Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) 22 October 1991

In Case C-16/90, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Finanzgericht Bremen (Second Chamber) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (Fifth Chamber), composed of: Sir Gordon Slynn, President of Chamber, acting as President of the Fifth Chamber, F. Grévisse, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias and M. Zuleeg, Judges, Advocate General: W. Van Gerven, Registrar: D. Louterman, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: Detlef Nolle, trading as Eugen Nolle, the plaintiff in the main proceedings, by Frank Montag, Rechtsanwalt, Cologne, the Council of the European Communities by Erik Stein, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent, the Commission of the European Communities by Eric White, a member of the Legal Service, acting as Agent, assisted by Reinhard Wagner, a German Judge seconded to the Commission within the framework of the exchange scheme for national officials,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Detlef Nolle, the Council and the Commission, represented by Eric White, Legal Adviser, and Claus-Michael Happe, a German official seconded to the Commission in the framework of the exchange scheme for national officials, at the hearing on 16 January 1991,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 4 June 1991,

gives the following

Judgment

Costs

1 Language of the case: German.