European Court of Justice (News)

Ligue des droits humains
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
According to Advocate General Pitruzzella, the transfer and the generalised and undifferentiated automated processing of PNR data are compatible with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data

Commission v Spain (Obligation d’information en matière fiscale)
Freedom of movement for persons
National legislation requiring Spanish tax residents to declare their overseas assets or rights is contrary to EU law

Intel Corporation v Commission
Competition
The General Court annuls in part the Commission decision imposing a fine of € 1.06 billion on Intel

Commission v European Food and Others
State aid
The General Court erred in law in finding that the Commission lacked competence to examine, in the light of the law on State aid, the compensation paid to Swedish investors by Romania in implementation of an arbitral award

VYSOČINA WIND
Approximation of laws
The Court of Justice rules that Directive 2012/19 on waste electrical and electronic equipment is partially invalid, in so far as it obliges producers of photovoltaic panels to finance the costs relating to the management of waste from those panels where they were placed on the market on a date prior to the date on which that directive entered into force

Luxembourg Business Registers,C-601/20 Sovim
Approximation of laws
Prévention du blanchiment de capitaux et protection de la vie privée et des données à caractère personnel : l’avocat général Pitruzzella confirme la validité du régime d’accès public aux informations sur les bénéficiaires effectifs de sociétés

RS (Effet des arrêts d’une juridiction constitutionnelle)
Law governing the institutions
Advocate General Collins: EU law precludes a national provision or practice according to which national courts have no jurisdiction to examine if a provision of national law, that a decision of the constitutional court of the Member State has found to be constitutional, is in conformity with EU law

Commission v Austria (Indexation des prestations familiales)
Social security for migrant workers
According to Advocate General Richard de la Tour, the indexation of the family allocation and tax advantages granted by Austria to workers whose children permanently reside in another Member State is contrary to EU law

Landeshauptmann von Wien (Perte du statut de résident de longue durée)
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
A third-country national does not lose his or her long-term resident status if his or her presence in the territory of the European Union is limited, during a period of 12 consecutive months, to only a few days

Romania v Commission
Citizenship of the Union
La Cour confirme la décision de la Commission d’enregistrer la proposition d’initiative citoyenne européenne « Minority SafePack - one million signatures for diversity in Europe »

Commission v Greece (Récupération d’aides d’État - Ferronickel)
State aid
Greece is ordered to make a lump sum payment of €5 500 000 and periodic penalty payments of over €4 000 000 for every six months’ delay for failure to recover State aid granted to Larco

Deutsche Telekom v Commission
Competition
The General Court awards Deutsche Telekom compensation in the amount of approximately € 1.8 million for the harm which it suffered as a result of the European Commission’s refusal to pay it default interest on the amount of the fine which it had unduly paid for an infringement of competition rules

Thelen Technopark Berlin

Despite the fact that the Court has previously held that the German legislation setting minimum rates for fees for services provided by architects and engineers (the HOAI) is contrary to the Services Directive, a national court, when hearing a dispute between private individuals, is not required, solely on the basis of EU law, to disapply that German legislation

Wiener Landesregierung (Révocation d'une assurance de naturalisation)
Citizenship of the Union
The revocation of an assurance of naturalisation must have due regard to the principle of proportionality where that revocation prevents the person concerned from recovering the citizenship of the Union.

Entry into office of three new Members of the General Court of the European Union

Regione Puglia
Freedom of establishment
A Member State may, within the geographical limits set by it, grant several licenses to the same operator for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons, such as petrol and natural gas, for adjacent areas, provided that it ensures non-discriminatory access to those activities for all operators and assesses the cumulative effect of projects likely to have significant effects on the environment

Allemagne - Ville de Paris and Others v Commission,C-178/19 P Hongrie - Ville de Paris e.a./Commission
Environment and consumers
The Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court partially annulling the Commission regulation fixing emission values for real driving emissions tests for new light vehicles.

MIUR and Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per la Campania
DFON
Teachers of Catholic religious education: the requirement to hold a suitability certificate issued by a Church authority does not justify the renewal of fixed-term contracts

Trapeza Peiraios
Environment and consumers
The Court clarifies the extent of protection afforded to consumers under a loan contract repayable in a foreign currency

Randstad Italia
DFON
EU law does not preclude the highest court in the judicial order of a Member State from being unable to set aside a judgment delivered in breach of EU law by that Member State’s highest administrative court