Official Journal of the European Union

Series C

C/2023/198

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 7 September 2023 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato (Council of State, Italy)) — Nexive Commerce Srl and Others v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni, Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri, Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze, Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, and BRT SpA v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Ministero dello Sviluppo economico

(Case C-226/22, (1) Nexive Commerce and Others)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Postal services in the European Union - Directive 97/67/EC - Fourth indent of the second subparagraph of Article 9(2) and Article 9(3) - Article 22 - Undertakings in the postal sector - Contribution to the operational costs of the regulatory authority for the postal sector - Obligation - Financial burden borne exclusively by market participants, without distinction according to the type of services provided - Principles of proportionality and non-discrimination)

(C/2023/198)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: Nexive Commerce Srl, Nexive Scarl, Nexive Services Srl, Nexive Network Srl, Nexive SpA, General Logistics Systems Enterprise Srl, General Logistics Systems Italy SpA and BRT SpA and AICAI — Associazione Italiana Corrieri Aerei Internazionali, DHL Express (Italy) Srl, TNT Global Express Srl, United Parcel Service Italia Srl, Fedex Express Italy Srl, Federal Express Europe Inc. Filiale Italiana

Defendants: Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni, Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri, Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze, Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico

In the presence of: Nexive SpA

Operative part of the judgment

The fourth indent of the second subparagraph of Article 9(2) and Article 9(3) of Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service, as amended by Directive 2008/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008, read in conjunction with Article 22 of Directive 97/67, as amended,

must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from opting for a mechanism of financing the national regulatory authority responsible for the postal sector funded exclusively by means of contributions imposed on operators in that sector under the fourth indent of the second subparagraph of Article 9(2) of that directive, as amended, to the exclusion of any funding from the State budget, provided that that system ensures that the national regulatory authority concerned will actually have the necessary resources to ensure its proper functioning and the performance, in complete independence, of its tasks relating to the regulation of the postal sector or the legal means to acquire those resources.

The fourth indent of the second subparagraph of Article 9(2) of Directive 97/67, as amended by Directive 2008/6, read in conjunction with Article 22 of Directive 97/67, as amended,

must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘operational costs’ in the first of those provisions includes, in the first place, the costs incurred by the national regulatory authorities in the postal sector for the purposes of their regulatory activities relating to postal services which fall outside the scope of the universal service and, in the second place, the costs generated by the activities of those authorities which, while not directly linked to their regulatory task, contribute to the performance of their function of regulating the postal sector.

EU law, and in particular the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination and the fourth indent of the second subparagraph of Article 9(2) of Directive 97/67, as amended by Directive 2008/6,

must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation which, in order to ensure that the national regulatory authority responsible for the postal sector has financing such as to enable it to perform its tasks relating to the regulation of that sector in complete independence, imposes, in a uniform manner, on all operators in that sector an obligation to contribute to the financing of the operating costs of that authority without taking account of the intensity of the regulatory and monitoring tasks carried out according to the different types of postal services and without making a distinction, to that end, between universal postal service providers and express mail operators, provided that the obligation imposed by that legislation on those operators is, in addition, transparent, accessible, precise and unambiguous, that it is made public in advance and that it is based on objective criteria.

(1)

Language of the case: Italian

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/198/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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(C/2023/198)

Language of the case: Italian

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Language of the case: Italian