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Document 62014CA0083
Case C-83/14: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 July 2015 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad — Bulgaria) — CHEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD v Komisia za zashtita ot diskriminatsia (Directive 2000/43/EC — Principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin — Urban districts lived in mainly by persons of Roma origin — Placing of electricity meters on pylons forming part of the overhead electricity supply network, at a height of between six and seven metres — Concepts of ‘direct discrimination’ and ‘indirect discrimination’ — Burden of proof — Possible justification — Prevention of tampering with electricity meters and of unlawful connections — Proportionality — Widespread nature of the measure — Offensive and stigmatising effect of the measure — Directives 2006/32/EC and 2009/72/EC — Inability of final consumers to monitor their electricity consumption)
Case C-83/14: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 July 2015 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad — Bulgaria) — CHEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD v Komisia za zashtita ot diskriminatsia (Directive 2000/43/EC — Principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin — Urban districts lived in mainly by persons of Roma origin — Placing of electricity meters on pylons forming part of the overhead electricity supply network, at a height of between six and seven metres — Concepts of ‘direct discrimination’ and ‘indirect discrimination’ — Burden of proof — Possible justification — Prevention of tampering with electricity meters and of unlawful connections — Proportionality — Widespread nature of the measure — Offensive and stigmatising effect of the measure — Directives 2006/32/EC and 2009/72/EC — Inability of final consumers to monitor their electricity consumption)
Case C-83/14: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 July 2015 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad — Bulgaria) — CHEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD v Komisia za zashtita ot diskriminatsia (Directive 2000/43/EC — Principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin — Urban districts lived in mainly by persons of Roma origin — Placing of electricity meters on pylons forming part of the overhead electricity supply network, at a height of between six and seven metres — Concepts of ‘direct discrimination’ and ‘indirect discrimination’ — Burden of proof — Possible justification — Prevention of tampering with electricity meters and of unlawful connections — Proportionality — Widespread nature of the measure — Offensive and stigmatising effect of the measure — Directives 2006/32/EC and 2009/72/EC — Inability of final consumers to monitor their electricity consumption)
OJ C 311, 21.9.2015, p. 8–9
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
21.9.2015 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 311/8 |
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 July 2015 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad — Bulgaria) — CHEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD v Komisia za zashtita ot diskriminatsia
(Case C-83/14) (1)
((Directive 2000/43/EC - Principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin - Urban districts lived in mainly by persons of Roma origin - Placing of electricity meters on pylons forming part of the overhead electricity supply network, at a height of between six and seven metres - Concepts of ‘direct discrimination’ and ‘indirect discrimination’ - Burden of proof - Possible justification - Prevention of tampering with electricity meters and of unlawful connections - Proportionality - Widespread nature of the measure - Offensive and stigmatising effect of the measure - Directives 2006/32/EC and 2009/72/EC - Inability of final consumers to monitor their electricity consumption))
(2015/C 311/09)
Language of the case: Bulgarian
Referring court
Administrativen sad Sofia-grad
Parties to the main proceedings
Appellant: CHEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD
Respondent: Komisia za zashtita ot diskriminatsia
Third parties: Anelia Nikolova, Darzhavna Komisia za energiyno i vodno regulirane
Operative part of the judgment
1. |
The concept of ‘discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin’, for the purpose of Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin and, in particular, of Articles 1 and 2(1) thereof, must be interpreted as being intended to apply in circumstances such as those at issue before the referring court — in which, in an urban district mainly lived in by inhabitants of Roma origin, all the electricity meters are placed on pylons forming part of the overhead electricity supply network at a height of between six and seven metres, whereas such meters are placed at a height of less than two metres in the other districts — irrespective of whether that collective measure affects persons who have a certain ethnic origin or those who, without possessing that origin, suffer, together with the former, the less favourable treatment or particular disadvantage resulting from that measure. |
2. |
Directive 2000/43, in particular Article 2(1) and (2)(a) and (b) thereof, must be interpreted as precluding a national provision which lays down that, in order to be able to conclude that there is direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin in the areas covered by Article 3(1) of the directive, the less favourable treatment or the particular disadvantage to which Article 2(2)(a) and (b) respectively refer must consist in prejudice to rights or legitimate interests. |
3. |
Article 2(2)(a) of Directive 2000/43 must be interpreted as meaning that a measure such as that described in paragraph 1 of this operative part constitutes direct discrimination within the meaning of that provision if that measure proves to have been introduced and/or maintained for reasons relating to the ethnic origin common to most of the inhabitants of the district concerned, a matter which is for the referring court to determine by taking account of all the relevant circumstances of the case and of the rules relating to the reversal of the burden of proof that are envisaged in Article 8(1) of the directive. |
4. |
Article 2(2)(b) of Directive 2000/43 must be interpreted as meaning that:
|