CELEX: C2005/217/51
Language: en
Date: 2005-09-03 00:00:00
Title: Case C-247/05: Action brought on 9 June 2005 by Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of the Netherlands

3.9.2005   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 217/26
            
         Action brought on 9 June 2005 by Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of the Netherlands
   (Case C-247/05)
   (2005/C 217/51)
   Language of the case: Dutch
   An action against the Kingdom of the Netherlands was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 9 June 2005 by Commission of the European Communities, represented by Minas Konstantinidis and Michel Van Beck, acting as Agents.
   The applicant claims that the Court should:
   
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               Declare that, by incorrectly transposing Council Directive 96/61/EC (1) of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control, the Kingdom of the Netherlands has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 2(6) and (11), 5(1), 9(3) to (6), the second indent to Article 13(2), the second indent to Article 14 and annexes III and IV to the abovementioned directive;
            
         
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               Order the Netherlands to pay the costs.
            
         Pleas and main arguments:
   The Netherlands Government adopted in due time the requisite legislative and administrative measures in order to comply with the directive and the legislative proposal in course of preparation serves merely to clarify and elucidate the various headings of the directive.
   The Commission further points out that the way in which Member States are bound to transpose directives in their national legal systems has on numerous occasions been expounded by the Court. For example, in the judgment in Case C-361/88 Commission v Germany [1991] ECR I-2567, the Court used the following formulation:
   
      ‘…The transposition of a directive into domestic law does not necessarily require that its provisions be incorporated formally and verbatim in express, specific legislation; a general legal context may, depending on the content of the directive, be adequate for the purpose provided that it does indeed guarantee the full application of the directive in a sufficiently clear and precise manner so that, where the directive is intended to create rights for individuals, the persons concerned can ascertain the full extent of their rights and, where appropriate, rely on them before the national courts.’
   
   In the present case the Commission is of the view that transposition of the directive into the Netherlands legal system cannot in several respects be regarded as ‘adequate’.
   
      (1)  OJ 1996 L 257, p. 26.