Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2001:257
Date: 2001-05-10
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Consumer protection;Approximation of laws
Concepts: General
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Judgment 
Acts of the institutions — Directives — Implementation by the Member States — 
Transposition of a directive into national law without legislative action — 
Conditions — Existence of a general legal context ensuring full implementation of the 
directive — National case-law interpreting provisions of national law in accordance 
with the requirements of the directive insufficient 
(EC Treaty, Art. 198(3) (now Art. 249(3) EC); Council Directive 93/13) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-144/99 
Whilst legislative action on the part of each 
Member State is not necessarily required in 
order to implement a directive, it is essen­
tial for national law to guarantee that the 
national authorities will effectively apply 
the directive in full, that the legal position 
under national law should be sufficiently 
precise and clear and that individuals are 
made fully aware of their rights and, where 
appropriate, may rely on them before the 
national courts. The last-mentioned condi­
tion is of particular importance where the 
directive in question is intended to accord 
rights to nationals of other Member States. 
That is the case of Directive 93/13 on 
unfair terms in consumer contracts, which 
aims,in particular, according to the sixth 
recital in its preamble, 'to safeguard the 
citizen in his role as consumer when 
acquiring goods and services under con­
tracts which are governed by the laws of 
Member States other than his own'. 
Even where the settled case-law of a 
Member State interprets the provisions of 
national law in a manner deemed to satisfy 
the requirements of a directive, that cannot 
achieve the clarity and precision needed to 
meet the requirement of legal certainty. 
(see paras 17-18, 21) 
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