European Court of Justice (News)

Oeuvre d’assistance aux bêtes d’abattoirs
Agriculture and fisheries
Advocate General Wahl proposes that the Court find that products from animals that have been the subject of ritual slaughter without prior stunning can be issued the European ‘organic farming’ label

R O
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The notification, by the United Kingdom, of its intention to withdraw from the EU does not have the consequence that execution of a European arrest warrant issued by that Member State must be refused or postponed

González Castro
SOPO
Pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding who work shifts, some of which are at night, must be regarded as performing night work and enjoy specific protection against the risks that night work is liable to pose

Commission v France and IFP Énergies nouvelles
State aid
The Court holds that the General Court of the European Union must reconsider whether the Commission was justified in classifying the implied and unlimited guarantee granted by the French Republic to the Institut français du pétrole as State aid

Ahmed
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
A person cannot be excluded from eligibility for subsidiary protection if he is deemed to have ‘committed a serious crime’ on the basis of the sole criterion of the penalty provided for under the law of the Member State concerned

NK Rosneft and Others v Council
External relations
The General Court of the EU upholds restrictive measures adopted by the Council against a number of Russian banks and oil and gas companies in connection with the crisis in Ukraine

Wind Tre
Freedom of establishment
The sale of SIM cards on which services that can incur fees have been pre-loaded and pre-activated constitutes an aggressive unfair commercial practice when the consumers are not informed of that fact in advance

UBS Europe and Others
MARI
National financial supervisory authorities may have an obligation to disclose information covered by professional secrecy in order to safeguard the rights of the defence or in order that the information may be used in civil or commercial proceedings

Harms
Transport
In the event of cancellation of a flight, the airline company must also reimburse commissions collected by intermediaries when tickets are bought, as long as it was aware of them

IR
SOPO
Dismissal of a Catholic doctor from a managerial position by a Catholic hospital due to his remarriage after a divorce may constitute unlawful discrimination on grounds of religion

Alpenrind and Others
Freedom of movement for persons
A posted worker is covered by the social security system of his place of work if he replaces another posted worker, even if those workers were not posted by the same employer

Juliana
SERV
A vehicle which is not formally withdrawn from use and which is capable of being used must be covered by motor vehicle insurance against civil liability even if its owner, who no longer intends to drive it, has chosen to park it on private land

R O
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Advocate General Szpunar: the UK’s decision to leave the EU should not affect the execution of a European arrest warrant issued by it

Renckhoff
Freedom of establishment
The posting on a website of a photograph that was freely accessible on another website with the consent of the author requires a new authorisation by that author

Commission v Spain
Environment and consumers
On account of its delay in implementing the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, Spain is ordered to pay a lump sum of €12 million and a penalty payment of almost €11 million per six-month period of delay

Commission v United Parcel Service
Competition
Advocate General Kokott suggests that the Court of Justice should confirm that the Commission’s decision prohibiting the acquisition of TNT Express by UPS should be annulled due to a procedural error

European Union v Gascogne Sack Deutschland and Gascogne
Law governing the institutions
Advocate General Wahl: the Court of Justice should set aside the judgments of the General Court by which it ordered the EU to pay compensation for material damage to a number of companies as a result of the excessive length of proceedings before that court

Vernaza Ayovi
DFON
The framework agreement on fixed-term work does not mean that non-permanent workers in the Spanish public sector must be guaranteed reinstatement in the event that their disciplinary dismissal is found to be wrongful

AY
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
The execution of a European arrest warrant cannot be refused on the ground that a decision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office has closed a criminal investigation when, during that investigation, the requested person was interviewed as a witness only

Société des produits Nestlé v Mondelez UK Holdings & Services
Intellectual and industrial property
EUIPO must reconsider whether the three-dimensional shape of a ‘4 Finger KitKat’ can be retained as an EU trade mark