Comisión de las Comunidades Europeas contra República Italiana.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 61994CJ0101
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1996:221
• Docket Number: C-101/94
• Date: 06 June 1996
• Procedure Type: Recurso por incumplimiento – fundado
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)

Avis juridique important

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61994J0101

Judgment of the Court of 6 June 1996. - Commission of the European Communities v Italian Republic. - Dealing in transferable securities. - Case C-101/94.

European Court reports 1996 Page I-02691

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

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Freedom of movement for persons ° Freedom of establishment ° Freedom to provide services ° Dealing in transferable securities ° Activity restricted by a Member State to companies or firms whose registered office is on its territory ° Not permitted

(EC Treaty, Arts 52 and 59)

Summary

Articles 52 and 59 of the Treaty preclude a Member State from restricting the activity of dealing in transferable securities (apart from by banks) to companies or firms whose registered office is on its territory, thus preventing dealers from other Member States who wish to exercise an activity on its territory from using certain forms of establishment, such as a branch or agency, so that they are obliged to incur additional costs compared with its own nationals, and making it altogether impossible for them to make use of their freedom to provide services.

By so doing the State applies a difference in treatment which is not objectively justified, since although the above requirement facilitates the supervision and control of operators in the market, it is neither the only means of nor an indispensable condition for, firstly, making sure that operators comply with its rules for pursuing the activity of dealer in transferable securities and, secondly, imposing effective sanctions on dealers who breach those rules. Nothing prevents the State from requiring dealers from other Member States to supply information and documents relating specifically to the activities of their secondary establishments on its territory, from making their activity subject to the provision of financial guarantees or from concluding cooperation agreements with the supervisory authorities of other Member States regarding supervision of markets and agents; furthermore, it cannot argue that it is not possible to compare the rules on access to the profession of securities dealer in the various Member States, in particular the rules on guarantees regarding companies' own funds, where its legislation expressly provides for the possibility of concluding such agreements and the different methods used by Member States to determine own funds requirements ensure equivalent protection overall.

Parties

In Case C-101/94,

Commission of the European Communities, represented by Antonino Abate, Principal Legal Adviser, and Ben Smulders, of its Legal Service, acting as Agents, assisted by Luca G. Radicati di Brozolo, of the Milan Bar, with an address for service at the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, of its Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,

applicant,

v

Italian Republic, represented by Umberto Leanza, Head of the Department for Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, assisted by Ivo Maria Braguglia, Avvocato dello Stato, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Italian Embassy, 5 Rue Marie-Adelaïde,

defendant,

APPLICATION for a declaration that, by restricting the activity of dealing in transferable securities (apart from by banks) to companies or firms whose registered office is in Italy, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 52 and 59 of the EC Treaty,

THE COURT,

composed of: G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President, D.A.O. Edward, J.-P. Puissochet (Rapporteur) and G. Hirsch (Presidents of Chambers), G.F. Mancini, J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, P.J.G. Kapteyn, C. Gulmann, J.L. Murray, P. Jann and M. Wathelet, Judges,

Advocate General: C.O. Lenz,

Registrar: H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing oral argument from the parties at the hearing on 16 January 1996,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 19 March 1996,

gives the following

Judgment

Grounds

1 By application lodged at the Court Registry on 22 March 1994, the Commission of the European Communities brought an action...