CELEX: 61988CJ0360
Failure of a State to fulfil its obligations
Transposition of a directive

As the Court has consistently held, a Member State may not plead provisions, practices or circumstances existing in its internal legal system in order to justify a failure to comply with the obligations and time-limits laid down in Community directives .
Parties
In Case C-360/88
Commission of the European Communities, represented by T . van Rijn, a member of its Legal Department, acting as Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Georgios Kremlis, a member of the Commission' s Legal Department, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,
applicant,
v
Kingdom of Belgium, represented by J . Devadder, Assistant Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, External Trade and Aid for Developing Countries, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the Belgian Embassy, résidence Champagne, 4 rue des Girondins,
defendant,
APPLICATION for a declaration that by failing to adopt within the prescribed period all the measures necessary to comply with the provisions of Council Directive 84/450/EEC of 10 September 1984 relating to the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning misleading advertising ( Official Journal 1984, L 250, p . 17 ) the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EEC Treaty,
THE COURT
composed of : O . Due, President, C . N . Kakouris and M . Zuleeg ( Presidents of Chambers ), T . Koopmans, R . Joliet, J . C . Moitinho de Almeida, G . C . Rodríguez Iglesias, F . Grévisse and M . Diez de Velasco, Judges,
( the grounds of the judgment are not reproduced )
hereby :
Operative part
( 1 ) Declares that, by failing to adopt within the prescribed period all the measures necessary to implement Council Directive 84/450/EEC of 10 September 1984 relating to the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning misleading advertising, the Kingdom of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EEC Treaty;
( 2 ) Orders the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs .