Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part
Keywords
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Transport ° Road haulage operator ° Pursuit of occupation ° Requirement concerning financial standing ° National provisions requiring guarantee ° Nature of debts secured ° Discretion of Member States
(Council Directive 74/561, Art. 3(3) in the version applicable until 31 December 1989)
Summary
Article 3(3) of Council Directive 74/561 on admission to the occupation of road haulage operator in national and international transport operations, in the version applicable until 31 December 1989, is to be interpreted as meaning that it does not determine the debts which must be covered by a guarantee, where a Member State chooses to set up such a system to ensure the financial standing of road haulage operators.
Parties
In Joined Cases C-20/93 and C-21/93,
REFERENCES to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Tribunal de Commerce, Brussels, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Deutscher Kraftverkehr Ernst Grimmke GmbH & Co KG (DKV),
and
SA Générale de Banque
and between
Deutscher Kraftverkehr Ernst Grimmke GmbH & Co KG (DKV),
Mobil Oil BV
and
SA AG de 1824,
SA Générale de Banque,
intervener: Belgian State,
on the interpretation of Article 3(3) of Council Directive 74/561/EEC of 12 November 1974 on admission to the occupation of road haulage operator in national and international transport operations (OJ 1974 L 308, p. 18),
THE COURT,
composed of: O. Due, President, J.C. Moitinho de Almeida and M. Diez de Velasco, Presidents of Chamber, C.N. Kakouris, G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, M. Zuleeg and P.J.G. Kapteyn, Judges,
Advocate General: W. Van Gerven,
Registrar: D. Louterman-Houbeau, Principal Administrator,
after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:
° Deutscher Kraftverkehr Ernst Grimmke GmbH & Co KG (DKV), by A.Verriest, of the Brussels Bar,
° SA Générale de Banque, by J.P. Buyle, of the Brussels Bar,
° BV Mobil Oil, by J.P. Walravens, of the Brussels Bar,
° SA AG de 1824, by P. Van Ommeslaghe, admitted to the Cour de Cassation, Belgium,
° the Belgian Government, represented by P. Lavalleye, Director General of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent,
° the Commission of the European Communities, represented by V. Di Bucci, of its Legal Service, acting as Agent,
having regard to the Report for the Hearing,
after hearing the oral observations of SA Générale de Banque, represented by Ch. Steyaert, of the Brussels and Paris Bars, BV Mobil Oil, SA AG de 1824, represented by P. Van Ommeslaghe and Ch. Cauwe, of the Ghent Bar, and the Commission, at the hearing on 21 September 1993,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 20 October 1993,
gives the following
Judgment
Grounds
1 By judgments of 11 January 1993, received at the Court on 21 January 1993, the Tribunal de Commerce, Brussels, referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty a question on the interpretation of Article 3(3) of Council Directive 74/561/EEC of 12 November 1974 on admission to the occupation of road haulage operator in national and international transport operations (OJ 1974 L 308, p. 18, hereinafter "Directive 74/561").
2 The question has arisen in proceedings brought, in Case C-20/93, by Deutscher Kraftverkehr Ernst Grimmke ("DKV") against SA Générale de Banque ("SGB") and, in Case C-21/93, by Mobil Oil ("Mobil") against SGB and SA AG de 1824, formerly AG de 1830 ("AG de 1824"), the Belgian State having been joined as third party in the latter case.
3 DKV supplied fuel to the Belgian road haulage undertaking Zelltrans (Case C-20/93). DKV and Mobil both supplied fuel to Transports Lechien et Fils ("Lechien") (Case C-21/93).
4 SGB gave immediate-recourse guarantees in favour of both Zelltrans and Lechien, while AG de 1824 gave a guarantee only in favour of the latter.
5 After the two transport undertakings were adjudicated insolvent by the Tribunal de Commerce, Brussels, and the Tribunal de Commerce, Charleroi, respectively, DKV and Mobil informed SGB and AG de 1824 that they were creditors of Zelltrans and Lechien (DKV) and of Lechien only (AG de 1824) in respect of unpaid invoices for the abovementioned fuel deliveries, and requested payment under the guarantees. As no payment was made, DKV and Mobil brought an action against SGB and AG de 1824 before the Tribunal de Commerce, Brussels.
6 The guarantees were furnished pursuant to the Royal Decree of 5 September 1978 (Moniteur Belge, 19 October 1978, p. 12464), which implements Directive 74/561, and was amended by the Royal Decree of 14 July 1982 (Moniteur Belge, 18 Febru
