Important legal notice

61998C0319

European Court reports 1999 Page I-01201

Opinion of the Advocate-General

1 In this action under Article 169 of the EC Treaty, the Commission asks the Court for a declaration that, by failing to adopt or communicate to it, within the prescribed period, the laws, regulations and administrative measures necessary to comply with Directive 94/47/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 26 October 1994 on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis, (1) the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty.

2 Article 12 of Directive 94/47/EC (hereinafter `the Directive') provides that the Member States are to adapt their national laws to the provisions of the Directive by no later than 30 April 1997 and that they are to immediately inform the Commission thereof.

3 During the pre-litigation procedure, the Commission sent a letter before action to the Belgian Government on 9 September 1997. Having received no reply to that communication, the Commission, on 19 February 1998, sent a reasoned opinion to the Belgian Government, calling on it to adopt the necessary measures to implement the Directive.

4 In answer to the reasoned opinion, the Belgian Government informed the Commission, by letter of 20 April 1998, that, albeit somewhat belatedly, the corresponding draft law had been adopted by the Council of Ministers and that, once it had become law, it would be sent to the Commission.

5 Given that, by 17 August 1998, there was no evidence that the Directive had been transposed, the Commission brought the present action before the Court of Justice.

6 In its defence, the Belgian Government stated that the draft law implementing the Directive had been presented to the House of Representatives on 18 August 1998 and that it would be adopted as soon as possible.

7 Accordingly, since the Kingdom of Belgium clearly failed to fulfil its obligations, it is appropriate to uphold the Commission's application and, under Article 69(2) of the Rules of Procedure, to order the defendant to pay the costs.

Conclusion

8 In view of the foregoing, I propose that the Court should:

(1) declare that, by failing to adopt or communicate to the Commission, within the prescribed period, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with Directive 94/47/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 26 October 1994 on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a time-share basis, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty.

(2) order the defendant to pay the costs.

(1) - OJ 1994 L 280, p. 83.