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12.6.2004 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 156/5 |
Action brought on 13 April 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic
(Case C-174/04)
(2004/C 156/10)
An action against the Italian Republic was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 13 April 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities, represented by Enrico Traversa and Claudio Loggi, acting as Agents.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
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Declare that Decree-Law No 192 of 25 May 2001, converted to Law No 301 of 20 July 2001, entitled ‘Urgent provisions to ensure the liberalisation and privatisation of particular public service sectors’ is incompatible with Article 56 of the EC Treaty in so far as it automatically suspends the voting rights attached to shareholdings exceeding 2 % of the share capital of companies in the electricity and gas sectors; |
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Order the Italian Republic to pay the costs. |
Pleas in law and main arguments:
Decree-Law 192/2001 conflicts with Article 56 of the EC Treaty because it automatically suspends the voting rights attached to shareholdings exceeding 2 % of the share capital of companies in the electricity and gas sectors. That threshold engenders a separate and restrictive treatment of investments on the part of a particular category of investors and therefore obstructs the free movement of capital within the European Community. In particular, that restriction is a disincentive to any public undertakings which might wish to acquire shares in the companies in question since such undertakings will be unable to take any active role in the decision-making of the company and exercise any influence over its management.