Action brought on 1 October 2007 — Commission of the European Communities v Italian Republic

(Case C-447/07)

(2007/C 297/41)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: G. Rozet and L. Pignataro-Nolin, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Italian Republic

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Commission claims that the Italian legislation laying down that Italian citizenship is required for the posts of master or second-in-command on all vessels flying the Italian flag does not comply with Article 39 EC, which enshrines the principle of freedom of movement for workers, as interpreted by the Court.

In two cases concerning, respectively, the posts of master and second-in-command of merchant ships flying the Spanish flag (Case C-405/01) and the post of master of vessels engaged in small-scale maritime shipping (‘Kleine Seeschifffahrt’), and in the specific case of German-flagged fishing vessels carrying on small-scale maritime fishing (Case C-47/02), the Court made clear, in its judgments of 30 September 2003, the proper interpretation of Article 39 EC.

The Commission observes that, in the course of the present procedure, the Italian authorities have not put forward any arguments which differ from those put forward at the time in Case C-405/01 (in which the Italian Republic intervened) or those which the French authorities supported in Case C-47/02. Those arguments were rejected by the Court in its judgments of 30 September 2003.

The Commission confines itself to pointing out that the Italian authorities, in their reply to the reasoned opinion of 22 May 2007, do not deny the infringement. They actually stated their intention of repealing the requirement of Italian citizenship for appointment to the post of master or first officer (second-in-command), undertaking to inform the Commission of the outcome of the consultations between the Ministries concerned.

The Commission has received no information on the timetable for the amendment of the Italian legislation. Consequently, it submits that the Italian legislation laying down that Italian citizenship is required for the posts of master or second-in-command on all vessels flying the Italian flag does not comply with Article 39 EC, which enshrines the principle of freedom of movement for workers, as interpreted by the Court.