Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea
In Case C-154/04 ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT7 May 2004 (1)
Fecha: 07-May-2004
- 1 By two orders of 3 March 2004, received at the Court on 26 March 2004, the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, Administrative Court, referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC a question on the validity of Articles 3, 4(1) and subparagraph (b) of the second paragraph of Article 15 of Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements (OJ 2002 L 183, p. 51, ‘the directive’).
- 2 That question was raised in two applications brought by the Alliance for Natural Health and Nutri-Link Limited (Case C-154/04) and by the National Association of Health Stores and The Health Food Manufacturers Limited (Case C-155/04) for judicial review of the provisions of the law of England and Wales implementing the provisions of the directive referred to in paragraph 1 above (‘the contested Community provisions’). Essentially those provisions prohibit as a matter of principle and with effect from 1 August 2005 at the latest the marketing of food supplements which do not comply with the directive because of the use of unauthorised substances in their manufacture.
- 3 By separate documents, also lodged at the Court Registry on 26 March 2004, the referring court asked the Court to apply an accelerated procedure to the two references for preliminary ruling pursuant to Article 104a of the Rules of Procedure of the Court.
- 4 The first paragraph of Article 104a of the Rules of Procedure provides that, at the request of the national court, the President of the Court may exceptionally decide, on a proposal from the Judge-Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate General, to apply an accelerated procedure derogating from the provisions of the Rules of Procedure, where the circumstances referred to establish that a ruling on the question put to the Court is a matter of exceptional urgency.
- 5 In the present case, the national court points first to the lack of legal certainty which the national authorities and undertakings would face, not only in the United Kingdom but also in the other Member States, if the question of the validity of the contested Community provisions were not resolved before 1 August 2005, when the measures implementing those provisions are to come into force. It refers to the risk that manufacturers and distributors of food supplements could face sanctions, including criminal sanctions in such a case.
- 6 It also states that if the dispute is not resolved rapidly, undertakings might be forced to take irrevocable decisions in order to comply with the directive, affecting their commercial wellbeing as well as thousands of jobs in the Community. It emphasises in this connection that some 5000 food supplements are affected by the contested Community provisions and that the submission of dossiers for the addition of substances to the list of those permitted under the directive entails very high costs, which would have been incurred pointlessly if the directive were subsequently held to be invalid.
- 7 Lastly, the national court stresses the practical difficulties and limited efficacy of proceedings for interim measures.
- 8 It must be found, however, that the interest in determining the validity of the contested Community provisions before 1 May 2005 and the economic sensitivity of the present cases are not such as to demonstrate exceptional urgency within the meaning of the first paragraph of Article 104a of the Rules of Procedure.
- 9 Since the present cases concern the same subject-matter and emanate from the same national court, they should be joined for the purposes of the written procedure, any oral procedure and judgment.
- 1.
- The applications, pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 104a of the Rules of Procedure, to apply an accelerated procedure to Cases C-154/04 and C-155/04 are dismissed;
- 2.
- Cases C-154/04 and C-155/04 are joined for the purposes of the written procedure, any oral procedure and judgment.
ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT
7 May 2004 (1)
(Joinder – Accelerated procedure)
In Case C-154/04,
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 234 EC by the High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Queen's Bench Division, Administrative Court, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
on the validity of Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements (OJ 2002 L 183, p. 51),
The Queen, on the application of:
AllianceforNaturalHealth
and
Nutri-Link Limited
and
Secretary of State for Health,
and in Case C-155/04,
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 234 EC by the High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Queen's Bench Division, Administrative Court, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
The Queen, on the application of:
TheNationalAssociationofHealthStores
and
The Health Food Manufacturers Limited
and
SecretaryofStateforHealth
and
National Assembly for Wales,
on the validity of Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements (OJ 2002 L 183, p. 51),
THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT,
after hearing the Advocate General, L.A. Geelhoed,
makes the following
Order
On those grounds,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT
hereby orders:
Luxembourg, 7 May 2004.
R. Grass | V. Skouris |
Registrar | President |
- 1 –
- Language of the case: English.