the times | Tuesday October 20 2020 1GM 55
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From the deadline of June 15, 2017 laid
down by European Union law, roam-
ing service providers had to apply the
regulated roaming tariff automatical-
ly to all their customers, irrespective of
whether those customers had previ-
ously opted for such a tariff or for an
alternative tariff, unless they had,
before the deadline, expressly indicat-
ed their choice to continue on the
alternative tariff.
The Court of Justice of the Euro-
pean Union so stated on a reference
for a preliminary ruling from the
Landgericht München I (Regional
Court, Munich I, Germany) in pro-
ceedings brought by the Bundesver-
band der Verbraucherzentralen und
Verbraucherverbände — Verbrau-
cherzentrale Bundesverband eV (Fed-
eral Union of consumer organisations
and associations, Germany) for an in-
junction against Telefónica Germany
GmbH & Co OHG, concerning prac-
tices relating to the arrangements for
switching to the new regulated roam-
ing tariff at European Union level,
following the abolition of retail roam-
ing surcharges within the Union.
Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 amend-
ed Regulation 531/2012, on roaming on
public mobile communications net-
works within the Union, by inserting,
inter alia, articles 6a and 6e(3). So far as
relevant, those articles provided:
“6a With effect from June 15, 2017...
roaming providers shall not levy any
surcharge in addition to the domestic
retail price on roaming customers in
KERRISON Roger Christopher on 9th
October 2020, aged 85, at home. Cherished
by his wife Cathy, daughter Alice and three
grandsons. Private funeral. Please, no
flowers.MORRISON Rosalind Elizabeth on 16th
October 2020, aged 74, died peacefully in
hospital. Beloved mother and grandmother.
Private family funeral.PEACE Brian Littlewood died on 13th
October 2020, aged 88. Loving husband of
the late Jenifer Peace. Beloved father,
grandfather and great-grandpa. Inquiries to
W. H. Squires, tel 01884 252556.PETERS
Martin Trevor — CB, CEng,
MMechE, FRAeSPassed away on 13th October 2020
at Southmead Hospital, Bristol,
aged 83.Donations if desired to the British
Heart Foundation, may be sent c/oThomas Davis Funeral Directors,
Southville Lodge, Southville Road,
Bristol, BS3 1DJ. 0117 966 3268.SAMPSON (FORMERLY GAIT)
Shirley Frances (née Manion) passed away
on 12th October 2020, aged 86, in
Shrewsbury Hospital. Beloved mother of
Caroline and grandmother of Rufus and
Hugo. She will be greatly missed and
always loved.IM THURN Patricia “Pat” Pat im Thurn
(née Murphy O’Connor) died on 9th
October 2020, at the age of 90. She is
survived by her children Paul and Lucy and
grandchildren Charles, Catherine, Edward,
Ben, Frances and Emma. A requiem mass
([email protected]) will take place
later this month. Memorial donations in
memory of Pat can be made to The
Passage (to ending homelessness), St
Vincent’s Centre, Carlisle Place, London
SW1P 1NL, [email protected]DE WOLFF-ZERNIK Herta, died
peacefully at her home in Paris on October
8th 2020, aged 100. She will be greatly
missed. [email protected]Legal Notices
CR-2020-002989
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY
COURTS
OF ENGLAND AND WALES
COMPANIES COURT (CHD)
IN THE MATTER OF VINCI PLC
AND IN THE MATTER OF THE
COMPANIES ACT 2006
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Order of
the High Court of Justice dated 29
September 2020 confirming the reduction of
capital and cancellation of the capital
redemption reserve of the above-named
company and the Statement of Capital
approved by the Court showing with respect
to the capital of the Company as altered, the
particulars required by Section 649(2) of the
Companies Act 2006 were registered by the
Registrar of Companies on 6 October 2020.
DATED this 20 day of October 2020
Pinsent Masons LLP
1 Park Row
Leeds
LS1 5AB
Tel: 0113 244 5000
Fax: 0113 244 8000
Ref: RSB/670065.07002
Solicitors for the above-named Company.GRACE, mercy and peace from God the
Father and from Jesus Christ, the
Father’s Son, will be with us in truth
and love. 2 John 1.3 (NIV)Births, Marriages and Deaths http://www.newsukadvertising.co.uk
Births
COBB WHITBREAD on October 11th, at
home in London, to Becca and Jamie, a
son, Rafe.Forthcoming Marriages
MR S. MILTON
AND DR F. MARSHALL
The engagement is announced between
Samuel, only son of Mrs Sandra Milton of
Appley, Somerset, and the late Mr Jonathan
Milton, and Frances, younger daughter of
Mr and Mrs John Marshall of Sidonia,
Ross-on-Wye.Deaths
BARGATE William Nicholas passed away
on 1st October 2020, aged 23. He will be
sadly missed by his loving parents, family
and friends. Due to current restrictions,
family and close friends only to attend
funeral. Donations in lieu of flowers to
Young Minds Trust, in memory of William:
https://bit.ly/30tV5gS All inquiries to G W
Hardy & Son, 01371 810324.CROFT Elizabeth (née Redman, Barker)
peacefully on 14th October. Hugely loved
wife, mum and granny. Inquiries, tel:
01722 744691.DAVIES
Judith Elizabeth (née Ashley) passed
away peacefully in her sleep on 14th
October 2020.
Judy leaves behind her loving partner,
Blackie; her devoted sons, Ashley and
Charles; grandchildren Johnny, Jack,
Matilda and Eva; cherished siblings
Clive, Diana and Ruby; a large and
beloved extended family and many
dear friends around the world. It was
always going to be too soon to lose
you, dear Jude.DAVIES Lady B of Llandinam died
peacefully on 6th October 2020 aged 79.
Wife of David, mother of Eldrydd, Daniel,
Lucy and Ben. A passionate contributor to
public life in Montgomeryshire across
education, wildlife and the arts. A
“staggeringly brilliant lady, totally
unmatched in wit and charm”. Donations, if
desired, to Severn Hospice.DAWSON Elizabeth Helen on October
14th, peacefully at home. Beloved wife of
the late Oliver. Very much loved by her
three children Charlotte, William and
Henrietta and four grandchildren. Private
cremation for family only. Donations in
Elizabeth’s memory to Versus Arthritis,
Copeman House, Chesterfield S41 7TD or
via http://www.elizabeth-dawson.muchloved.comGUEST Peter Walter passed away
peacefully on 28th September 2020, aged- World traveller, legendary drinker, life
and soul of the party. Father to James,
beloved brother to Sarah, he will be sadly
missed by all his family, friends and the
drinking establishments he frequented.
Funeral service to take place on Thursday,
22nd October at 9.45am. This will be
available to watch via a live webcast.
Donations, if wished, for Macmillan Cancer
Support or the RSPCA may be made via
Farthing Funeral Service, tel (01473) 272711
or farthingfunerals.co.uk who can also
provide details re the webcast.
HENN Brigadier Francis (Frank) Robert
Henn CBE died peacefully on 15th October
2020, aged 99, at home. Beloved husband
to the late Monica and adored father of
Frances, father-in-law to George and
grandpa to Zara and Richard. Small family
funeral (due to Covid restrictions).JUNGIUS Vice-Admiral Sir James Jungius,
KBE, DL, died peacefully on 14th October
2020, aged 96. Loving husband to
Rosemary and father of Ian, Richard and
William. Dearly loved and admired by Ann,
his daughters-in-law, grandchildren and
great-granddaughter. Family funeral in
Cornwall. Memorial service tba in
Sherborne in 2021.Life and Times
Listen to Mariella
Frostrup discuss
great lives, Monday
to Thursday, 1.45pmLaw Report
Right not to be charged a roaming mobile
phone surcharge automatic within the EU
any member state for any regulated
roaming calls made or received...
SMS messages sent and... data roam-
ing services used, including MMS
messages.. .”
“6e(3) Roaming providers may of-
fer, and roaming customers may delib-
erately choose, a roaming tariff other
than one set in accordance with article
6a... by virtue of which roaming cus-
tomers benefit from a different tariff
for regulated roaming services than
they would have been accorded in the
absence of such a choice. The roaming
provider shall remind those roaming
customers of the nature of the roam-
ing advantages which would thereby
be lost.
“Without prejudice to the [above],
roaming providers shall apply a tariff
set in accordance with articles 6a... to
all existing and new roaming custom-
ers automatically.”
The Court said that Telefónica
Germany was a provider of telecom-
munications services which offered,
inter alia, mobile communications
services under the name “O2”.
Following the adoption of Regula-
tion 2015/2120, O2 published on its
German website information on the
arrangements for switching to the
new regulated roaming tariff at EU
level, corresponding, in principle, to
the service “Roam like at home”
(RLAH).
According to the Bundesverband,
the arrangements for switching to the
new regulated roaming tariff, as stated
on the O2 website, required O2 cus-
tomers who, prior to June 15, 2017,
were charged a tariff other than the
regulated roaming tariff (the alter-
native tariff) to send O2 a special noti-
fication to benefit from the new regu-
lated roaming tariff, and in particular
the RLAH, by sending an SMS and/or
through the O2 app.
The Bundesverband took the view
that that practice was contrary to
articles 6a and 6e(3) and claimed that
the RLAH had to be automatically ap-
plied to all consumers from the date of
entry into force of that Regulation,namely June 15, 2017, irrespective of
whether they had previously opted for
the alternative tariff.
Telefónica Germany maintained
that, in the context of the application
of Regulation 531/2012, a distinction
had to be drawn between two types of
roaming tariffs, namely the regulated
tariff and the alternative tariff. The
regulated tariff was a standard tariff
which, in principle, could not be
increased by comparison with the
national retail tariff, whereas the
alternative tariff could provide for
conditions which departed from those
of the national retail tariff.
The referring court took the view
that the question whether, from June
15, 2017, the new regulated roaming
tariff had to be applied automatically
to all customers was decisive for the
outcome of the dispute in the main
proceedings, in particular since, even
after the final date of June 15, 2017, O2
had not allowed all customers who
were subject to the alternative tariff to
benefit from the new regulated roam-
ing tariff.
In those circumstances, the region-
al court stayed the proceedings and
referred a question to the Court of Jus-
tice for a preliminary ruling asking, in
essence, whether article 6a and 6e(3)
of Regulation No 531/2012 meant that
the new regulated roaming tariff in ar-
ticle 6a applied automatically, with ef-
fect from June 15, 2017, not only to cus-
tomers who already had a regulated
roaming tariff, but also to customers
who, until that date, had opted for
another tariff.
In answer to that question it was ap-
parent from the wording of article 6a
that the switch to the RLAH was to
take place, in general, with effect from
June 15, 2017, “to roaming customers in
any member state”, without that pro-
vision containing exceptions or provi-
sos linked to those “roaming custom-
ers” or, a fortiori, any provisos con-
nected with whether those customers
had until then been entitled to
another tariff.
The automatic nature of the switchto regulated roaming tariffs for all cus-
tomers was confirmed by the wording
of article 6e(3).
Without excluding the possibility
that the automatic switch to the
RLAH might, in certain cases, as a re-
sult of a possible re-adaptation of the
roaming contract, result in the with-
drawal of certain advantages linked to
the individual needs of a customer, the
intention of the EU legislature to fa-
vour the automatic introduction of
the RLAH with regard to all custom-
ers was unequivocal.
That interpretation was borne out
by the objective pursued by Regula-
tion 531/2012, which, as was apparent
from article 1(2) thereof and recital 21
of Regulation 2015/2120, was to
“achieve an internal market for mobile
communication services and ulti-
mately for there to be no differentia-
tion between national and roaming
tariffs”.
Therefore, although the automatic
switch to the RLAH for all roaming
customers fully complied with that
objective, in contrast, the requirement
that the RLAH be activated by means
of an express expression of will (opt-
in) would be likely to run counter to
that objective in situations where the
other tariff remained higher than the
national tariff.
In that regard, it had to be pointed
out that the “opt-in” and “opt-out”
schemes caused equivalent inconven-
ience for customers, in so far as they
both consisted in inviting them to ex-
press their will to the roaming service
provider.
However, the EU legislature had
taken the view that the scheme of
automatic switching to the RLAH was
the scheme that made it possible more
effectively — in particular as a result
of the fact that, in an opt-out system,
silence amounted to approval of the
RLAH — to attain the objective pur-
sued by Regulation 531/2012,
consisting in the completion of the in-
ternal market for mobile communica-
tion services without differentiation
between national and roaming tariffs.Court of Justice of the
European Union
Published October 20, 2020
Bundesverband der
Verbraucherzentralen und
Verbraucherverbände —
Verbraucherzentrale
Bundesverband eV v Telefónica
Germany GmbH &
Co OHG (Case C 539/19)
Before L S Rossi, President of the
Chamber and Judges J Malenovský and
N Wahl (Rapporteur)
Advocate General: E Tanchev
Judgment September 3, 2020
Clarence House
19th October, 2020
The Duchess of Cornwall,
President, Royal Osteoporosis
Society, this afternoon spoke to
the winner of The Duchess of
Cornwall Award via telephone.Kensington Palace
19th October, 2020
The Duke of Cambridge this
afternoon held a Meeting with
business owners in Liverpool
via video link.St James’s Palace
19th October, 2020
The Princess Royal this
afternoon opened York
Teaching Hospital NHS
Foundation Trust’s Willow Eye
Unit at Scarborough Hospital,
Woodlands Drive,
Scarborough, and was received
by Her Majesty’s Lord-
Lieutenant of North Yorkshire
(Mrs Johanna Ropner).Court Circular
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