Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:541
Date: 1999-10-28
Language of the case: French
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Social Policy
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Luxembourg

Summary of the Judgment 
Member States — Obligations — Implementation of directives — Failure to fulfil 
obligations — Justification — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 169 (now Article 226 EC)) 
A Member State may not plead provisions, 
practices or circumstances in its internal 
legal system in order to justify a failure to 
comply with the obligations and time-limits 
laid down in a directive. 
I - 8987