(AGENPARL) – gio 16 marzo 2023 Dear All,
Please find attached press release in respect of Case C-339/21 | Colt Technology Services and Others:
Telecommunications operators may be obliged to provide, upon request from a judicial authority, communication interception operations in return for a fixed rate
EU law does not require full reimbursement of the costs actually incurred
Kind regards,
Natassa Mouzouki
Press and Information Unit, Ireland / Malta
Communication Department
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Testo Allegato:
Communications Directorate

Press and Information Unit

curia.europa.eu

PRESS RELEASE No 48
/23

Luxembourg, 16 March 2023

Judgment of the Court in Case C
–
339/21 | Colt Technology Services
and Others

Telecommunications operators may be obliged to provide, upon request

from

a
judicial authority, communication interception op
erations
for a fixed rate

EU law does not require full reimbursement

of the costs actually incurred

In Italy, telecommunications operators are required, in the event of a request from the judicial authorities, to carry
out interception of communi
cations (voice, computer, telematic and data) in return for a fixed rate. The
amounts
which they receive

were

modifie
d by a decree of 2017, which

established a reduction of at least 50% of the
reimbursements of the costs

associated with those interception
operations.

The telecommunications operators
concerned sought annulment of that decree from the Italian judicial authorities, claiming that the fees provided for
do not fully cover the costs incurred. The Italian Council of State, hearing the case on appea
l, asks the Court
of
Justice
whether EU law
requires full reimbursement of the costs actually incurred by operators in carrying
out such interceptions
.

By todayâ??s judgment, the Court
answers

that question

in the negative
. EU law does not preclude national
legislation
which does not
require
full reimbursement of the costs actually incurred by

providers of

electronic communications
services when they enable the legal interception of electronic communications

authorities, provided tha
t that legislation is non
–
discriminatory, proportionate and transparent
.

The

Court notes that the European Electronic Communications C
ode provides that a general authorisation
for
the
provision of
be made
subject
, by the Member States,
to certain
conditions, among which
the
enabling
of

According to the Court, it follows
from this
that
the EU legislature
neither imposed nor excluded
reimbursement, by
the Member States, of the costs
that would be incurred by the undertakings which
enable legal interception.

The Court
considers

f non
–
discrimination, propor
tionality and transparency. Indeed
, the reimbursements provided
for
are comparable for all
operators offering electronic communications
services
in Italy, since the reimbursements are provided for on the
basis of fixed unit rate
s. Those rates are calculated by taking account of technological progress in the sector which
has made certain services less expensive, and of the fact that those services are essential to the pursuit of general
aims of an overriding public interest and th
at they can be provided only by telecommunications operators. Lastly,
those rates are fixed by means of a formal administrative act, which is published and freely accessible.

Communications Directorate

Press and Information Unit

curia.europa.eu

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NOTE:

A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of t
he Member States, in disputes which
Union law or the validity of a European Union act. The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself. I
t is for the
national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance with the Courtâ??s decision, which is similarly binding on
other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.

Unofficial document for media use, not binding
on the Court of Justice.

The
full text

of the judgment is published on the CURIA website on the day of delivery.

Press contact: Jacques René Zammit
â??
(+352) 4303 3355