This Week in Luxembourg

The court is back from vacation...

- In the case about the International Fund for Ireland, the Court followed AG Bot an annulled for incorrect legal basis. They used 308 EC, when they should have used 159 EC, par. 3 (structural funds). According to the ECJ, the reintegration of Northern Ireland fits within the goal of "cohesion" of art. 158-162 EC. The ECJ also has some dicta about whether art. 308 EC would have been a possible legal basis anyway, given that the IFI has very little to do with "the operation of the common market", citing its precedent in Kadi. (par. 66-69). Parliament v Council.

- In consumer protection law (Directive 97/7/EC), a prejudicial question about revocation of a distance contract: Can the consumer be made to pay for the use value of the product during the period between its arrival and revocation? (In this case: 8 months use of a second-hand laptop, in the period until it broke down.) The answer is: generally no, unless [good faith], [unjust enrichment], etc. etc. Messner v Krüger.

- "The res judicata show goes on", meaning that there is another case where (the Italian approach to) res judicataclashes with Community law in the context of VAT law. Olimpiclub.

- In two cases, an appeal against a CFI ruling is dismissed: A competition case regarding the haberdashery (!) market,Prym & Prym v Commission, and an anti-dumping case about Indian CD-Rs (Moser Baer v Council). In both cases, the Community institution/defendant wins. In the former case, both CFI and Commission were not at there best (cf. par. 59-61 and par. 72-84, respectively), but the ruling below does stand. In a third appeal, Papierfabrik August Koehler, also a competition case, the CFI ruling is partially set aside. (A mistake with the Statement of Objections, meaning one of the plaintiffs gets off free.)

- AG Mazák tackles an Italian public works case, arguing unsurprisingly that non-profits (in this case: university affiliated research groups) are entitled to participate in a tender process, as long as their bylaws and the other law that governs such organisations do not say otherwise. CoNISMa.

- Finally, there is another CFI ruling on terrorism sanctions, in the joined case T-37/07 and T-323/07, El Morabit. (My apologies for the link. For some reason, it's not on Eur-Lex.) When the Court of Appeals in The Hague acquitted the plaintiff, he was removed from the list, but now he argues that he should not have been on it in the first place, given that there was no "final judgement" against him. The CFI rules that no final judgement is necessary.

P.S. Here is Barosso's long awaited vision for Europe.