Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:441
Date: 1997-09-25
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 J u d g m e n t 
1. Acts of the institutions — Directives — Implementation by the Member States — Need for 
clear and precise transposition 
(EC Treaty, Art. 189, third para.) 
2. Member States — Obligations — Implementation of directives — Failure to fulfil obligations 
— Justification — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 169) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-263/96 
1. A national law containing no substantive 
provision transposing a directive but 
merely empowering an authority subse­
quently to adopt the requisite substantive 
provisions, cannot be regarded as effect­
ing a complete and accurate transposition 
of that directive. 
2. In order to justify its failure to observe 
the obligations and time-limits laid down 
in a directive, a Member State may not 
rely on circumstances in its internal legal 
system, or on non-implementation of that 
directive at Community level, or on the 
fact that failure to adopt measures to 
transpose that directive has had no 
adverse consequences for the functioning 
of the internal market. 
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