Home > Latest News

Latest News

• Product safety
  
  On 13 February 2013, the European Commissioners will be expected to adopt a new Product Safety and Market Surveillance Package proposal. The package will aim to improve the Market Surveillance systems in the EU Member States. It will be composed of two proposed regulations together with a multi-annual plan for market surveillance of 20 individual actions that the Commission will undertake over the next three years.
  
  The first regulation will deal with Consumer Product Safety (CPSR). It will aim to replace the existing 2001/95 directive. The goal of the second regulation will be to set up a single Market Surveillance system for Products, aiming to replace the existing Regulation 765/2008.
  
  
• Unfair commercial practices
  
  Judgement of the European Court of Justice of 17 January 2003, Georg Köck/Schutzerband , C 206/11, gegen unlauteren Wettbewer
  
  The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices precludes a national court from ordering the cessation of a commercial practice not listed by the Directive among the black list of unfair practices, on the sole ground that the practice has not been the subject of prior authorisation by the competent administrative authority. The ECJ said that the national court should have carried out an assessment of the unfairness of the practice in question in the light of the criteria set out in the Directive for finding whether a practice which is not in the black list equals an unfair commercial practice or not. 
  
  Green paper on unfair B2B trading practices
  
  On 31 January 2013, the European Commission issued a Green Paper on Unfair trading practices (UTP) in the B2B food and non-food supply chain in Europe:  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2013:0037:FIN:EN:PDF.
  
  In this document, the European Commission asks the various economic operators to answer a series of questions regarding possible UTP they may have been subject to. All interested parties are invited to submit their views in response to the aforementioned questions to the Commission by 30 April 2013 at the latest: markt-retail@ec.europa.eu. As a follow-up to this Green Paper and on the basis of the responses received, the European Commission will be expected to announce the next steps by mid-2013.
  
  
• VAT on medicinal substances and medical devices
  
  Judgement of the European Court of Justice of 17 January 2013, C-360/11, European Commission/ Kingdom of Spain
  
  The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on 17 January 2013 that the Spanish VAT reduced rate on a whole range of products, among which medicines for veterinary use; medicinal substances which can be used habitually and suitably in the production of medicinal products and some types of medical devices, is illegal. The case was brought before the ECJ by the European Commission who had failed to force the Spanish authorities to reduce the aforementioned VAT rate.
    
  
  
  
  
  
  

Laffineur Law Firm
131, rue de Stassart
1050 Brussels
Belgium

Tel.: 00 32 2/286-80-22
Fax: 00 32 2/286-80-26
e-mail: info@laffineur.com