Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:214
Date: 1998-05-07
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Citizenship of the Union
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the J u d g m e n t 
Member States — Obligations — Implementation of directives — Failure to fulfil obligations — 
Justification — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 169) 
A Member State cannot rely on provisions, 
practices or situations of its own internal 
legal order in order to justify its failure to 
respect the obligations and time-limits laid 
down by a directive. 
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