EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 160/13

(Case C-150/11)

2011/C 160/16

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: O. Beynet and A. Marghelis, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Belgium

Form of order sought

—declare that, by requiring, in addition to the production of a certificate of registration, the production of a certificate of conformity of a vehicle for the purpose of a roadworthiness test prior to the registration of a vehicle which was previously registered in another Member State, and by making vehicles which were previously registered in another Member State subject to a roadworthiness test prior to their registration without taking into account the results of the roadworthiness test carried out in another Member State, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under Council Directive 1999/37/EC of 29 April 1999 on the registration documents for vehicles (1) and Article 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

—order the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Commission puts forward two complaints in support of its action alleging that the national legislation which, first, requires the production of a certificate of conformity before the registration of a vehicle which was previously registered in another Member State and, secondly, refuses to take into account the results of the roadworthiness test carried out previously in that other State, fails to comply with Article 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and with Directive 1999/37/EC.

By its first complaint the Commission alleges that the defendant imposed in a general and systematic way a roadworthiness test prior to the registration of second-hand vehicles which were previously registered in other Member States without taking into account possible tests already carried out in those States. Such a test is capable of dissuading some interested parties from importing second-hand vehicles which were previously registered in other Member States into Belgium and therefore constitutes a barrier to the free movement of goods, which is prohibited by Article 34 TFEU.

By its second complaint the Commission submits that, according to the national legislation, an application for registration cannot be validated without a roadworthiness test certificate, which is issued by the Belgian authorities only on the condition that a certificate of conformity is produced, which has to be submitted in addition to the certificate of registration issued in another Member State. Such legislation is contrary to Article 4 of Directive 1999/37/EC and renders meaningless the principle of recognition of harmonised registration certificates issued by other Member States. Such a measure, although applicable equally to vehicles registered in Belgium or in another Member State, affects second-hand vehicles from another Member State more inasmuch as, in most of the Member States, the certificate of conformity does not come with the vehicle.

(1) OJ 1999 L 138, p. 57.