Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) 3 December 1992

In Joined Cases C-140/91, C-141/91, C-278/91 and C-279/91, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Pretura Circondariale di Bologna for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (First Chamber), composed of: G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, President of the Chamber, R. Joliét and D. A. O. Edward, Judges, Advocate General: C. O. Lenz, Registrar: H. A. Rühi, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: Mauro Suffritti and Giacomo Fiori, by Bruno and Stefano Bargellini, of the Bologna Bar; Marco Giacometti, Marco Dal Pane and Leonardo Balletti, by Bruno Micolano, of the Bologna Bar, and Giuseppe Celona, of the Milan Bar; the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, by Mr Boer, of the Rome Bar, and Mr Marri, of the Bologna Bar; the Italian Government, by Professor Luigi Ferrari Bravo, Head of the Department for Contentious Diplomatic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, assisted by Oscar Fiumara, Avvocato dello Stato; the German Government, by Ernst Röder, Regierungsdirektor at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Joachim Karl, Oberregierungsrat at the said Ministry, acting as Agents; the Commission of the European Communities, by Dimitrios Gouloussis, Legal Adviser, Guido Berardis and Karen Banks, of its Legal Service, acting as Agents, the latter being assisted by Alberto Dal Ferro, of the Vicenza Bar,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Mr Giacometti, Mr Dal Pane and Mr Balletti, the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, represented by Mr Acquaviva, of the Bologna Bar, and of the Commission, represented by E. Traversa, of its Legal Service, and Karen Banks, acting as Agents, assisted by Alberto Dal Ferro at the hearing on 29 October 1992,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 29 October 1992,

gives the following

Judgment

Costs

1 Language of the case: Italian.