Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:408
Date: 1997-09-16
Language of the case: Dutch
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Veterinary legislation
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 
Member States — Obligations — Implementation of directives — Failure to fulfil obligations — 
Justification — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 169) 
A Member State cannot rely on provisions, 
practices or situations prevailing in its own 
internal legal order in order to justify its 
failure to respect the obligations and time-
limits laid down by a directive. 
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