CELEX: C1996/031/25
Language: en
Date: 1996-02-03 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 5 December 1995 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Hellenic Republic (Case C-380/95)

3 . 2 . 96               EN I             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 31 / 13
Dobelle , acting as Agents, with an address for service in           against a Member State for national legislation which is
Luxembourg at the French Embassy, 9 Boulevard Prince                 incompatible with the Treaty .
Henri
                                                                     (') OJ No C 286 , 28 . 10 . 1995 p . 12 .
The appellant claims that the Court should :
— annul the judgment of the Court of First Instance of
     18 September 1995 in Case T-548/93 , Ladbroke Racing
     Ltd v. Commission of the European Communities in so             Action brought on 5 December 1995 by the Commission of
     far as that judgment annuls the decision of the                 the European Communities against the Hellenic Republic
     Commission contained in the letter of 29 July 1993
                                                                                             ( Case C-380/95 )
     rejecting Ladbroke 's complaint of 29 November
     1989 ,                                                                                      ( 96/C 31 /25 )
— uphold the submissions put forward by the Commission               An action against the Hellenic Republic was brought before
     at first instance .                                             the Court of Justice on 5 December 1995 by the
                                                                     Commission of the European Communities , represented by
                                                                     Maria Kontou Durande of its Legal Service, with an address
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                  for service in Luxembourg at the office of Carlo Gomez de la
                                                                     Cruz, also of the Commission 's Legal Service, Wagner
The French Government considers that the Court of First              Centre, Kirchberg.
Instance erred in law in a number of respects .
                                                                     The applicant claims that the Court should :
In the first place , and principally, the French Government
considers that the Court's reasoning fails to take account of        1 . declare that, by failing to adopt within the prescribed
the case-law on the conduct of undertakings in the context                period the laws, regulations or administrative provisions
of national legislation which leaves no room for autonomy                 necessary to comply with Council Directive 91 /414/EEC
in such conduct .                                                         of 15 July 1991 concerning the placing of plant
                                                                          protection products on the market, the Hellenic
Where such conduct is required by statute, that is to say,                Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under the
when there is no scope for autonomy as regards conduct                    Treaty and that Directive;
which may be the subject of a complaint, the application of
Articles 85 and 86 to the undertakings responsible must be           2 . order the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs .
excluded as long as the relevant legislation remains in
force .                                                              Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
The French Government considers that when a complaint                Pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 169 of the
based on Articles 85 , 86 and 90 of the Treaty and                   Treaty, the Commission requests the Court to declare that,
concerning both the conduct of undertakings and national              by failing to take the necessary steps within the prescribed
measures relevant thereto has been brought before the                period ( which expired on 25 July 1993 ) to transpose into
Commission, it is bound to ascertain whether the national             Greek law Council Directive 91 /414/EEC of 15 July 1991
measures leave some degree of autonomy to the                        concerning the placing of plant protection products on the
undertakings . If they do not, the Commission must reject             market ('), the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its
that part of the complaint which is based on Articles 85 and          obligations under the Treaty and the Directive .
 86 having to rule on the part of the complaint which
concerns the compatibility of the national measures with the          (') OJ No L 230 , 19 . 8 . 1991 , p . 1 .
Treaty . The Court of First Instance erred in law in its
reasoning, therefore, in deciding that the Commission
 should have completed its examination of the compatibility
 of the French legislation with the Treaty before rejecting the
 part of Ladbroke's complaint concerning Articles 85 and 86
 of the Treaty .                                                      Action brought on 6 December 1995 by the Commission
                                                                      of the European Communities against the Kingdom of
                                                                                                       Spain
 In the second place , the judgment appealed against takes no
 account of the consistent case-law to the effect that natural                                ( Case C-381 /95 )
 or legal persons who have sought confirmation from the                                            ( 96/C 31 /26 )
 Commission, pursuant to Article 3 ( 2)b of Regulation
 17/62 , that a breach of those articles has occurred are not         An action against the Kingdom of Spain was brought before
 entitled to demand that a decision be made as to whether or          the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
 not the alleged breach exists .                                      6 December 1995 by the Commission of the European
                                                                      Communities , represented by Miguel Diaz-Llanos La
 Lastly, the judgment has the effect of negating the                  Roche, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the
 Commission's discretion in deciding whether to take action           office of Carlos Gomez de la Cruz .