Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:122
Date: 1999-03-04
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Right of establishment;Freedom to provide services;Anti-discrimination;Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Registration of 
aircraft in a Member State — Minimum period of residence or establishment required 
in the case of nationals of other Member States — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Arts 6 and 52 (now, after amendment, Arts 12 EC and 43 EC)) 
2. Member States — Obligations — Failure to fulfil obligations — Maintenance in force 
of national legislation incompatible with Community law — Administrative practice 
ensuring the application of the Treaty pleaded in justification — Not permissible 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-203/98 
1. National legislation making natural or 
legal persons from other Member 
States subject to special rules for the 
registration of aircraft, under which it 
is necessary to have been resident or 
established in that Member State for at 
least one year in order to have an 
aircraft registered there, constitutes 
discrimination on grounds of national­
ity, contrary to Article 6 of the Treaty 
(now, after amendment, Article 12 
EC), which impedes the exercise of 
the freedom of establishment of those 
persons, in infringement of Article 52 
of the Treaty (now, after amendment, 
Article 43 EC). 
2. Mere administrative practices, which 
by their nature are alterable at will by 
the authorities and are not given 
appropriate publicity, cannot be regar­
ded as constituting proper fulfilment of 
a Member State's obligations under the 
Treaty, and in no way alter the fact 
that, by maintaining legislation incom­
patible with Community law, it has 
failed to fulfil those obligations. 
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