Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-26-Speech-2-240"
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"en.20041026.13.2-240"2
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".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, even though the Court of Justice may adhere to the opinion of the Advocate-General, it should be emphasised that such an opinion is not legally binding either on the Commission or on any other party. That is also true for the opinion that Advocate-General Léger issued on 25 May 2004 in case C-438/02 Åklagaren versus Krister Hanner, regarding the compatibility of Apoteket, the monopoly that exists in Sweden for the distribution of medicinal products, with certain Treaty provisions on the free movement of goods and the right of establishment (Articles 28, 31 and 43).
With regard to Systembolaget, the distribution system for alcoholic beverages in Sweden, the Court of Justice has already made a pronouncement on that monopoly’s compatibility with Article 31 of the Treaty, in its ruling of 23 October 1997 on the Franzén case. The article states that the structure and activity of State monopolies must be organised so as to ensure that no discrimination regarding the conditions under which goods are procured and marketed exists between nationals of Member States, so that trade in goods from another Member State shall not suffer any disadvantage in law or in fact compared with a domestic product.
Having thoroughly examined the Systembolaget system with regard to points of sale, choice of products and promotional activities, the Court decided that the monopoly sales structure of Systembolaget was compatible with Article 31 of the Treaty. In the current state of affairs, the Franzén ruling provides the Commission with a guideline from a legal point of view in the context of assessing the compatibility of Systembolaget with EU rules."@en1
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