23.11.2013

Official Journal of the European Union

C 344/13

(Case C-539/11) (<span class="super">1</span>)

(Articles 49 TFEU and 56 TFEU - Freedom of establishment - Public health - Opticians - Regional legislation making the establishment of new opticians’ shops subject to authorisation - Demographic and geographical limitations - Justification - Appropriateness for attaining the objective pursued - Coherency - Proportionality)

2013/C 344/20

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Ottica New Line di Accardi Vincenzo

Defendant: Comune di Campobello di Mazara

Intervener: Fotottica Media Visione di Luppino Natale Fabrizio e. C. s.n.c.

Re:

Request for a preliminary ruling — Consiglio di Giustizia Amministrativa per la Regione siciliana — Interpretation of Articles 49 and 56 TFEU and of Articles 2(2)(f), 4(8) and 15 of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market (OJ 2006 L 376, p. 36) — Regional legislation under which authorisation to establish new opticians’ practices is made conditional upon there being only one such practice for every 8 000 inhabitants and a minimum distance of 300 metres between one practice and the next — Restriction on the freedom to provide services — Overriding reasons in the public interest — Protection of health — Proportionality

Operative part of the judgment

Article 49 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding regional legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which imposes restrictions on the grant of authorisation for the establishment of a new optician’s shop, by providing that:

in each geographical area, only one optician’s shop may be established, in principle, for every 8 000 residents, and

each new optician’s shop must, in principle, be a minimum distance of 300 metres from an existing optician’s shop,

provided that the competent authorities use appropriately, in accordance with transparent and objective criteria, the powers made available under the legislation concerned, with a view to attaining, in a coherent and systematic manner, the objectives pursued by that legislation relating to the protection of public health throughout the given territory, which is a matter for the national court to assess.

* Language of the case: Italian.