Radlberger Getränkegesellschaft mbH & Co., S. Spitz Kommanditgesellschaft v. Land Baden-Württemberg, Intervener: Federal Republic of Germany Pays/Territoire Union européenne, Allemagne Type de cour Cour internationale Date Déc 14, 2004 Source UNEP, InforMEA Nom du tribunal European Court of Justice Siège de la cour Luxembourg Juge Skouris, V.Jann, P.Lenaerts, K.Gulmann, C.Puissochet, J.-P.Schintgen, R.Colneric, N.von Bahr, S.Cunha Rodrigues, J. N.Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, D. Numéro de référence C-463/01 Langue Allemand Sujet Environnement gén., Déchets et substances dangereuses Mot clé Prévention des déchets Déchets dangereux Emballage/étiquetage Substances dangereuses Normes relatives aux rejets d'effluents Élimination de déchets Mécanisme de développement propre Gestion des déchets Normes environnementales EIA Préservation de l'écosystème Résumé The ECJ judged the 6 month transition period in the German Packaging Ordinance a violation of the proportionality principle, in this judgment the 6 month period is found to be possibly too short to comply with the proportionality principle. Here, however, the ECJ says it leaves the final decision on this matter to the national judge referring the matter to the ECJ in this preliminary reference case. The C-463/01 judgment should make it easy for the German judge to determine whether the period is in fact too short. In addition to C-463/01, the ECJ held that, in particular, where the new system is, as in Germany, a deposit and return system, the Member State concerned must ensure that there are a sufficient number of return points so that consumers who have been charged a deposit when buying goods in non-reusable packaging can recover the deposit even if they do not go back to the initial place of purchase. Texte intégral Commission of the European Communities v.Federal Republic of Germany 14-12-2004 english.pdf Site web curia.europa.eu