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by Rupert Haigh
The European Court of Justice case of Commission v Denmark (1988) (the ‘Danish Bottle’ case)
addressed the question of whether a bottle recycling system introduced by the Danish government was a
breach of Article 28 of the EC Treaty.
In 1981 the Danish government replaced the bottle
recycling system previously used in Denmark with a
more stringent system. The relevant formal legislation
stipulated that manufacturers could only use bottles
marked in ‘returnable containers’ that would be
collected and refilled for re-use. Only around 30
different types of container qualified for use under
this system. Furthermore, the legislation required
that the returnable containers must meet the formal
approval of the National Agency for the Protection
of the Environment. This Agency had the right to
reject the applications if the manufacturers did not reuse a large percentage of their containers or if a bottle
type of equal capacity was already approved, available
and suitable. When this legislation came into force,
the Danish manufacturers supported it because it did
not increase their production costs. However, the rules were viewed negatively outside
Denmark. Foreign suppliers complained that the cost of collecting and re-using containers
would prohibit foreign firms from entering their market. Many EC countries complained
to the European Commission and forced Denmark to enter into negotiations. When these
negotiations broke down, the Commission brought an action against Denmark before the
European Court of Justice. The Commission argued that the legislation requiring the
containers to be returnable constituted a form of disguised discrimination against foreign
manufacturers and was therefore an impediment to free trade under Article 28 of the EC
Treaty. Article 28 states that: ‘Quantitative restrictions on imports and all measures having
equivalent effect shall be prohibited between Member States.’
The European Court of Justice held that it was permissible to use environmental protection
to justify such discrimination. The reason the Court gave for this was that protection of
the environment was one of the EC’s ‘mandatory requirements’. It therefore justified
interference with the operation of the Common Market. The Court went on to hold
that such a derogation from the internal market must be proportionate to the result to
be achieved. Since a returnability requirement was more environmentally-friendly than
a recycling requirement, this was acceptable. However, the further requirement imposed
by Danish law, whereby only a limited number of container shapes was permitted, was
disproportionate and therefore illegal under EC law.
EXERCISE 1: VERB & NOUN COLLOCATIONS
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Collocations are groups of words that typically appear together in a sentence. Here is an example:
To make:
 a) a meeting
 b) an incentive

c) an appointment
 d) a fish
The verbs listed from (1) to (10) below all appear in the excerpt above. In each case, four possible nouns are
listed from (a) to (d). Select the one which fits best with the given verb.
 To reject
 To replace
 To stipulate
 a) an application
 b) an answer
 c) an enquiry
 d) an attack
 a) an employee
 b) a consideration
 c) an agreement
 d) an impasse
 a) discrimination
 b) criteria
 c) performance
 d) an impediment
 To re-use
 a) keys
 b) arguments
 c) logic
 d) containers
 To constitute
 a) a derogation
 b) an organisation
 c) bishops
 d) harassment
 To justify
 a) compliance
 b) derogation
 c) circumstances
 d) situations
 To support
 a) enlargement
 b) difficulties
 c) a proposal
 d) the evidence
 To impose
 a) restrictions
 b) coffee
 c) benefits
 d) bonuses
 To view
 a) the television
 b) a dream
 c) with scepticism
 d) an obligation
 To return
 a) applications
 b) requirements
 c) containers
 d) rules
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EXERCISE 2: COMPREHENSION
Consider the answers to the following questions in relation to the case summary.
1) What legislation did the Danish government introduce in 1981?
...................................................................................................................................................
2) What role did the Danish National Agency for the Protection of the Environment play in
relation to the Danish bottle recycling system?
...................................................................................................................................................
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3) Why were manufacturers outside Denmark opposed to the new legislation?
...................................................................................................................................................
4) What was the basis of the European Commission’s argument before the European Court of
Justice?
...................................................................................................................................................
5) Why did the European Court of Justice think that the type of discrimination in question
was justified in this case?
...................................................................................................................................................
“
DID YOU KNOW?
The words freelancer (noun) and freelance (verb
and adjective) are in common use in modern English
to describe someone who is self-employed and not
committed to a particular employer long term.
The origins of the term are interesting. The word lance
refers to a long pointed weapon with a wooden shaft,
used by medieval horsemen in jousting contests. The
term ‘freelance’ was first used by Sir Walter Scott in his
famous novel, Ivanhoe (written in 1819) to describe a
‘medieval mercenary warrior’, thus indicating that the warrior’s lance was not sworn
to the service of any particular lord. The term continued to have this very narrow and
specific meaning, and was largely used as a noun, until modern times. Nowadays it is
used as a noun (‘he is a freelancer’), an adjective (‘she works as a freelance journalist’),
and a verb (‘I freelance from time to time when I need extra money’), and can be used in
relation to almost all professions (very few of which require lances these days!).
ANSWERS TO EXERCISE 1: 1.a) 2.a) 3.b) 4.d) 5.c) 6.c) 7.d) 8.a) 9.c) 10.b)
ANSWERS TO EXERCISE 2: 1.The Danish government introduced legislation relating to bottle recycling, which replaced the previous system and
provided that manufacturers could only use bottles marked in ‘returnable containers’ that would be collected and refilled for re-use. 2. The National
Agency for the Protection of the Environment had the role of approving the returnable containers used by manufacturers, and had the right to reject
applications if the manufacturers did not re-use a large percentage of their containers or if a bottle type of equal capacity was already available and
suitable. 3. Foreign manufacturers were opposed to the new legislation because they felt that the cost of collecting and re-using containers would prevent
them from entering the Danish market. 4. The Commission’s argument was that legislation requiring the containers to be returnable amounted to
a form of indirect discrimination against foreign manufacturers. It could therefore be regarded as an impediment to free trade in breach of Article 28
of the EC Treaty. 5. The European Court of Justice thought that this type of discrimination was justified in this case because the protection of the
environment was one of the EC’s ‘mandatory requirements’, and therefore justified interference with the operation of the Common Market.
Since its foundation in 1979 AISLi
(Associazione Italiana Scuole
di Lingua) has been dedicated
to implementing the highest
standards in language service
provision in Italy. Standards based
on benchmarking best practice in
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teaching and training. Standards
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wider public and which are,
very importantly, measurable.
Entrance into the Association
and continued membership is
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CASE SUMMARY: DANISH BOTTLE CASE
“
AISLi
Coming next month
What exactly is ‘coining’ and
what does the law say about it? In
the next edition we will look at
Criminal Law, and in particular how
the law tackles the problem of
counterfeiting banknotes.
BREACH (SOST.): trasgressione.
STRINGENT (AGG.): rigoroso.
TO QUALIFY (VB): soddisfare i requisiti.
SUITABLE (AGG.): adatto.
TO COME INTO FORCE (VB): entrare in vigore.
TO BREAK DOWN (VB): fallire (riferendosi ad
una trattativa).
DISGUISED (PP): mascherato.
TO HOLD (VB): ritenere.
WHEREBY (VB): per cui.
TO BE COMMITTED TO (VB): essere
impegnato/obbligato a fare qualcosa.
LANCE (SOST): lancia.
SHAFT (SOST): asta.
TO JOUST (VB): giostrare.
THUS (AVV.): così/quindi.
SWEAR TO SERVICE (VB): giurare fedeltà.
TACKLE (VB): affrontare.
COUNTERFEIT (VB&AGG.): falsificare/
contraffatto.
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