Case C-88/07: Action brought on 15 February 2007 — Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain
Date: 2007-04-28
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Spain, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, marketing restriction, medical plant, medicinal product, withdrawal from the market

C 95/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

28.4.2007

— order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

Action brought on 15 February 2007 — Commission of
the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain

Pleas in law and main arguments

Directive 2000/60/EC was received into Italian law by means of
Legislative Decree No 152 of 3 April 2006. Article 64 of that
Decree identifies eight river basin districts, namely, the river
basin district of the Eastern Alps, the river basin district of the
Po Valley, the river basin district of the Northern Appennines,
the pilot river basin district of the River Serchio, the river basin
district of the Central Appennines, the river basin district of the
Southern Appennines, the river basin district of Sardinia and
the river basin district of Sicily.

The Directive entered into force on 22 December 2000.
In
consequence, the analyses and the review provided for in Article
5(1) of the Directive should have been completed, in respect of
all eight river basin districts, by 22 December 2004.

In addition, the summary report of the analyses required under
Article 5 for every river basin district, provided for in Article 15
(2) of the Directive, should have been submitted to the Commis-
sion by 22 March 2005.

However,
it is clear from an analysis of the communications
from the Italian authorities that, in the case of five out of the
eight river basin districts, the required information is either
incomplete or missing altogether.

The Italian Republic has not submitted a summary report
concerning the analyses and the review required under Article 5
for the pilot river basin district of the River Serchio or for the
river basin districts of the Eastern Alps, the Northern Appen-
nines, the Central Appennines and the Southern Appennines.
Accordingly, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obliga-
tions under Article 15(2) of Directive 2000/60/EC.

Lastly, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Commis-
sion submits that the Italian Republic has also failed to fulfil its
obligation to undertake, by the deadline fixed, the analyses and
the review required under Article 5(1) of Directive 2000/60/EC,
in
in accordance with the technical specifications set out
Annexes II and III to that Directive, in respect of the river basin
districts referred to in the preceding paragraph.

(1) OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1.

(Case C-88/07)

(2007/C 95/39)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: S. Pardo Quintillán and A. Alcover San Pedro,
Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Spain

Form of order sought

— Declare that,

— by withdrawing from the market a significant number of
products based on vegetable matter,
lawfully produced
and/or marketed in another Member State, under an
administrative practice consisting in withdrawing from
the market any product containing vegetable matter not
included in the annex to the Ministerial Order of
3 October 1873 on the ground that it is regarded as a
medicinal product marketed without
requisite
authorisation,

the

— and also by not having communicated that measure to

the Commission,

its obligations
the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil
under Articles 28 EC and 30 EC and also Articles 1 and 4
of Decision No 3052/95/EC (1);

— order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Commission maintains that by withdrawing from the
market products manufactured on the basis of bananas, lawfully
produced or marketed in other Member States, under an admin-
istrative practice which characterises as a medicinal product (and
as such subject
to the requisite authorisation) any product
containing vegetable matter not included in the annex to the
Ministerial Order of 3 October 1973, and by not having notified
to the Commission the measures
taken to withdraw the
products concerned from the market within 45 days of the date
on which such measures were taken, the Kingdom of Spain has
failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 28 and 30 of the
Treaty and Articles 1 and 4 of Decision No 3052/95/EC.

(1) Decision No 3052/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 13 December 1995 establishing a procedure for the
exchange of information on national measures derogating from the
principle of the free movement of goods within the Community (OJ
1995 L 321, p. 1).