Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) 15 May 1990

In Case C-365/88 REFERENCE to the Court under the protocol of 3 June 1971 on the interpretation by the Court of Justice of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters by the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Supreme Court of the Netherlands) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (First Chamber) composed of: Sir Gordon Slynn, President of Chamber, R. Joliet and G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, Judges, Advocate General: C. O. Lenz Registrar: J. A. Pompe, Deputy Registrar

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of Hagen GmbH, the appellant in the main proceedings, by Elisabeth C. M. Schippers, of The Hague Bar, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, by Dr Christof Böhmer, acting as Agent, the Government of the French Republic, by Régis de Gouttes, acting as Agent, and Gérard de Bergues, acting as Deputy Agent, the Commission of the European Communities, by B. J. Drijber, a member of its Legal Department, assisted by G. Cherubini, acting as Agents,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing and further to the hearing on 22 November 1989,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General delivered at the sitting on 13 December 1989,

gives the following

Judgment

The first question

The second and third questions

Costs

1 Language of the case: Dutch.