Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) 25 September 1985

In Case 11/84 REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Tribunal de grande instance [Regional Court], Briey, for a preliminary ruling in the criminal proceedings brought before that court by

composed of: G. Bosco, President of Chamber, P. Pescatore, T. Koopmans, K. Bahlmann and T. F. O'Higgins, Judges, Advocate General: Sir Gordon Slynn Registrar: D. Louterman, Administrator

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of: Christian Gratiot, the accused in the main proceedings, by Ph. Jousset, of the Laval Bar, the French Government by J.-P. Costes and S. C. de Margene, acting as Agents, assisted by I. Knock, Administrator, the Commission of the European Communities by its Legal Advisers, R.-C. Béraud and G. Marenco, acting as Agents, assisted by N. Coutrelis, a member of its Legal Department,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General delivered at the sitting on 14 May 1985,

gives the following

JUDGMENT

Decision

Costs

1. By judgment of 14 December 1983, which was received at the Court on 9 January 1984, the Tribunal de grande instance [Regional Court], Briey, referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty two questions concerning the interpretation of Articles 3 (f), 5 and 30 of the EEC Treaty, in order to enable it to determine whether national rules imposing a minimum price on the sale of fuel to consumers are compatible with Community law.

2. The questions were raised in the context of criminal proceedings brought against Christian Gratiot in his capacity as managing director of Conflans-Distribution SA which operates supermarkets in conjunction with petrol stations. Mr Gratiot is charged, inter alia, with having, in January and July 1983, offered fuel for sale at prices below the minimum prices fixed by the relevant rules.

3. The accused did not dispute the substance of the facts alleged against him but asked to be acquitted on the ground that the minimum prices which he had failed to apply were based on Ministerial Decree No 82-13/A of 29 April 1982 concerning minimum retail selling prices for fuel, the provisions of which he maintained were illegal since they were in conflict with Community law.

4. In those circumstances the Tribunal de grande instance, Briey, considered it necessary to refer to the Court of Justice the following questions for a preliminary ruling:

5. In its judgment of 29 January 1985 in Case 231/83 (Cullet v Centre Leclerc Toulouse [1985] ECR 315), the Court has already examined the same questions which were raised in the context of proceedings relating to the same national rules. The details of the rules were given to the Court on that occasion and it was then able to give an interpretation of the relevant provisions of Community law.

6. At the end of that examination the Court came to the following conclusions :

7. Since there appears to be no new factor in this case reference should be made, with regard to the replies to be given to the Tribunal de grande instance, Briey, and to the considerations which led to those replies, to the text of the aforementioned judgment of 29 January 1985, a copy of which is annexed hereto.

8. The costs incurred by the French Government and by the Commission, which have submitted observations to the Court, are not recoverable. As these proceedings are, in so far as the parties to the main proceedings are concerned, a step in the proceedings brought before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court.

On those grounds, THE COURT (Fourth Chamber) in answer to the questions referred to it by the Tribunal de grande instance, Briey by judgment of 14 December 1983, hereby rules:

(1) Articles 3 (f) and 5 of the EEC Treaty do not prohibit national rules providing for a minimum price to be fixed by the national authorities for the retail sale of fuel.

(2) Article 30 of the EEC Treaty prohibits such rules where the minimum price is fixed on the basis solely of the ex-refinery prices of the national refineries and where those ex-refinery prices are in turn linked to the ceiling price which is calculated on the basis solely of the cost prices of national refineries when the European fuel rates are more than 8% above or below those prices.

1 Language of the Case: French.