Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:462
Date: 1997-10-02
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling - inadmissible
Origin: Italy

Summary of the J u d g m e n t 
Community law — Principles — Fundamental rights — Observance ensured by the Court — 
Compatibility with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights of national 
legishtion which does not fall within the scope of Community Uw — Assessment by the Court — 
Precluded 
(EC Treaty, Arts 164, 177 and 222) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-309/96 
Where national legislation is concerned with 
a situation which does not fall within the 
field of application of Community law, the 
Court cannot, in a reference for a prelimi­
nary ruling, give the interpretative guidance 
necessary for the national court to determine 
whether that national legislation is in confor­
mity with the fundamental rights whose 
observance the Court ensures, such as those 
deriving in particular from the European 
Convention for the Protection of Human 
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 
That is true of a regional law which, in estab­
lishing a nature and archaeological park in 
order to protect and enhance the value of the 
environment and the cultural heritage of the 
area concerned, imposes restrictions on the 
right to property. 
First of all, there is nothing to suggest that 
the Law in question is intended to imple­
ment a provision of Community law either 
in the sphere of agriculture or in that of the 
environment or culture. Secondly, the Law 
pursues objectives other than those covered 
by the common agricultural policy and is 
general in character. Finally, given the 
absence of specific Community rules on 
expropriation and the fact that the measures 
relating to the common organization of the 
agricultural markets have no effect on sys­
tems of agricultural property ownership, it 
follows from the wording of Article 222 of 
the Treaty that the Law in question concerns 
an area which falls within the purview of the 
Member States. 
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