Abstract

Case C-370/20, which concerned the request for a preliminary ruling (interpretation of Article 8(3) and (8) of Directive 2014/40/EU), involved the operator of two supermarkets in Munich offering tobacco products via automatic vending machines placed at the supermarkets’ cash registers. Cigarette packets were place inside the machines in such a way so that they were not visible to the customers. The buttons on the machines made it possible to recognize various cigarette makes thanks to graphic images, though did not carry any health warnings. In the CJ’s opinion the presentation of images instead of actual packets of the products the images referred to, without the mandatory health warnings, is in breach of the EU prohibition to hide health warnings. Basing on C-370/20, the Court of Justice provided a broad interpretation of the concept of „images of unit packets”. The authors note that the prohibition to hide mandatory health warnings, including through „other elements”, refers to the packet itself and its integrity rather than making it available inside a vending machine, which in fact is of a temporary character. The purpose of such a machine is organisation of the salling process. Neither an automatic vending machine can be regarded as a packaging – it is not used for permanently storing or locking one or several unit packets of tobacco products. The authors undertake to analyse the regulations underlying the judgments in C-370/20 and an assess the CJ’s judgment.