CELEX: C2002/305/08
Language: en
Date: 2002-12-07 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 22 October 2002 in Case C-241/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d'État): National Farmers' Union v Secrétariat général du gouvernement (Agriculture — Combating bovine spongiform encephalopathy — Decisions 98/692/EC and 1999/514/EC ending the ban on beef and veal from the United Kingdom — Whether a Member State to which those decisions are addressed may challenge the legality thereof after the time-limit for bringing proceedings has expired or invoke Article 30 EC to justify its refusal to end the ban)

C 305/6                   EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                           7.12.2002
—     it is for the operator to prove that the conditions necessary for a    under the date-based export scheme may commence by virtue
      case of force majeure to exist have been satisfied and for the         of Article 6(5) of Council Decision 98/256/EC (OJ 1999 L 195,
      national court to verify the facts alleged and to determine            p. 42) and on the interpretation of Community law, in
      whether, having regard to the circumstances, the operators took        particular Article 30 EC, the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodrí-
      every care that could have been expected of them to observe the        guez Iglesias, President, J.-P. Puissochet, M. Wathelet and
      time-limits for making the declaration provided for by the             R. Schintgen (Presidents of Chambers), C. Gulmann,
      Community legislation;                                                 D.A.O. Edward, P. Jann, V. Skouris, F. Macken, N. Colneric,
                                                                             S. von Bahr, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues and A. Rosas (Rapporteur),
—     the sudden death of the sole director of a family holding in the       Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Principal
      form of community of property (‘comunidad de bienes’), who             Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
      was connected to the members of that community by close                22 October 2002, in which it has ruled:
      family ties, may, in principle, be regarded as a case of force
      majeure.
( 1) OJ C 227 of 11.8.2001.
                                                                             1.    A Member State which is an addressee of Commission Decision
                                                                                   98/692/EC of 25 November 1998 amending Decision 98/
                                                                                   256/EC as regards certain emergency measures to protect
                                                                                   against bovine spongiform encephalopathy and of Commission
                                                                                   Decision 1999/514/EC of 23 July 1999 setting the date on
                                                                                   which dispatch from the United Kingdom of bovine products
                                                                                   under the date-based export scheme may commence by virtue of
                                                                                   Article 6(5) of Council Decision 98/256/EC and which has
                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                           not challenged the legality of those decisions within the time-
                                                                                   limit laid down by the fifth paragraph of Article 230 EC does
                                                                                   not have standing subsequently before a national court to invoke
                         of 22 October 2002                                        their unlawfulness in order to dispute the merits of an action
                                                                                   brought against it.
in Case C-241/01 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Conseil d’État): National Farmers’ Union v Secrétariat
                    général du gouvernement (1)
                                                                             2.    Since Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989
                                                                                   concerning veterinary checks in intra-Community trade with a
(Agriculture — Combating bovine spongiform encephalopa-                            view to the completion of the internal market and Decision 98/
thy — Decisions 98/692/EC and 1999/514/EC ending the                               256, as amended by Decision 98/692, lay down the rules
ban on beef and veal from the United Kingdom — Whether                             necessary for the protection of public health upon the resumption
a Member State to which those decisions are addressed may                          of exports of beef and veal from the United Kingdom to the
challenge the legality thereof after the time-limit for bringing                   other Member States, lay down a Community procedure to
proceedings has expired or invoke Article 30 EC to justify its                     monitor compliance with that decision and a procedure for
                        refusal to end the ban)                                    amending it in the light of new scientific information and
                                                                                   provide the appropriate legal framework for the adoption of
                                                                                   interim protective measures by a Member State of destination
                            (2002/C 305/08)
                                                                                   for the purpose of protecting public health, a Member State is
                                                                                   not entitled to invoke Article 30 EC in order to prevent the
                      (Language of the case: French)                               resumption of imports to its territory of beef and veal from the
                                                                                   United Kingdom which were carried out in accordance with
                                                                                   Decisions 98/256, as amended by Decision 98/692, and
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published             1999/514.
                     in the European Court Reports)
In Case C-241/01: Reference to the Court under Article 234
EC by the Conseil d’État (France) for a preliminary ruling in                (1 ) OJ C 245 of 1.9.2001.
the proceedings pending before that court between National
Farmers’ Union and Secrétariat général du gouvernement, on
the validity of Commission Decision 98/692/EC of 25 Novem-
ber 1998 amending Decision 98/256/EC as regards certain
emergency measures to protect against bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (OJ 1998 L 328, p. 28) and of Commission
Decision 1999/514/EC of 23 July 1999 setting the date on
which dispatch from the United Kingdom of bovine products