Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:245
Date: 1999-05-18
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Beef and veal;Veterinary legislation
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Acts of the institutions — Choice of legal basis — Criteria — Context in which the 
measure was adopted — Irrelevance — Application of the Treaty rules in force at the 
time the measure was adopted 
2. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — System for 
the identification and registration of bovine animals and labelling of beef and veal — 
Regulation No 820/97 — Legal basis — Article 43 of the Treaty (now, after 
amendment, Article 37 EC) — Taking into account of public health 
(EC Treaty, Arts 39 and 129(1), third subpara., (now Arts 33 EC and 152(1), third 
subpara. EC) Art. 43 (now, afer amendment, Art. 37 EC); Council Regulation 
No 820/97) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-269/97 
1. In the context of the organisation of the 
powers of the Community the choice of 
the legal basis for a measure must rest 
on objective factors which are amen­
able to judicial review. Those factors 
include in particular the aim and the 
content of the measure. In this connec­
tion, the fact that an institution wishes 
to participate more fully in the adop­
tion of a given measure, the work 
carried out in other respects in the 
sphere of action covered by the mea­
sure and the context in which the 
measure was adopted are irrelevant. 
Furthermore, Community measures 
must be adopted in accordance with 
the Treaty rules in force at the time of 
their adoption. 
(see paras 43-45) 
2. Article 43 of the Treaty (now, after 
amendment, Article 37 EC) constitutes 
the appropriate legal basis for all rules 
concerning the production and market­
ing of the agricultural products listed in 
Annex II to the Treaty, which contri­
butes to the implementation of one or 
more objectives of the common agri­
cultural policy listed in Article 39 of 
the Treaty (now Article 33 EC). 
Regulation No 820/97 establishing a 
system for the identification and regis­
tration of bovine animals and regard­
ing the labelling of beef and beef 
products, in regulating the conditions 
for the production and marketing of 
beef and beef products with a view to 
improving the transparency of those 
conditions, is essentially intended to 
attain the objectives of Article 39 of 
the Treaty, in particular the stabilisa­
tion of the market, and was therefore 
rightly adopted on the basis of Arti­
cle 43 of the Treaty. 
That conclusion is not undermined by 
the fact that the system introduced by 
the contested regulation will have posi­
tive effects for the protection of public 
health. The taking into account of 
public health in the context of mea­
sures adopted on the basis of Article 43 
is compatible with the third subpara­
graph of Article 129(1) of the Treaty 
(now the third subparagraph of Arti­
cle 152(1) EC). Moreover, the protec­
tion of health contributes to the attain­
ment of the objectives of the common 
agricultural policy which are laid down 
in Article 39(1) of the Treaty, particu­
larly where agricultural production is 
directly dependent on demand amongst 
consumers who are increasingly con­
cerned to protect their health. 
(see paras 47, 49, 59-62) 
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