial property
A mark consisting of a colour applied to the sole of a shoe is not covered by the prohibition of the registration of shapes