Flux européens

Commission / Grèce (Tsipouro)
Fiscalité
La législation grecque appliquant un taux d’accise réduit au tsipouro et à la tsikoudia fabriqués par les entreprises de distillation et un taux d’accise fortement réduit à ceux fabriqués par les petits distillateurs est contraire au droit de l’Union

PlasticsEurope / ECHA
Recherche, informations, éducation, statistiques
Confirmation de l’inscription du bisphénol A comme substance extrêmement préoccupante en raison de ses propriétés toxiques pour la reproduction

HQ e.a.
Transport
Les passagers qui disposent du droit de s’adresser à leur organisateur de voyages pour obtenir le remboursement de leurs billets d’avion n’ont pas la possibilité de demander également un remboursement auprès du transporteur aérien

Aubriet
Libre circulation des personnes
Les modalités de calcul de la durée minimale d’activité au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, exigée par cet État membre, pour l’attribution d’une aide financière aux étudiants non-résidents, enfants de travailleurs frontaliers, sont contraires au droit de l’Union

Amazon EU
Environnement et consommateurs
Une plate-forme de commerce électronique comme Amazon n’est pas obligée dans tous les cas de mettre un numéro de téléphone à la disposition du consommateur avant la conclusion d’un contrat

Just a quick note for completeness’ sake on Pitruzzella AG’s Opinion in Joined cases C-349/18 to C-351/18 NMBS v Mbutuku Kanyeba et al. It engages consumer protection law, not conflict of laws. To decide whether there is a ‘contract’ between public transport providers and (alleged) fare dodgers, the AG has no choice but to refer to national law:

La directive 93/13/CEE ne réglemente pas les conditions de formation des contrats et le régime relatif aux clauses abusives qu’elle contient est en principe applicable exclusivement aux relations juridiques d’origine contractuelle, qui doivent être qualifiées par le juge national sur le fondement du droit national.

Readers of the blog will appreciate the echoes of Tessili v Dunlop and Handte /Kalfelis, Feniks etc. discussions.

Geert.

 

Commission / Belgique (Article 260, paragraphe 3, TFUE - Réseaux à haut débit)
Rapprochement des législations
La Cour interprète et applique pour la première fois l’article 260, paragraphe 3, TFUE, qui permet d’imposer une sanction financière pour le non-respect de l’« obligation de communiquer des mesures de transposition » d’une directive de l’Union

I reviewed Kokott AG’s Opinion in C-624/17 OM v Tronex here. The Court yesterday essentially confirmed her Opinion – readers may want to have a quick read of my previous posting to get an idea of the issues.

The Court distinguishes between two main categories. First, redundant articles in the product range of the retailer, wholesaler or importer that were still in their unopened original packaging. The Court at 32: ‘it may be considered that those are new products that were presumably in working condition. Such electrical equipment can be considered to be market products amenable to normal trade and which, in principle, do not represent a burden for their holder.’ However (at 33) that does not mean that these can never be considered to be ‘discarded’: the final test of same needs to be done by the national court.

The second category are electrical appliances returned under the product guarantee. At 43: goods that have undergone a return transaction carried out in accordance with a contractual term and in return for the reimbursement of the purchase price cannot be regarded as having been discarded. Where a consumer effects such a return of non-compliant goods with a view to obtaining a reimbursement of them under the guarantee associated with the sale contract of those goods, that consumer cannot be regarded as having wished to carry out a disposal or recovery operation of goods he had been intending to ‘discard’ within the meaning of the Waste Framework Directive. Moreover per C-241/12 and C-242/12 Shell, the risk that the consumer will discard those goods in a way likely to harm the environment is low.

However such a return operation under the product guarantee does not provide certainty that the electrical appliances concerned will be reused. At 35: ‘It will therefore be necessary to verify, for the purposes of determining the risk of the holder discarding them in a way likely to harm the environment, whether the electrical appliances returned under the product guarantee, where they show defects, can still be sold without being repaired to be used for their original purpose and whether it is certain that they will be reused.’

At 36: if there is no certainty that the holder will actually have it repaired, it has to be considered a waste. At 40 ff:  In order to prove that malfunctioning appliances do not constitute waste, it is therefore for the holder of the products in question to demonstrate not only that they can be reused, but that their reuse is certain, and to ensure that the prior inspections or repairs necessary to that end have been done.

The Court ends at 42 with the clear imposition of a triple duty on the holder (who is not a consumer, per above): a duty of inspection,  and, where applicable, a duty of repair and of packaging.

Geert.

(Handbook of) EU Waste law, 2nd ed. 2015, Oxford, OUP, Chapter 1, 1.149 ff.

Baltic Media Alliance
SERV
Un État membre peut, pour des motifs d’ordre public tels que la lutte contre l’incitation à la haine, imposer l’obligation de ne diffuser ou de ne retransmettre temporairement une chaîne de télévision en provenance d’un autre État membre que dans des bouquets payants

The representatives at the Diplomatic Conference at the Hague Convention have issued a provisional text of the Convention here. I am short of time to post a quick scan of the Convention – see some of my earlier posts on same. Also, since the Convention has taken on the format of the Brussels regime, it is of course quite an exercise even just to give a quick overview.

Of interest is that Jane Holliday posted a summary of key positive takeaways by prof Paul Beaumont, who was heavily involved in the drafting i.a. as a representative of the EU. These include the room for asymmetric choice of court (not covered by the Hague choice of court Convention and crucial for many common law jurisdictions); and the blend between the US and the EU regime for forum contractus: Article 5(g):

‘the judgment ruled on a contractual obligation and it was given by a court of the State in which performance of that obligation took place, or should have taken place, in accordance with

(i) the agreement of the parties, or (ii) the law applicable to the contract, in the absence of an agreed place of performance,

unless the activities of the defendant in relation to
the transaction clearly did not constitute a purposeful and substantial connection to that State.

Of note of course is also the carve-out for intellectual property and of ‘unilateral’ sovereign debt restructuring, but also of defamation and of privacy.

Much analysis no doubt to follow, as are complications in reaching a unified interpretation of the Convention once ratified.

Geert.

(Handbook of) EU Private International Law, 2nd ed. 2016. Chapter 2.

Thank you Stephen McConnell for flagging Mitchell v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., 2019 U.S. Dist. (Missouri) and Alani Golanski for doing the same for KGS v Facebook at the Alabama Supreme Court,

Both cases have plenty of scope for comparative analysis viz EU law and non-US common law. Which is why I had pondered them for use in exam essays but in the end did not – they might come in handy at a later stage. 

Readers best refer to the reports linked above for a full picture. In short, Mitchell involves the minimum contacts rule as well as ‘directing activities towards forum residents’: both have clear echos (and differences) in EU jurisdictional rules. On neither ground was specific (what the EU would call ‘special’) jurisdiction upheld.

In the Facebook case, Facebook argument is included on p.10-11. Claimant put forward a case for jurisdiction on p.13-14. She argues i.a. effects doctrine. Bryan J discussed both extensively p.15 ff and held that doing business in Alabama is not sufficient for personal jur., and (p.39) Facebook engagement with complaints not enough for specific jurisdiction.

In both cases the US Supreme Court’s decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb is cited as highly relevant authority.

Geert.

Constantin Film Produktion / EUIPO
Propriété intellectuelle et industrielle
Selon l’avocat général Bobek, la décision de l’EUIPO rejetant la demande d’enregistrement de la marque Fack Ju Göhte doit être annulée

Puigdemont i Casamajó et Comín i Oliveres / Parlement

Craeynest e.a.
Environnement et consommateurs
Les juridictions nationales sont compétentes pour contrôler le choix de l’emplacement des stations de mesure de la qualité de l’air et prendre, à l’égard de l’autorité nationale concernée, toute mesure nécessaire

Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa (Indépendance de la chambre disciplinaire de la Cour suprême)
Droit institutionnel
Selon l’avocat général Tanchev, la chambre disciplinaire, nouvellement créée, de la Cour suprême polonaise ne satisfait pas aux exigences de l’indépendance judiciaire établies par le droit de l’Union

Hongrie / Commission
Aide d'État
Le Tribunal annule la décision de la Commission constatant l’incompatibilité de la taxe hongroise sur la publicité avec les règles de l’Union concernant les aides d’État

Krajowa Rada Sądownictwa (Indépendance de la chambre disciplinaire de la Cour suprême)
Droit institutionnel
Selon l’avocat général Tanchev, la chambre disciplinaire, nouvellement créée, de la Cour suprême polonaise ne satisfait pas aux exigences de l’indépendance judiciaire établies par le droit de l’Union

In [2019] EWHC 1391 (QB) Percival v Moto Novu LLC Murray J considers the ins and outs of Article 38 Brussels Ia.

The dispute arose out of an aborted property transaction in Italy. Mr Teruzzi and Ms Puthod are husband and wife. La Fattoria was a “pass-through” company incorporated under Italian law and owned by Mr Teruzzi and Ms Puthod through which the property at the centre of the dispute was temporarily owned. It has since been dissolved.

By an Assignment of Rights of Judgment dated 28 March 2011 (but signed by the parties on 29 June 2011) and governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“the 2011 Assignment”), Mr Teruzzi assigned to the respondent, Motu Novu LLC (“Motu Novu”), a Delaware limited liability company, all of his right, title and interest in the Tribunal Judgment and the CA Milan Judgment. There is a dispute between the parties as to whether the 2011 Assignment was also effective to transfer the right, title and interest of Ms Puthod and La Fattoria in those judgments or, if not, whether that fact is relevant to the effectiveness of the registration.

At 8: Title III (the recognition and enforcement Title) involves two stages: i) under Article 39 of the Regulation, a first stage involving only the applicant, who must be an “interested party” and who applies ex parte to the relevant “court or competent authority” listed in Annex II to the Regulation to obtain an order for registration of the foreign judgment in order to permit enforcement locally; and ii) under Article 43 of the Regulation, a second stage, inter partes, during which the respondent (the judgment debtor) has the opportunity to raise certain limited objections by lodging an “appeal” (under English CPR rules this would be an application to set aside the order).

Under Article 44 of the Regulation, the order made on appeal under Article 43 is subject to a single further appeal on a point of law.

At 11: The ex parte stage of the registration process is governed by Articles 38 to 42 of the Regulation. The inter partes stage is governed by Articles 43 to 47. The remainder of section 2 of chapter III of the Regulation, Articles 48 to 52, deals with miscellaneous points that do not arise in this case, other than in relation to Article 48 (undue delay).

The process is further described in detail in the judgment. This is most helpful. Unless one has done one of these oneself, in all Member States the actual procedure is often shrouded in various levels of fog.

Of longer term authority interest is the discussion of the mistake made at an earlier stage, to register all 3 Italian judgments even though under Italian law only one of them was actually enforceable. At 44 Murray J in my view justifiably excuses this error: there is nothing ‘in the Regulation, or otherwise, (that) limits an applicant’s registration of a foreign judgment to the proportion to which he is entitled. I have seen no authority for that proposition.’

What is also of note is the concept of ‘interested party’. At 45:

The term “interested party” is not defined in the Regulation, but a person who is the assignee of a named judgment creditor, even where there are other named judgment creditors, is clearly an interested party. It seems to me fundamentally incompatible with the deliberately limited and mechanical nature of the registration process under chapter III of the Regulation that the registering court or competent authority should be required to enquire into the nature and extent of an applicant’s interest in a judgment, beyond what is necessary to establish prima facie that the applicant is an interested party.

I believe this is right. That the proceedings leading to the Italian Judgment were served on the Original Claimants on 17 January 2011, pre-dating the 2011 Assignment by over two months has therefore become irrelevant (at 48).

Intricate detail of Title III is not often litigated. This judgment is noteworthy.

Geert.

(Handbook of) EU private international law 2nd ed. 2016, Chapter 2, Heading 2.2.16.

 

Craeynest e.a.
Environnement et consommateurs
Les juridictions nationales sont compétentes pour contrôler le choix de l’emplacement des stations de mesure de la qualité de l’air et prendre, à l’égard de l’autorité nationale concernée, toute mesure nécessaire

Craeynest e.a.
Environnement et consommateurs
Les juridictions nationales sont compétentes pour contrôler le choix de l’emplacement des stations de mesure de la qualité de l’air et prendre, à l’égard de l’autorité nationale concernée, toute mesure nécessaire