Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2000:611
Date: 2000-11-09
Language of the case: Italian
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Right of establishment;Free movement of workers
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Practitioners of 
dentistry — Access to the profession — Residence requirement — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Arts 48 and 52 (now, after amendment, Arts 39 EC and 43 EC)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-162/99 
2. Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Practitioners of 
dentistry — Restriction to dentists who are Italian nationals of the right to maintain 
their professional registration in Italy upon their transferring their residence to another 
Member State — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Arts 48 and 52 (now, after amendment, Arts 39 EC and 43 EC)) 
3. Member States — Obligations — Need to ensure that Community law is applied — 
Failure to fulfil obligations — Maintenance of national legislation incompatible with 
Community law — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 169 (now Art. 226 EC)) 
1. Where a Member State makes registra­
tion with the dental association, and 
therefore the practice by dentists of 
their profession, subject to the require­
ment that the persons concerned reside 
in the district of the professional asso­
ciation with which they seek registra­
tion, that constitutes a restriction on 
freedom of establishment and freedom 
of movement for workers in that such a 
requirement prevents dentists estab­
lished or resident in another Member 
State from setting up a second dental 
surgery in the first State or practising as 
employees there. 
(see para. 20) 
2. National legislation restricting to den­
tists who are nationals of the Member 
State concerned the right to request the 
maintenance of their professional regis­
tration in the event of their residence 
being transferred to another Member 
State of the European Communities 
involves discrimination based on 
nationality, contrary to Articles 48 
and 52 of the Treaty (now, after 
amendment, Articles 39 EC and 43 
EC). 
(see paras 31-32) 
3. The need to ensure that Community 
law is fully applied requires Member 
States not only to bring their legislation 
into conformity with Community law 
but also to do so by adopting rules of 
law capable of creating a situation 
which is sufficiently precise, clear and 
transparent to allow individuals to 
know the full extent of their rights 
and rely on them before the national 
courts. 
That requirement is also applicable 
where general principles of constitu­
tional law, such as the general principle 
of equal treatment, are involved, and is 
of particular importance where the 
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COMMISSION V ITALY 
provisions of Community law in ques­
tion are intended to accord rights to 
nationals of other Member States, 
inasmuch as those nationals are not 
normally aware of such principles. 
The maintenance unchanged, in the 
legislation of a Member State, of a 
provision which is incompatible with a 
provision of the Treaty gives rise to an 
ambiguous state of affairs by maintain­
ing, as regards those subject to the law 
who are concerned, a state of uncer­
tainty as to the possibilities for them of 
relying on Community law, and there­
fore constitutes a failure on the part of 
that State to fulfil its obligations under 
the Treaty. 
(see paras 22-23, 33) 
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