Action brought on 13 June 2007 — Commission v Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

(Case C-286/07)

(2007/C 211/32)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: B. Stromsky, Agent)

Defendant: Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Form of order sought

Pleas in law and main arguments

By its action, the Commission criticises the conditions imposed by the defendant for the registration of second-hand vehicles which have previously been registered in another Member State.

By making the registration of these vehicles in Luxembourg subject to additional document checks and, in particular, the submission of an official excerpt from the entry on the commercial register of the vehicle's seller, the defendant has effectively made it less attractive to import vehicles which had previously been registered in another Member State and is therefore hindering the free movement of these goods.

This barrier to trade, prohibited by Article 28 EC, is all the more serious as it predominantly affects imported vehicles, with second-hand vehicles that had previously been registered in Luxembourg not apparently subject to the same document checks.

Besides, the reasons that the defendant has given for this barrier to trade are not very convincing, particular in so far as the defendant already has important means of control at its disposal to ensure that the vehicles at issue have not been stolen and, in any event, less radical measures than an outright refusal to register the vehicle can be envisaged if the requisite excerpt from the commercial register is unavailable, such as, for example, suspension of the registration procedure for the time required by the administrative authorities to run checks.