Italië en Luxemburg moeten voldoen aan jurisprudentie EU-Hof inzake jaarbeurzen en verstrekkers van patenten (en)

maandag 12 juli 2004

The European Commission has decided to formally ask Italy to comply with a judgment of the European Court of Justice requiring it to abolish restrictions which it imposes on the exercise of the activity of trade-fair organiser. The Commission will also ask Italy and Luxembourg to implement two Court judgments concerning their respective legislation on patent agents, which unjustifiably restrict the exercise of that profession on their territories. Under Article 228 of the EC Treaty, Italy and Luxembourg could have penalties imposed on them by the Court, given that the necessary measures have not been adopted.

Trade fairs: Italy

By restricting both the organisation of trade fairs and access to those trade fairs, the relevant Italian regulations, which are now the responsibility of the regions, pose problems of compatibility with the principles of freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment, as laid down in Articles 43 and 49 of the EC Treaty.
Following an infringement procedure instituted by the Commission (IP/98/1174), the Court noted, in its judgment of 15 January 2002 (case C-439/99), that a substantial number of requirements imposed on trade-fair organisers and exhibitions by national, regional and provincial legal texts infringed the principle of the freedom to provide services and, in some cases, freedom of establishment. The Commission sent Italy a letter of formal notice in March 2003 (see IP/03/668) asking it to comply with the Court's judgment.

Italy sent the Commission a series of legislative amendments which had been passed by various regions affected by the judgment. However, an analysis of the legislative texts indicates that, depending on the region concerned, a number of provisions continue to be incompatible with the Court's judgment, especially with regard to:

  • the blanket obligation on operators to obtain official recognition
  • compliance with particularly strict time limits
  • the prohibition on trade fairs other than those which are included in the official calendar
  • the need for the organisation of trade fairs to conform to regional planning objectives
  • the role of advisory committees which are made up of local operators.

The obstacles listed above affect non-Italian operators' ability to provide services in Italy, limit the choices available to exhibitors wishing to use trade fairs as a means of promoting their goods or services and, potentially, increase the costs of promotion and hence also the final prices which the purchasers of the goods and services concerned have to pay.

Patent agents: Italy and Luxembourg

In its judgment of 13 February 2003 (case C-131/01), the Court censured Italian legislation which requires service providers to be enrolled on a national register and to have a residence or place of business in Italy in order for them to provide their services. Similarly, in its judgment of 6 March 2003 (case C-478/01), the Court found the requirement laid down in Luxembourg law for patent agents to have a place of establishment at the address of an approved representative before they can provide a service to be incompatible with Article 49 of the EC Treaty, which lays down the principle of the free provision of services.
In December 2003, the Commission sent Italy and Luxembourg letters of formal notice (IP/03/1764) in which it called on them to comply with the above-mentioned judgments. However, the necessary measures have still not been notified to the Commission by the competent national authorities.

For the latest information on infringement procedures against the Member States, please consult the following site:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm

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