Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Community law Interpretation Texts in several languages Divergence between the various language versions Purpose and general scheme of the rules in question to be taken as the basis for reference

2. Environment Treaty provisions Respective scope of Article 130s(1) and (2) of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 175 EC) Management of water resources in Article 130s(2)

(EC Treaty, Arts 130r and 130s(1) and (2) (now, after amendment, Arts 174 EC and 175(1) and (2) EC))

3. Acts of the institutions Choice of legal basis Criteria Community measure pursuing a twofold basis or having a twofold component Reference to the main or predominant purpose or component

4. International agreements Conclusion Convention on cooperation for the protection and sustainable use of the river Danube Legal basis Article 130s(1) of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 175(1) EC) Whether permissible

(EC Treaty, Arts 130s(1) and 228 (now, after amendment, Arts 175(1) EC and 300 EC))

Summary

1. An interpretation of a provision of Community law involves a comparison of the language versions. In the case of divergence between the language versions of a Community measure, the provision in question must be interpreted by reference to the purpose and general scheme of the rules of which it forms part.

( see paras 47, 49 )

2. It is clear from the objectives of Community policy on the environment and from a reading of Article 130r in conjunction with Article 130s(1) and (2) of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Articles 174 EC and 175(1) and (2) EC) that the inclusion of the management of water resources in the first subparagraph of Article 130s(2) of the Treaty is not intended to exclude any measure dealing with the use of water by man from the application of Article 130s(1) of the Treaty. Among the measures concerning water whose purpose is to attain the objectives referred to in Article 130r of the Treaty, only those which concern the regulation of the use of water and its management in its quantitative aspects are to be adopted on the basis of Article 130s(2) of the Treaty.

( see paras 50, 57 )

3. In the context of the organisation of the powers of the Community, the choice of a legal basis for a measure must rest on objective factors which are amenable to judicial review. Those factors include in particular the aim and the content of the measure. If examination of a Community measure reveals that it pursues a twofold purpose or that it has a twofold component and if one of these is identifiable as the main or predominant component, whereas the other is merely incidental, the act must be based on a single legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant purpose or component.

( see paras 58-59 )

4. According to its aim and its content, the primary purpose of the Convention on cooperation for the protection and sustainable use of the river Danube, approved by Decision 97/825, is the protection and improvement of the quality of the waters of the catchment area of the river Danube, although it also refers, albeit incidentally, to the use of those waters and their management in its quantitative aspects. It follows that internal Community rules corresponding to the provisions of the Convention are adopted on the basis of Article 130s(1) of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 175(1) EC). The Council was therefore correct to take the first sentence of Article 228(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 228(3) of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 300(2), first sentence, and (3), first subparagraph, EC) as the basis for approving the Convention.

( see paras 74-75 )