Commission of the European Communities v French Republic (C-483/99)

Judgment of 4 Jun 2002

law://eu/cjeu/1999/c-483-99/para_50@2026-11-14

50In that connection, as regards the Commission's main complaint concerning Article 2(1) of Decree No 93-1298, it should be remembered that, under the system established by that provision, any direct or indirect shareholding which exceeds certain limits, regardless of its nature or legal form, must first be approved by the Minister for Economic Affairs in respect of each of the persons participating in that holding. According to the applicable provisions, the exercise of that right is not qualified by any condition, save for a reference, formulated in general terms in Article 1 of that decree, to the protection of the national interest. The investors concerned are given no indication whatever as to the specific, objective circumstances in which prior authorisation will be granted or refused. Such lack of precision does not enable individuals to be apprised of the extent of their rights and obligations deriving from Article 73b of the Treaty. That being so, such a system must be regarded as contrary to the principle of legal certainty (Église de Scientologie, paragraphs 21 and 22).

Commission of the European Communities v French Republic (C-483/99)

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