European Court of Justice (News)

Slovenia v Croatia
Principles of Community law
The Court of Justice of the European Union lacks jurisdiction to rule on a border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, but those two Member States are required, under Article 4(3) TEU, to strive sincerely to bring about a definitive legal solution to the dispute consistent with international law

Generics (UK) and Others
Competition
The Court of Justice clarifies the criteria governing whether a settlement agreement with respect to a dispute between the holder of a pharmaceutical patent and a manufacturer of generic medicines is contrary to EU competition law

Commission v Italy
Approximation of laws
Italy should have ensured that its public authorities complied, in their commercial transactions with private undertakings, with periods for payment not exceeding 30 or 60 days

Generics (UK) and Others
Competition
Advocate General Kokott proposes that the Court should find that an agreement in settlement of a dispute between the holder of a pharmaceutical patent and a manufacturer of generic medicinal products may be contrary to EU competition law

PTC Therapeutics International v EMA
Law governing the institutions
The Court confirms the right of access to documents contained in the file of a marketing authorisation application for a medicinal product

Privacy International
Principles of Community law
Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona: the means and methods of combating terrorism must be compatible with the requirements of the rule of law

Rina
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Advocate General Szpunar proposes that the Court should rule that the victims of the sinking of a ship flying the Panamanian flag can bring an action for damages before the Italian courts against the Italian bodies which classified and certified that ship.

Commission v Hungary (Transparence associative)
Free movement of capital
Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona: the restrictions imposed by Hungary on the financing of civil organisations from abroad are not compatible with EU law

The President and Members of the European Commission give a solemn undertaking before the Court of Justice of the European Union

Parquet général du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona: the judicial authority which issues a European arrest warrant must be fully independent and must not be subject to hierarchical constraints or to orders or instructions

Procureur-generaal (Mandat d'arrêt européen)
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
AG Bobek: when assessing the maximum threshold period imposed by the Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant in order to surrender a requested person without verification of the criterion of double criminality, the relevant law of the issuing Member State is the one actually applicable to the case

AFMB and Others
Social security for migrant workers
According to Advocate General Pikamäe, the employer of lorry drivers employed in the international road transport sector is the transport undertaking which recruited those drivers for an indefinite period, exercises effective control over the drivers and actually bears the wage costs

A.K. (Indépendance de la chambre disciplinaire de la Cour suprême)
Law governing the institutions
The referring court must ascertain whether the new Disciplinary Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court is independent in order to determine whether that chamber has jurisdiction to rule on cases where judges of the Supreme Court have been retired, or in order to determine whether such cases must be examined by another court which meets the requirement that courts must be independent

Solemn undertaking before the Court of Justice of the European Union by two new Members of the European Court of Auditors

Deutsche Umwelthilfe
COAD
According to Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe, imprisonment cannot be used against the public officials responsible, including the Minister-President, in order to compel them to introduce traffic bans on diesel vehicles in Munich

Commission v Ireland (Parc éolien de Derrybrien)
Environment and consumers
Ireland is ordered to pay pecuniary penalties for failing to comply with an earlier judgment of the Court which required, in particular, that an environmental assessment be carried out in respect of a wind farm

Haqbin
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
An applicant for international protection guilty of serious breaches of the rules of the accommodation centre in which he or she is hosted or of seriously violent behaviour cannot be sanctioned by a withdrawal of material reception conditions relating to housing, food or clothing

Organisation juive européenne and Vignoble Psagot
Approximation of laws
Foodstuffs originating in the territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin, accompanied, where those foodstuffs come from an Israeli settlement within that territory, by the indication of that provenance

Junqueras Vies
Privileges and immunities
According to Advocate General Szpunar, MEPs’ Parliamentary mandate is acquired solely from the electorate and this cannot be conditional on the completion of any subsequent formality

České aerolinie
Transport
Connecting flights that are the subject of a single reservation departing from a Member State to a non-Member State via another non-Member State: the air carrier that performed the first flight is obliged to pay compensation to passengers who suffered a long delay in the arrival of the second flight performed by a nonCommunity air carrier