The Gazette 1979

SEPTEMBER 1979

GAZETTE

Practical Aspects of EEC Law

vailing at the date on which the Community judg- ment was originally given, is equivalent to the sum payable."

1. Is your client's Sole Distributorship Agreement valid under EEC Law? Did you know that the EEC Commission Notice Con- cerning Minor Agreements of May 1970 has been replaced by Commission Notice of 29 December 1977. Paragraph II provides that: "The Commission holds the view that agreements between undertakings engaged in the production or distribution of goods do not fall under the pro- hibition of Article 85 (1) of the EEC Treaty if: —the products which are the subject of the agreement and other products of the participat- ing undertakings considered by consumers to be similar by reason of their characteristics, price or use do not represent in a substantial part of the Common Market more than 5% of the total market for such products, and —the aggregate annual turnover of the participating undertakings does not exceed 50 million units of account. The Commission also holds the view that the said agreements do not fall within the prohibition of Article 85 (1) even if the above mentioned market share and turnover are exceeded by up to 10% within two successive financial years." The Notice goes on to define "participating under- takings". This Notice is published in the Official Journal of the European Communities of 29 December 1977, No. C 313. 2. Enforcement of European Judgments and Decisions. European Communities (Enforcement of Community Judgments) Regulations, 1972 — SJ. No. 331 of 1972. This Regulation provides for "the enforcement in Ireland of judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, and of decisions of the Council of Ministers or the Commission imposing pecuniary obligations on persons other than States". A Community judgment is defined in the Regulation as any decision, judgment or order which is enforcable under or in accord- ance with Article 187 or 192 of the EEC Treaty. There is also provision for enforcement of decisions, judgments or orders made under certain Articles of the Euratom Treaty and the ECSC Treaty. An Enforcement Order may be obtained on applica- tion to the Master of the High Court. Practitioners involved in this field should be aware that Article 4 (2) provides that: "Where a sum of money is payable under a Com- munity judgment which is to be enforced, the enforcement order shall provide that the amount payable shall be such sum in the currency of the State as, on the basis of the rate of exchange pre-

3. The EEC and Driving Licences. The judgment of the Court of Justice in the case of Michel Choquet Case 16/78 should be of interest to prac- titioners. It held that "it is not in principle incompatible with Community law for one Member State to require a national of another Member State, who is permanently established in its territory, to obtain a domestic driving licence for the purpose of driving motor vehicles, even if he is in possession of a driving licence issued by the authorities in his State of origin. However, such a require- ment may be regarded as indirectly prejudicing the exercise of the right of freedom of movement, the right of freedom of establishment or the freedom to provide ser- vices guaranteed by Articles 48, 52 and 59 of the Treaty respectively, and consequently as being incompatible with the Treaty, if it appears that the conditions imposed by national rules on the holder of a driving licence issued by another Member State are not in due proportion to the requirement of road safety." (Extract from Information on the Court of Justice of the European Communities 1978, IV, page 25).

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