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20.11.2004 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 284/3 |
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
(Grand Chamber)
of 14 September 2004
in Case C-19/03 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht München I): Verbraucher-Zentrale Hamburg eV v O2 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG (1)
(Economic and monetary policy - Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 - Introduction of the euro - Conversion of national currency units to the euro unit - Rounding of monetary amounts to be paid or accounted for after conversion - Contract concluded in the telecommunications sector - Meaning of ‘monetary amounts to be paid or accounted for’ - Per-minute tariffs for telephone calls)
(2004/C 284/05)
Language of the case: German
In Case C-19/03: reference to the Court under Article 234 EC from the Landgericht München I (Germany), by decision of 17 December 2002, registered at the Court on 20 January 2003, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings: Verbraucher-Zentrale Hamburg eV and O2 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG — the Court, (Grand Chamber) composed of: V. Skouris, President, P. Jann, C.W.A. Timmermans, A. Rosas, C. Gulmann, J.-P. Puissochet (Rapporteur) and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Presidents of Chambers, R. Schintgen, F. Macken, N. Colneric and S. von Bahr, Judges; M. Poiares Maduro, Advocate General; M. Múgica Arzarmendi, Principal Administrator for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 14 September 2004, in which it has ruled:
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1. |
A tariff, such as the per-minute price at issue in the main proceedings, does not constitute a monetary amount to be paid or accounted for within the meaning of the first sentence of Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 of 17 June 1997 on certain provisions relating to the introduction of the euro and thus is not to be rounded in every case to the nearest cent. The fact that the tariff relates to a particular multiple of the unit on the basis of which the final amount of the invoice is calculated or that for the consumer the tariff represents the decisive factor as regards the price of the goods or services does not affect that finding. |
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2. |
Regulation No 1103/97 must be interpreted as not precluding the rounding to the nearest cent of amounts other than those which are to be paid or accounted for, provided that that rounding practice is consistent with the principle of continuity of contracts safeguarded by Article 3 of the regulation and with the objective pursued by the regulation that the transition to the euro should be neutral; in other words, provided that the rounding practice does not affect contractual obligations entered into by economic agents, including consumers, and that it does not have a real impact on the price actually to be paid. |