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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1979
Practical Aspects of EEC Law
1. Is your client's Sole Distributorship Agreement valid
under EEC Law?
Did you know that the EEC Commission Notice Con-
cerning Minor Agreements of May 1970 has been
replaced by Commission Notice of 29 December 1977.
Paragraph II provides that:
"The Commission holds the view that agreements
between undertakings engaged in the production or
distribution of goods do not fall under the pro-
hibition of Article 85 (1) of the EEC Treaty if:
—the products which are the subject of the
agreement and other products of the participat-
ing undertakings considered by consumers to be
similar by reason of their characteristics, price or
use do not represent in a substantial part of the
Common Market more than 5% of the total
market for such products, and
—the aggregate annual turnover of the
participating undertakings does not exceed 50
million units of account.
The Commission also holds the view that the said
agreements do not fall within the prohibition of
Article 85 (1) even if the above mentioned market
share and turnover are exceeded by up to 10%
within two successive financial years."
The Notice goes on to define "participating under-
takings".
This Notice is published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities of 29 December 1977, No. C
313.
2. Enforcement of European Judgments and Decisions.
European Communities (Enforcement of Community
Judgments) Regulations, 1972 — SJ. No. 331 of
1972.
This Regulation provides for "the enforcement in
Ireland of judgments of the Court of Justice of the
European Communities, and of decisions of the Council
of Ministers or the Commission imposing pecuniary
obligations on persons other than States". A Community
judgment is defined in the Regulation as any decision,
judgment or order which is enforcable under or in accord-
ance with Article 187 or 192 of the EEC Treaty. There is
also provision for enforcement of decisions, judgments or
orders made under certain Articles of the Euratom Treaty
and the ECSC Treaty.
An Enforcement Order may be obtained on applica-
tion to the Master of the High Court.
Practitioners involved in this field should be aware that
Article 4 (2) provides that:
"Where a sum of money is payable under a Com-
munity judgment which is to be enforced, the
enforcement order shall provide that the amount
payable shall be such sum in the currency of the
State as, on the basis of the rate of exchange pre-
vailing at the date on which the Community judg-
ment was originally given, is equivalent to the sum
payable."
3. The EEC and Driving Licences.
The judgment of the Court of Justice in the case of
Michel Choquet Case 16/78 should be of interest to prac-
titioners. It held that "it is not in principle incompatible
with Community law for one Member State to require a
national of another Member State, who is permanently
established in its territory, to obtain a domestic driving
licence for the purpose of driving motor vehicles, even if
he is in possession of a driving licence issued by the
authorities in his State of origin. However, such a require-
ment may be regarded as indirectly prejudicing the
exercise of the right of freedom of movement, the right of
freedom of establishment or the freedom to provide ser-
vices guaranteed by Articles 48, 52 and 59 of the Treaty
respectively, and consequently as being incompatible with
the Treaty, if it appears that the conditions imposed by
national rules on the holder of a driving licence issued by
another Member State are not in due proportion to the
requirement of road safety." (Extract from Information
on the Court of Justice of the European Communities
1978, IV, page 25).
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