Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:585
Date: 1999-11-25
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Measures having equivalent effect;Consumer protection;Approximation of laws;Quantitative restrictions
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Approximation of laws — Labelling and presentation of foodstuffs — Directive 
79/112 — Prohibition of labelling likely to mislead consumers — National legislation 
repeating that prohibition — Whether permissible 
(Council Directive 79/112, Art. 1(1) (i)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-366/98 
2. Approximation of laws — Labelling and presentation of foodstuffs — Directive 
79/112 — Obligation of the Member States to prohibit sale of products displaying no 
information in a language easily understood by the purchaser — Scope — Rules going 
beyond that obligation — Not permissible — Infringement of Article 30 of the Treaty 
(now, after amendment, Article 28 EC) 
(EC Treaty, Art. 30 (now, after amendment, Art. 28 EC); Council Directive 79/112, 
Art. 14) 
1. Community law does not preclude a 
national provision from requiring that 
the labelling of foodstuffs and the 
labelling methods used must not mis­
lead the purchaser or consumer, parti­
cularly as to the characteristics of those 
foodstuffs, where that legislation sub­
stantially reproduces the wording of 
Article 2(1)(i) of Directive 79/112 on 
the labelling, presentation and adver­
tising of foodstuffs for sale to the 
ultimate consumer. 
(see paras 17, 29 and 
operative part 1) 
2. Article 14 of Directive 79/112 on the 
labelling, presentation and advertising 
of foodstuffs for sale to the ultimate 
consumer precludes a national provi­
sion from requiring the use of a specific 
language for the labelling of foodstuffs, 
without allowing for the possibility for 
another language easily understood by 
purchasers to be used or for the 
purchaser to be informed by other 
means. Such an obligation would con­
stitute a measure having equivalent 
effect to a quantitative restriction on 
imports, prohibited by Article 30 of the 
Treaty (now, after amendment, Arti­
cle 28 EC). 
(see paras 25, 28 to 29 and 
operative part 2) 
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