CELEX: C1999/246/33
Language: en
Date: 1999-08-28 00:00:00
Title: Case C-236/99: Action brought on 23 June 1999 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of Belgium

C 246/16              EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                      28.8.1999
    ii) does Article 59, in any and if so what circumstances,           Action brought on 23 June 1999 by the Commission
        permit the refusal of an application under Article 45           of the European Communities against the Kingdom of
        of the Agreement made by someone whose initial                                                 Belgium
        entry into that Member State was otherwise unlawful?
                                                                                                  (Case C-236/99)
4. If the answer to the second question is ‘yes’, does Article                                    (1999/C 246/33)
    45 and/or Article 59 of the Agreement permit the appli-
    cation of a provision of national law under which the
    competent national authorities may require a Bulgarian              An action against the Kingdom of Belgium was brought before
    national seeking to exercise rights as a self-employed              the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 23 June
    person to demonstrate                                               1999 by the Commission of the European Communities,
                                                                        represented by Gregorio Valero Jordana, of its Legal Service,
                                                                        and Olivier Couvert-Castéra, a national civil servant on
                                                                        secondment to that Service, acting as Agents, with an address
    a) that this share of the profits of the business (disre-           for service in Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la
        garding any alternative source of support) will be              Cruz, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.
        sufficient to maintain and accommodate himself and
        any dependants without recourse to employment (as               The Commission of the European Communities claims that
        opposed to self-employment) or to public funds, and             the Court should:
                                                                        — declare that, by communicating to it a programme for the
    b) that until his business provides him with such an                     implementation of Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21
        income (disregarding any alternative source of support)              May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment (1)
        he will have sufficient additional funds to maintain and             which is not in conformity with that directive as regards
        accommodate himself and any dependants without                       the Brussels-Capital Region, the Kingdom of Belgium has
        recourse to employment (as opposed to self-                          failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive and, in
        employment) or to public funds?                                      particular, under Article 17 thereof;
                                                                        — order the Kingdom of Belgium to pay the costs.
5. If the answer to the preceding questions is that a Bulgarian
    national who is an illegal entrant may rely upon directly           Pleas in law and main arguments
    effective rights of establishment under the Agreement,
    then
                                                                        The Belgian authorities were required, in accordance with
                                                                        Article 3 of the directive, to ensure that the Brussels-Capital
                                                                        Region was provided with a system for the collection of urban
    a) what factors, under such an Agreement, should the                waste water by 31 December 1998 at the latest. In addition,
        national court take into account in determining                 the Belgian authorities were required, whether as regards
        whether any breach by the competent authorities of              fulfilment of the obligations imposed in Article 5(2) of the
        that person’s directly effective rights was sufficiently        directive or as regards eligibility under Article 5(4) thereof, to
        serious to give rise to a right to reparation in damages        ensure that, before being discharged into the River Senne,
        against the Member State concerned; and, in particular,         the water in question underwent secondary treatment and
                                                                        additional treatment in respect of its nitrogen and phosphorus
                                                                        content. That treatment system was required to be set up by
                                                                        31 December 1998 at the latest. The Belgian authorities
    b) in the state of Community law at the relevant time (i.e.,        propose to discharge the above-mentioned obligations by
        when the decisions of August/September 1996 to                  constructing two waste water treatment plants in the Brussels-
        refuse the Applicant’s application for leave to remain          Capital Region, located to the north and to the south
        as a self-employed person, and/or the decision to               of Brussels respectively. However, it is apparent from the
        detain the Applicant, were taken), did the approach             implementation programme sent by the Kingdom of Belgium
        adopted by the competent national authorities consti-           to the Commission on 3 July 1996 that the plant to the north
        tute a ‘grave and manifest disregard’ of a superior rule        of the city will not be operational by the date provided for by
        of law?                                                         the directive, namely 31 December 1998 and that it will not
                                                                        become operational until five years later, that is to say, in
                                                                        2003. As to the plant to the south of Brussels, this should be
                                                                        completed sooner, but not before a date after that laid down
                                                                        by the directive. Moreover, several waste water collecting
(1) OJ 1994 L 358, p. 1.                                                systems to the north and south will not be operational by the
                                                                        date prescribed.
                                                                        (1) OJ L 135 of 30.5.1991, p. 40.