New Valmar BVBA v. Global Pharmacies Partner Health Srl
European Union Court of Justice
Case C-15/15, ECLI:EU:C:2016:464 (2016)
- Written by Elliot Stern, JD
Facts
In Belgium, a business engaging in a transaction was legally required to use the language of the region where the business was located for any documents required by law (the Belgian regional language law). New Valmar BVBA (New Valmar) (plaintiff) was a Belgian company located in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. New Valmar entered into a contract with Global Pharmacies Partner Health SRL (Global Pharmacies) (defendant), an Italian company, to distribute children’s articles. New Valmar sent invoices in connection with the agreement to Global Pharmacies written in Italian. Global Pharmacies claimed these invoices were null and void under Belgian law because they were not written in Dutch. New Valmar argued that the Belgian regional language law violated the free movement of goods guaranteed by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The Belgian court requested a preliminary ruling from the European Union Court of Justice. Belgium argued that the Belgian regional language law did not violate the free movement of goods because the law did not affect the language of a contract between the parties but only the language of the invoice that confirmed the transaction.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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