Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:445
Date: 1999-09-23
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Milk products
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 
Customs union — Application of the customs rules — Transitional measures concerning 
trade with the German Democratic Republic in the agricultural and fisheries sector during 
the period preceding German Reunification — Regulation No 2252/90— Exceptional 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-348/97 
nature — Federal Republic of Germany's obligation to verify that the conditions 
governing the applicability of the Regulation were fulfilled and to charge an import levy 
if necessary — Failure to fulfil that obligation 
(Commission Regulation No 2252/90) 
By granting for agricultural products, from 
1 August 1990, a suspension of the char­
ging of import levies and the application of 
other taxes and quantitative restrictions 
and measures having equivalent effect 
resulting from the common regime for such 
products in trade between the Community 
and the German Democratic Republic, 
subject to the conditions laid down in 
Article 1(2) of Regulation No 2252/90 
concerning the methods of implementation 
of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2060/90 
on transitional measures concerning trade 
with the German Democratic Republic in 
the agriculture and fisheries sector, that 
Regulation introduced an exception to the 
Community customs rules normally applic­
able to products coming from non-member 
countries. It follows that, outside the scope 
of that exception, those rules were applic­
able until 3 October 1990, the date of 
German reunification. 
Consequently, to enable it to verify whether 
agricultural products brought into the ter­
ritory of the Community fulfilled any of the 
conditions laid down in the first subpara­
graph of Article 1(2) of Regulation 
No 2252/90 and, if they did not, to apply 
the various taxes and other measures 
resulting from the common regime for such 
products, the Federal Republic of Germany 
was under an obligation to maintain cus­
toms formalities, such as those needed for 
the application of Articles 2 and 3 of 
Regulation No 4151/88 laying down the 
provisions applicable to goods brought into 
the customs territory of the Community in 
inter-German trade, or to adopt other 
measures ensuring that Regulation 
No 2252/90 was correctly applied. By 
abolishing all those formalities and by 
failing to adopt such measures, the Federal 
Republic of Germany failed to fulfil its 
obligations under the Treaty. 
Since those products, which had originally 
been imported into the Community and 
released for free circulation in the German 
Democratic Republic, had benefited from 
an export refund in the exporting Member 
State, they could not benefit from the 
suspension provided for by Article 1 of 
Regulation No 2252/90, with the result 
that an import levy had to be charged 
which, since the Community's own 
resources were involved, had to be credited 
to the Commission. Therefore, by allowing, 
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COMMISSION V GERMANY 
contrary to the Regulation, goods for 
which a refund had been granted on their 
exportation from a Member State to be 
brought into the Federal Republic of Ger­
many without a levy corresponding to the 
Community level of prices being charged 
and made available to the Community, the 
Federal Republic of Germany also failed to 
fulfil its obligations under the Treaty. 
(see paras 39-40, 42, 48-49, 65, 67 and 
operative part) 
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