Avis juridique important

61994J0065

European Court reports 1994 Page I-04627

Summary

Where a Member State has failed to fulfil the specific obligations imposed by a directive, there is no need to examine whether it has thereby also failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 5 of the Treaty.

Parties

In Case C-65/94,

Commission of the European Communities, represented by Gérard Rozet, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Georgios Kremlis, of the Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,

applicant,

Kingdom of Belgium, represented by Jan Devadder, Director of Administration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Belgian Embassy, 4 Rue des Girondins,

defendant,

APPLICATION for a declaration that, by failing to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary in order to comply with Council Directive 90/167/EEC of 26 March 1990 laying down the conditions governing the preparation, placing on the market and use of medicated feedingstuffs in the Community (OJ 1990 L 92, p. 42), apart from Article 11(2), and/or by failing to communicate them to the Commission, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 15 of the said directive and Articles 5 and 189 of the EC Treaty,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),

composed of: G.F. Mancini, President of the Chamber, M. Diez de Velasco, C.N. Kakouris, F.A. Schockweiler and P.J.G. Kapteyn (Rapporteur), Judges,

Advocate General: M. Darmon,

Registrar: R. Grass,

having regard to the report of the Judge-Rapporteur,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 12 July 1994,

gives the following

Grounds

1 By application lodged at the Court Registry on 15 February 1994, the Commission of the European Communities brought an action under Article 169 of the EC Treaty for a declaration by the Court that, by failing to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary in order to comply with Council Directive 90/167/EEC of 26 March 1990 laying down the conditions governing the preparation, placing on the market and use of medicated feedingstuffs in the Community (OJ 1990 L 92, p. 42), apart from Article 11(2), and/or by failing to communicate them to the Commission, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 15 of the said directive and Articles 5 and 189 of the EC Treaty.

2 Article 15 of the directive provides:

"Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply

° with the requirements of Article 11(2) on the date on which they must conform with the Community rules on the protection of feedingstuffs against pathogenic agents, but at the latest by 31 December 1992,

° before 1 October 1991, with the other provisions of this Directive.

They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof."

3 The Kingdom of Belgium does not deny its failure to transpose the directive within the prescribed period. It merely states that a draft Royal Decree is at present in the course of preparation and is the subject of consultation between the departments concerned.

4 Since the directive has not been transposed within the period prescribed by Article 15, it must be held that the defendant has failed to fulfil its obligations, as alleged by the Commission.

5 Given that the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil the specific obligations incumbent on it under the directive, there is no need to examine whether it has thereby also failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 5 of the Treaty (see the judgments in Cases C-374/89 Commission v Belgium [1991] ECR I-367 and C-378/92 Commission v Spain [1993] ECR I-5095).

6 It must be held, therefore, that, by failing to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary in order to comply with Council Directive 90/167/EEC of 26 March 1990 laying down the conditions governing the preparation, placing on the market and use of medicated feedingstuffs in the Community, apart from Article 11(2), and/or by failing to communicate them to the Commission, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 15 of the said directive.

Decision on costs

Costs

7 Under Article 69(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs. Since the Kingdom of Belgium has been unsuccessful, it must be ordered to pay the costs.

Operative part

On those grounds,

hereby: