20.7.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 207/30

1.

Given that the exclusion laid down in Article 45(4) TFEU does not appear to apply to the present case [which concerns the appointment of a national of another Member State of the European Union as President of a Port Authority, a legal entity which can be classed as a body governed by public law] in that it relates to. employment in the public service (which is not an issue. in the present case) and given also that the fiduciary role of President of a Port Authority may nevertheless be regarded as an ‘employment activity’ in the broad sense,. does the provision reserving that post exclusively to Italian nationals constitute discrimination on grounds of nationality prohibited by Article 45 TFEU?

2.

Alternatively, may the holding of the office of President of an Italian Port Authority by a national of another Member State of the European Union be regarded as falling within the scope of the right of establishment laid down in Article 49 et seq. TFEU and, if so, does the prohibition laid down in national law on non-Italian nationals holding that office constitute discrimination on grounds of nationality, or would such a finding be precluded by Article 51 TFEU?

3.

As a lesser alternative, in the event that the holding of the office of President of an Italian Port Authority by a national of another Member State of the European Union may be regarded as the provision of ‘services’ for the purposes of Directive 2006/123/EC, (1) is the exclusion of port services from the scope of that directive relevant in the present case and, if not, does the prohibition under national law in relation to the holding of that office constitute discrimination on grounds of nationality?

4.

In the further alternative, … in the event that the holding of the office of President of an Italian Port Authority by a national of another Member State of the European Union does not fall within the scope of any of the above provisions, may it nevertheless be regarded, more generally, in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as a prerogative coming under the right of Community citizens to ‘work, to exercise the right of establishment and to provide services in any Member State’, irrespective of the specific ‘sectoral’ provisions laid down in Article 45 and Article 49 et seq. TFEU, and in Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, and is the prohibition under national law in relation the holding of that office accordingly inconsistent with the equally general prohibition on discrimination on grounds of nationality laid down in Article 21(2) of that Charter?’