Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:119
Date: 1998-03-19
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Environment
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Spain

Summary of the Judgment
1. Member States — Obligations — Implementation of directives — Failure to fulfil obligations
— Justification — Not permissible
(EC Treaty, Art. 169)
2. Acts of the institutions — Directives — Implementation by the Member States — Directive
requiring a programme to be drawn up for the attainment of certain objectives — Incomplete
practical measures and fragmentary legislation — Obligation not discharged
(EC Treaty, Art. 189, third para.; Council Directive 91/157, Art. 6)
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SUMMARY — CASE C-298/97
1. A Member State may not plead provi­
sions, practices or circumstances existing
in its internal legal system in order to jus­
tify a failure to comply with the obliga­
tions and time-limits laid down in a
directive.
2. As regards the transposition of a directive
into domestic law, incomplete practical
measures and fragmentary legislation can­
not discharge the obligation of a Member
State to draw up a comprehensive pro­
gramme with a view to attaining certain
objectives, as required by Article 6 of
Directive 91/157 on batteries and accu­
mulators containing certain dangerous
substances.
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