Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 23 October 2007 - Commission of the European Communities v Federal Republic of Germany
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Article 56 EC - Legislative provisions concerning the public limited company Volkswagen)
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: F. Benyon and G. Braun, Agents)
Defendant: Federal Republic of Germany (represented by: M. Lumma and A. Dittrich, Agents, assisted by H. Wissel, Lawyer)
Re:
Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Articles 43 EC and 56 EC - Conditions for the privatisation of Volkswagenwerk GmbH - Allocation of special rights to certain shareholders - Mandatory State representation on the supervisory board of the company, irrespective of the numbers of shares held
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Declares that, by maintaining in force Paragraph 4(1), as well as Paragraph 2(1) in conjunction with Paragraph 4(3), of the Law of 21 July 1960 on the privatisation of equity in the Volkswagenwerk limited company (Gesetz über die Überführung der Anteilsrechte an der Volkswagenwerk Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung in private Hand), in the version applicable to the present dispute, the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 56(1) EC;
Dismisses the remainder of the action;
Orders the Federal Republic of Germany to pay the costs.
____________1 - OJ C 143, 11.6.2005.