COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS 1992-1994 Synopsis of the work of the Court of Justice and of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities Luxembourg 1995 Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Court of Justice of the European Communities L-2925 Luxembourg Telephone: 4303-1 Telex (Registry): 2510 CURIA LU Telex (Information Service): 2771 CJ INFO LU Telegraphic address: CURIA Telefax (Court): 4303-2600 Telefax (Information Service): 4303-2500 Court of First Instance of the European Communities Rue du Fort-Niedergriinewald L-2925 Luxembourg Telephone: 43 03-1 Telex (Registry): 60216 CURIA LU Telefax (Court): 4303-2100 Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1995 ISBN 92-829-0255-2 © ECSC-EC-EAEC, Brussels • Luxembourg, 1995 Reproduction is authorized, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium Foreword This year, exceptionally, the Report of the Proceedings of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and of the Court of First Instance will replace the Annual Report of previous years. Following delays at various stages of publication, and relying on the understand­ ing of our readers, it has been decided to publish a version which, while retaining the usual content, relates to the proceedings of the Court of Justice and of the Court of First Instance over three years, namely 1992, 1993 and 1994. As has been the case with publications for previous years, this report is intended for judges. lawyers and, in general, practitioners, teachers and students of Community law. It is issued for information only, and obviously must not be cited as an official publication of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance, whose judgments are published officially in the Reports of Cases before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance and in the Reports of European Community Staff Cases. The report is published in the official languages of the European Communities (Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish). It is obtainable free of charge on request (specifying the language required) from the Press and Information Office of the Court of Justice. 3 3-4 Table of Contents Page The Court of Justice of the European Communities 9 A - The Proceedings of the Court of Justice in 1992, 1993 and 1994 by President Rodriguez Iglesias . 11 B - Composition of the Court of Justice . 19 I - Order of precedence . 20 from 1 January 1992 to 10 March 1992 ............. 20 from 11 March 1992 to 6 October 1992 . 21 from 7 October 1992 to 6 October 1993 . 22 from 7 October 1993 to 9 February 1994 . 23 from 10 February 1994 to 6 October 1994 . 24 from 7 October 1994 . 25 II - The Members of the Court of Justice from 1992 to 1994 . 26 III - Changes in the composition of the Court of Justice from 1992 to 1994 . 33 IV - Abridged organization chart . 35 The Court of First Instance of the European Communities . 37 A - The Proceedings of the Court of First Instance in 1992, 1993 and 1994 by President Cruz Vilaca . 39 B - Composition of the Court of First Instance . 59 I - Order of precedence of the Court of First Instance . 60 from 1 September 1991 to 10 March 1992 . 60 from 11 March 1992 to 18 September 1992 . 61 from 19 September 1992 to 31 August 1993 . 61 from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1994 . 62 from 1 September 1994 . 62 II - The Members of the Court of First Instance from 1992 to 1994 . 63 Ill - Changes in the composition of the Court of First Instance from 1992 to 1994 . 67 5 The Activity of the institution . 69 A - Meetings and visits . 71 Official Visits and Functions at the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance in 1992, 1993 and 1994 . 75 B - Formal Sittings . 89 Formal sitting of the Court of Justice of 10 March 1992 . 89 Formal sitting of the Court of Justice of 18 September 1992 . 103 Formal sitting of the Court of Justice of 4 December 1992 . 114 Formal sitting of the Court of Justice of 15 January 1993 . 116 Formal sitting of the Court of Justice of 16 February 1993 . 116 Formal sitting of the Court of Justice of 26 October 1993 . 117 Formal sitting of the Court of Justice of 9 February 1994 . 121 Formal sitting of the Court of Justice of 6 October 1994 . 133 Annexe I . 165 Statistical information for the years 1992 to 1994 . 167 A - Proceedings of the Court of Justice . 167 I - Synopsis of the judgments delivered by the Court of Justice in 1992 . 167 Synopsis of the judgments delivered by the Court of Justice in 1993 . 189 Synopsis of the other decisions of the Court of Justice which appeared in the 'Proceedings' in 1993 . 212 Synopsis of the judgments delivered by the Court of Justice in 1994 . 213 Synopsis of the other decisions of the Court of Justice which appeared in the 'Proceedings' in 1994 . 237 II - Statistical information . 239 6 B - Proceedings of the Court of First Instance . 265 I - Synopsis of the judgments delivered by the Court of First Instance in 1992 . 265 Synopsis of the judgments delivered by the Court of First Instance in 1993 . 268 Synopsis of the other decisions of the Court of First Instance which appeared in the 'Proceedings' in 1993 . 272 Synopsis of the judgments of the Court of First Instance in 1994 . 273 Synopsis of the other decisions of the Court of First Instance which appeared in the 'Proceedings' in 1994 . 283 II - Statistical information . 285 - C - Statistics for both courts for 1992, 1993 and 1994 . 297 D - Proceedings in national courts on community law . 299 Appendix II . 303 Publications and General Information . 305 7 7-8 The Court of Justice of the European Communities 9-10 A - The Proceedings of the Court of Justice m 1992, 1993 and 1994 by President Rodriguez Iglesias The developments which the Court has experienced during the last three years are admittedly modest compared with the event which the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union in November 1993 constituted for the Community as a whole, but they are none the less of great significance for the future of our institution. Of those events, it is indispensable to point out the changes which took place in the composition of the Court during 1994, a year which was noteworthy because, in addition to the appointment of a new Registrar, there was a partial renewal which saw the departure of six Members, among them President 0. Due. However, despite the upheaval inherent in any renewal, the rate of work was not affected since some 300 cases were decided each year. Moreover, and this should be emphasized, the Court was able to reduce the average duration of proceedings so that it is now, in preliminary rulings, 18 months (20.4 months in 1993) and, in direct actions, 20.8 months (22.9 months in 1993). The effort will, however, be continued for it would be presumptuous to be satisfied with those results. Proceedings which are too lengthy are likely to dissuade the courts of the Member States to refer to the Court questions of interpretation or validity and, thus, to jeopardize the uniform application of Community law and undermine the consistency of the system. It should, however, be noted that reduction of the duration of proceedings is limited by the requirement on the Court not to start examining a case until the pleadings and the observations lodged have been translated. In order to expedite proceedings, the Council, on a proposal of the Court, by two decisions of 8 June 1993 and 7 March 1994, extended the jurisdiction transferred to the Court of First Instance to all actions brought by natural and legal persons. Likewise, the second paragraph of Article 165 of the EC Treaty now allows the Court to refer any case, where this is justified, including those brought by the Member States, to a Chamber. That possibility is, however, too recent for it to be possible to measure its beneficial effects. That same concern to expedite proceedings has been incorporated at the level of publication of the case-law. In order to guarantee the availability of its judgments in all the official languages of the Union from the date of their delivery and to 11 ensure publication of the European Court Reports within no more than four or five months, the Court had to restrict the volume of documents to be translated and, in order to do so, decided to cease, from January 1994, publication in the Reports of the Report for the Hearing. Faster and more regular publication of the Court Reports is not, however, the sole means of ensuring that Community law reaches the relevant professional circles, which alone can guarantee its application. That is why the Court regularly organizes visits to enable judges, lawyers, professors and students to familiarize themselves with Community law. The visits, which are of mutual benefit, enable the participant either to deepen his knowledge of Community law, or to put into context or, finally, to develop a constructive and critical approach to the case-law of the Court, depending on the participant's starting point. This demonstrates the importance which the Court attaches to those visits, which have become increasingly frequent as awareness of the importance of Community law has increased. The Court also received numerous visits from members of the highest courts, in particular from constitutional courts, of the Member States. This brief review of the work of the Court during this period would not be complete if one did not mention some especially significant judgments.