Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:317
Date: 1999-06-17
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Consumer protection;Approximation of laws
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment 
Member States — Obligations — Implementation of directives — Failure to fulfil 
obligations — justification — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 169 (now Art. 226 EC)) 
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 a directive. 
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