Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1 . Action against a Member State for failure to fulfil its obligations - Reasoned opinion - Need for a detailed statement of the complaints

( EEC Treaty, Art . 169 )

2 . Action against a Member State for failure to fulfil its obligations - Application initiating the proceedings - Statement of complaints and submissions - Mere reference to the letter giving formal notice and to the reasoned opinion - Not sufficient

( EEC Treaty, Art . 169 )

3 . Action against a Member State for failure to fulfil its obligations - Examination by the Court to determine whether the action is well founded - Situation to be taken into consideration - Situation upon the expiry of the time-limit set by the reasoned opinion

( EEC Treaty, Art . 169 )

4 . State monopolies of a commercial character - Rules requiring companies engaged in the distribution of petroleum products to obtain a proportion of their supplies from public-sector refineries - Not permissible - Discrimination against exporters established in other Member States - Infringement of Article 30 of the Treaty

( EEC Treaty, Arts 30 and 37(1 ) )

5 . Free movement of goods - Quantitative restrictions - Measures having equivalent effect - Rules enabling the public authorities to interfere with the procurement programmes of companies engaged in the distribution of petroleum products and establishing a system of marketing quotas

( EEC Treaty, Art . 30 )

Summary

1 . The reasoned opinion referred to in Article 169 of the Treaty must contain a coherent and detailed statement of the reasons which led the Commission to conclude that the State in question has failed to fulfil one of its obligations under the Treaty .

2 . In any application lodged under Article 169 of the Treaty, the Commission is under an obligation to indicate the specific complaints on which the Court is called upon to rule and, at the very least in summary form, the legal and factual particulars on which those complaints are based . It cannot confine itself to a mere reference to the contents of the letter of formal notice and the reasoned opinion, since the pre-litigation procedure may have led it to abandon certain complaints set out therein .

3 . In proceedings under Article 169 of the Treaty, the existence of an infringement must be determined by reference to the situation existing in the Member State when the time-limit set in the reasoned opinion expired, and subsequent changes may not be taken into account by the Court .

4 . The fact that a Member State maintains in force rules establishing a State monopoly of a commercial character in the sector of petroleum products and conferring on the State import and marketing rights enabling it to require distribution companies to obtain their supplies from national public-sector refineries to the extent of a percentage of the requirements of the domestic market corresponding to the unadjusted part of the marketing monopoly constitutes a failure to fulfil its obligations under Articles 30 and 37(1 ) of the Treaty . Such rules give rise to discrimination, contrary to Article 37(1 ), against exporters established in other Member States and constitute a barrier to imports from other Member States which is prohibited by Article 30 of the Treaty in so far as it is not justified on grounds of public security .

5 . The fact that a Member State adopts rules which, on the one hand, provide that the annual procurement programmes of companies engaged in the distribution of petroleum products and any amendments made to those programmes are to be subject to the approval of the national authorities, with the result that although such a restriction is not essential to ensure supplies for the country those companies are not free to determine the volume of their business and the conditions under which it is carried on or to adapt to fluctuations on the market, and which, on the other hand, establish a system of marketing quotas which determines the quantities of petroleum products that distribution companies may purchase from suppliers of their choice, constitutes a failure to fulfil its obligations under Article 30 of the Treaty .