Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 2 October 2025. Reference for a preliminary ruling – Area of freedom, security and justice – Judicial cooperation in criminal matters – Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA – Mutual recognition of judgments and probation decisions – Article 1 – Scope – Supervised release with an obligation to undergo inpatient medical treatment in a closed institution – Measure involving deprivation of liberty – Obligation of recognition and enforcement.#Case C-391/24.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Date: 02 October 2025

Provisional text

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Eighth Chamber)

2 October 2025 (*)

( Reference for a preliminary ruling – Customs union – Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 – Determination of origin of goods – Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 – Subheading 7304 41 of the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System – Tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, seamless, of iron (other than cast iron) or steel – Validity of the rule of origin applicable to steel pipes – Hot-finished pipes, subsequently cold-reduced )

In Case C‑86/24,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Krajský soud v Ostravě – pobočka v Olomouci (Regional Court, Ostrava – Olomouc Division, Czech Republic), made by decision of 23 January 2024, received at the Court on 2 February 2024, in the proceedings

CS STEEL a.s.

v

Generální ředitelství cel,

THE COURT (Eighth Chamber),

composed of S. Rodin (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, N. Piçarra and N. Fenger, Judges,

Advocate General: R. Norkus,

Registrar: R. Stefanova-Kamisheva, Administrator,

having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 27 March 2025,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– CS STEEL a.s., by D. Urbanec, advokát,

– the Generální ředitelství cel, by P. Polák,

– the Czech Government, by L. Březinová, L. Halajová, M. Smolek and J. Vláčil, acting as Agents,

– the Spanish Government, by M. Morales Puerta and P. Pérez Zapico, acting as Agents,

– the European Commission, by B. Eggers and J. Hradil, acting as Agents,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,

gives the following

Judgment

1 This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the validity of the primary rule for goods under subheading 7304 41 (‘the primary rule’) of the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (‘the HS’), laid down in Annex 22-01 to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards detailed rules concerning certain provisions of the Union Customs Code (OJ 2015 L 343, p. 1).

2 The request has been made in proceedings between CS STEEL a.s., a Czech company, and the Generální ředitelství cel (General Directorate of Customs, Czech Republic) (‘the national customs authority’), concerning an adjustment of customs duties imposed on that company.

Legal context

International law

3 The HS was established by the International Convention on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, concluded in Brussels on 14 June 1983 (United Nations Treaty Series, Vol. 1503, p. 4, No 25910 (1988)) within the framework of the World Customs Organization (WCO), and approved, with its Protocol of Amendment of 24 June 1986, on behalf of the European Economic Community, by Council Decision 87/369/EEC of 7 April 1987 (OJ 1987 L 198, p. 1). The Explanatory Notes to the HS are drawn up within the WCO in accordance with the provisions of that convention.

4 The Explanatory Note concerning heading 7304 of the HS states:

‘Tubes, pipes and hollow profiles of this heading may be manufactured by the following processes:

…

(B) Hot-extrusion in a press using glass (Ugine-Sejournet process) or another lubricant, of a round. This method actually includes the following operations: piercing, expansion or not, and extrusion.

The operations described above are followed by different finishing operations:

– hot-finishing: in this case, the blank after reheating passes through a sizing mill or a stretching mill and finally a straightening mill or

– cold-finishing on a mandrel, by cold-drawing on a bench or cold-rolling (cold-reducing) in a pilger mill (Mannesmann or Megaval process). These operations give the possibility to obtain from hot-rolled or extruded tubes, used as blanks, tubes of lesser wall thickness (it should be noted that the Transval process allows tubes of reduced wall thickness to be directly produced) or diameter, also tubes of tighter tolerances on diameter or wall thickness. Cold-working methods also cover honing and roller burnishing to obtain polished surfaces (tubes with a low degree of roughness) required, e.g., for pneumatic jacks or hydraulic cylinders.

…’

European Union law

The Customs Code

5 Article 60 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ 2013 L 269, p. 1, and corrigendum OJ 2016 L 267, p. 2; ‘the Customs Code’), entitled ‘Acquisition of origin’, provides in paragraph 2 thereof:

‘Goods the production of which involves more than one country or territory shall be deemed to originate in the country or territory where they underwent their last, substantial, [economically justified] processing or working, in an undertaking equipped for that purpose, resulting in the manufacture of a new product or representing an important stage of manufacture.’

6 Article 62 of that code, entitled ‘Delegation of power’, states:

‘The [European] Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 284, laying down the rules under which goods, whose determination of non-preferential origin is required for the purposes of applying the [European] Union measures referred to in Article 59, are considered as wholly obtained in a single country or territory or to have undergone their last, substantial, [economically justified] processing or working, in an undertaking equipped for that purpose, resulting in the manufacture of a new product or representing an important stage of manufacture in a country or territory, in accordance with Article 60.’

7 Article 284 of that code, entitled ‘Exercise of the delegation’, sets out the detailed rules for that exercise.

Delegated Regulation 2015/2446

8 In the exercise of the power conferred on it by Article 62 of the Customs Code, the Commission adopted Delegated Regulation 2015/2446.

9 Annex 22-01 to that delegated regulation is entitled ‘Introductory notes and list of substantial processing or working operations conferring non-preferential origin’. That annex includes a part entitled ‘Introductory Notes’, points 2 and 3 of which are worded as follows:

‘2. Application of the rules in this Annex

2.1. The rules provided in this Annex are to be applied to goods on the basis of their classification in the [HS], as well as on further criteria which may be provided for in addition to the [HS] headings or subheadings created specifically for the purposes of this Annex. [An HS] heading or...