German Federal Government wins EU state liability proceedings with DLA Piper

DLA Piper has successfully defended EU state liability proceedings pending since 1999 on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH). The Higher Regional Court of Cologne (OLG Cologne) dismissed a claim by Danske Slagterier, a Danish industry association of cooperative slaughterhouse companies and pig farmers, in the amount of EUR144 million.

The subject matter was the question whether German authorities had effectively prevented the import of meat from uncastrated boars in the early 1990s due to possible strong smell, or whether boar meat simply could not be sold in Germany due to the risk of unpleasant smells.

The proceedings involved numerous complex factual and legal issues, such as the question of which method can be used to determine smell of pigs, as well as fundamental questions of EU state liability, questions of limitation periods and the question of whether errors in the implementation or application of the relevant EC directive generally lead to state liability.

In total, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dealt with this case once, the German Civil Court of Justice (BGH) twice, and the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Cologne three times. Most recently, the Higher Regional Court of Cologne dealt primarily with questions of causality, which the Higher Regional Court has now rejected and thus found no claim for the plaintiff. The Higher Regional Court of Cologne has not allowed an appeal (Revision) against the judgement.

Parties to the proceedings:

Representatives of the defendant Federal Republic of Germany, BMLEH: DLA Piper UK LLP (Cologne): Prof. Dr Ludger Giesberts LL.M. (partner); Guido Kleve (partner), both litigation/public commercial law

Representative of the plaintiff, Danske Slagterier: Blume Ritscher & Partner (Hamburg): Rolf Karpenstein

7th Civil Senate of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne: Dr Sossna, Dr Nordmeyer, Dr Bross