Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 1 July 2004 in Joined Cases C-361/02 and C-362/02 (references for a preliminary ruling from the the Diikitiko Efetio Piraeus): Elliniko Dimosio v Nikolaos Tsapalos and Konstantinos Diamantakis (Directive 76/308/EEC — Mutual assistance for the recovery of customs duties — Application to claims which arose prior to the entry into force of the Directive)
Date: 2004-08-28
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EAGGF, agricultural levy, claim, distribution of EU funding, interpretation of the law, market intervention, market stabilisation

C 217/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

28.8.2004

and control system for certain Community aid schemes, there is an
irregularity giving rise to a penalty under Article 10(2)(a) of that
regulation,
the competent authorities must apply retroactively the
provisions of Article 44(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No
2419/2001 of 11 December 2001 laying down detailed rules for
applying the integrated administration and control system for certain
Community aid schemes established by Council Regulation (EEC) No
3508/92, on the ground that those provisions are less severe as
regards the conduct in question.

(1) OJ C 261 of 26.10.2002.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Third Chamber)

of 1 July 2004

in Joined Cases C-361/02 and C-362/02 (references for a
preliminary ruling from the the Diikitiko Efetio Piraeus):
Elliniko Dimosio v Nikolaos Tsapalos and Konstantinos
Diamantakis (1)

(Directive 76/308/EEC — Mutual assistance for the recovery
of customs duties — Application to claims which arose prior
to the entry into force of the Directive)

(2004/C 217/06)

(Language of the case: Greek)

trator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 1 July 2004,
in which it has ruled:

Council Directive 76/308/EEC of 15 March 1976 on mutual assis-
tance for the recovery of claims resulting from operations forming part
of the system of financing the European Agricultural Guidance and
Guarantee Fund, and of the agricultural levies and customs duties,
and in respect of value added tax and certain excise duties as amended
by the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of
Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden and the
adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded,
is to be interpreted as applying to customs claims which arose in one
Member State under an instrument issued by that State before that
directive entered into force in the other Member State, where the
requested authority is situated.

(1) OJ C 305 of 7.12.2002.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Fourth Chamber)

of 8 July 2004

Case C-27/03: Commission of the European Communities
v Kingdom of Belgium (1)

(Member State's failure to fulfil obligations — Environment
— Directive 91/271/EEC — Decision 93/481/EEC — Collec-
tion and treatment of urban waste water — Failure to trans-
pose within the period prescribed)

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published in
the European Court Reports)

(2004/C 217/07)

(Language of the case: Dutch)

that

court

Elliniko

between

Dimosio

In Joined Cases C-361/02 and C-362/02: references to the
Court under Article 234 EC from the Diikitiko Efetio Piraeus
(Greece) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending
before
and
Nikolaos Tsapalos (C-361/02), Konstantinos Diamantakis (C-
362/02) — on the interpretation of Article 1 of Council Direc-
tive 76/308/EEC of 15 March 1976 on mutual assistance for
the recovery of claims resulting from operations forming part
of the system of financing the European Agricultural Guidance
and Guarantee Fund, and of the agricultural levies and customs
duties, and in respect of value added tax and certain excise
duties (OJ 1976 L 73, p. 18), as amended by the Act
concerning the conditions of accession of
the Republic of
Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden
and the adjustment to the Treaties on which the European
Union is founded (OJ 1994 C 241, p. 21) — the Court (Third
Chamber), composed of: A. Rosas, President of the Chamber,
R. Schintgen (Rapporteur) and N. Colneric, Judges; J. Kokott,
Advocate General; M. Múgica Arzamendi, Principal Adminis-

In Case C-27/03: Commission of the European Communities
(Agents: G. Valero Jordana and M. van Beek) v Kingdom of
Belgium (Agent: A. Snoecx, assisted by A. Cornet) — applica-
tion for a declaration that, by failing to adopt the laws, regula-
tions or administrative provisions necessary to the full imple-
menting of Articles 3, 5 and 17 — the last being read in
conjunction with Articles 3 and 4 — of Directive 91/271/EEC
of the Council of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water
treatment (OJ 1991 L 135, p. 40), and of Commission Decision
93/481/EEC of 28 July 1993 concerning formats for the
presentation of national programmes as foreseen by Article 17
of Directive 91/271/EEC (OJ 1993 L 226, p. 23), the Kingdom
of Belgium has failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive
and that decision — the Court (Fourth Chamber), composed of:
J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, President of the Chamber, J.-P. Puisso-
chet and F. Macken (Rapporteur), Judges; F.G. Jacobs, Advocate
General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a judgment on 8 July
2004 in which it: