Brussels, 16/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 15 October, the European Court of Justice said that it might be unlawful to require prior authorisation laying down minimum distance and maximum market share rules for the private technical inspection of road vehicles.
Case C-168/14 was sent to the European Court of Justice by Spain, which is concerned about the legislation in place in Catalonia stipulating two requirements for public authorities issuing permits for the technical inspections of vehicles. The first requires technical inspection centres owned by the same company or group to respect a minimum distance from each other (varying between 4 km and 20 km depending on inhabitant density). The second rule bans any operator from owning more than 50% of the market.
The Court of Justice says that such criteria restrict the freedom of establishment and such a restriction, although pursuing the legitimate objective of protecting consumers and ensuring road safety seems to go beyond what is necessary. The Court of Justice requires the Spanish court to check this matter, but points out in its ruling that respect of minimum distances between centres belonging to the same company or group does not seem to achieve the objective of encouraging operators to set up in isolated areas, and the maximum market share rule does to seem the type of rule that would help protect consumers. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)