Action brought on 22 September 2011 - European Commission v French Republic

(Case C-485/11)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: A. Bordes and G. Braun, Agents)

Defendant: French Republic

Form of order sought

Declare that by introducing an additional charge on operators of electronic communications by Article 33 of Law No 2009-258 of 5 March 2009 on audiovisual communication, ¹ the French Republic failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 12 of Directive 2002/20/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on the authorisation of electronic communications networks and services. ²

order the French Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of its action, the Commission questions the compatibility of Article 302 bis KH of the General Tax Code, introduced par Article 33 of Law No 2009-258 of 5 March 2009 on audiovisual communication and the new public television service, with the Authorisations Directive. By imposing a charge on undertakings operating an electronic communications network or providing an electronic communications service under the general authorisation, the defendant infringes in particular Article 12 of the directive. The Commission does not accept the argument of the national authorities that Article 12 relates solely to charges which the States may impose 'in respect of' the issue of a licence or a process linked to the procedure of authorising operators of electronic communications. According to the applicant, the objective of Article 12 is in fact to encompass any form of 'administrative' charge, in other words linked to all costs engendered by the management, monitoring and enforcement of the authorisation scheme, and not only those linked to the issue of authorisation.

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¹ - JORF No 0056, p. 4321.

² - OJ 2002 L 108, p. 21.