Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:35
Date: 1998-01-29
Language of the case: French
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Approximation of laws
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment
Approximation of laws — Procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical
standards and regulations — Obligation of Member States to communicate to the Commission
all draft technical regulations — Purpose and scope — National legislation containing many pro­
visions not constituting technical regulations — Obligation to communicate the full text
(Council Directive 83/189, Art. 8(1), first subpara.)
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SUMMARY — CASE C-145/97
The aim of the last sentence of the first sub­
paragraph of Article 8(1) of Directive 83/189
laying down a procedure for the provision of
information in the field of technical stan­
dards and regulations is to enable the Com­
mission to have as much information as pos­
sible on any draft technical regulation with
respect to its content, scope and general con­
text in order to enable it to exercise as effec­
tively as possible the powers conferred on it
by the Directive. It follows that, when draft
national legislation contains technical regula­
tions, it must be communicated to the Com­
mission in full.
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