Case C-526/15, Uber Belgium – facilitating a mobility service not a taxi service

Do occasional private car drivers who use Uber’s software and get paid to take people on journeys but who do not receive remuneration or a wage, provide a taxi service requiring a license?

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Case C-148/15, Deutsche Parkinson Vereinigung – bonuses for buying Dutch mail order medicines

In Germany, prices for medicines are not subject to competition for they are set nationally. Consequently, is it contrary to EU law for members of a German patients’ association to buy their prescription medicines from a Dutch mail order company and qualify for bonuses on their purchases?

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Case C-72/15, Rosneft – challenging the EU’s sectoral sanctions against Russia

Russian activities in Ukraine have prompted the EU to adopt a package of sanctions aimed at various Russians and Russian companies. These sanctions have been enshrined in various pieces of EU legislation and implemented by the EU Member States in their national laws. These sanctions are affecting an oil company which is part-owned by a British oil company ‘BP’, and part-owned by a Russian oil company that belongs to the State of Russia. To begin with, the company is challenging the legality of the UK’s implementing legislation. However, the validity of the EU’s legislation is also at stake. Does the CJEU have jurisdiction to rule on the validity of a Decision adopted pursuant to the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy? And if so, then does the drafting of the EU’s legislation satisfy the requirements of legal certainty and foreseeability in circumstances where that legislation forms the basis of criminal penalties?

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Case C-547/14, Philip Morris Brands – the Second Tobacco Products Directive is invalid

Is the EU’s Second Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU invalid?

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Case C-340/14, Trijber – the Treaty is more than an incoming tide, it is even in the canals

Amsterdam has a system of canals. But before boats and pleasure craft can take to Amsterdam’s waters, they need a licence from the local authority. Unfortunately, the authority handed out its boat licences a while back. In this case, a Dutch company now wishes to rent out its boat for either office parties or company ‘days-out’, and unsurprisingly its application was turned down. The aggrieved company is challenging the legality of the licensing system. It alleges that since the authority’s licences are for an unlimited duration, the system is disproportionate and shows that the authority acts arbitrarily – something contrary to EU Treaty law and the EU ‘services’ Directive 2006/123/EC. The authority denies that it is doing anything wrong: issuing a limited number of licences is a proportionate response designed to limit the congestion on Amsterdam’s canals; and even if it is wrong on that point, then this is a ‘purely internal situation’ to which EU law does not apply.

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Case C-518/13, Eventech – driving a minicab through the rules governing bus lanes

London’s bus lanes can generally be used by ‘black cabs’ but not by ‘minicabs’. Do the rules underpinning that distinction: involve the use of state resources, constitute a disproportionate response in view of the policy aims of bus lanes, and threaten to affect trade between the Member States? If they do, then they could be an illegal state aid.

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Case C-201/13, Johan Deckmyn – parody in EU law

Belgium has a tradition of creating comic book figures. Tintin is perhaps the most famous comic book character but another popular comic strip chronicles the adventures of ‘Spike and Suzy’ [Suske and Wiske]. Comic books can be protected by copyright. In this reference, the issue is whether the right holders can stop a political party from circulating a picture that spoofs the cover of a Spike and Suzy story.

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