Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:1998:487
Date: 1998-10-15
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Environment;Pollution
Concepts: Defences
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgmen t 
Member States — Obligations — Implementation of directives — Failure to fulfil obligations — 
Justification — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 169) 
A Member State may not plead provisions, 
practices or circumstances existing in its 
internal legal system in order to justify a 
failure to comply with the obligations and 
time-limits laid down in a directive. 
I -6107