CELEX: C2000/176/06
Language: en
Date: 2000-06-24 00:00:00
Title: Case C-81/00: Action brought on 7 March 2000 by the Kingdom of Spain against the Council of the European Union

C 176/4                 EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                      24.6.2000
— the order infringes the fundamental right of the appellant             Pleas in law and main arguments
     to effective judicial protection as a general principle of
     Community law and the very system of remedies estab-
     lished in the Treaties. The appellant does not plead the            Infringement of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 (2):
     system of remedies established in the Treaty in the present
     case, but rather that the contested order failed to make any
     analysis as to the effectiveness of the fundamental right           — According to the Kingdom of Spain, the contested pro-
     relied upon in its action. Such failure to take this into                vision violates the principle of relative stability, and that
     account and the decision in the order that the duty to                   issue was not resolved in the judgment delivered on
     safeguard the effectiveness of judicial protection is a matter           5 October 1999 in Case C-179/95 Spain v Council.
     for the judicial systems of the Member States amounts to a
     breach of the system of remedies laid down in the former
     Article 173 of the Treaty. By misapplying the principle of          — The Kingdom of Spain considers that Article 9 of Regu-
     the duty to cooperate in good faith incumbent on the                     lation No 3760/92 is not applicable to a measure such as
     Member States, the order transfers to the latter the duty to             that contested, for the following reasons:
     apply a fundamental right in the context of Article 173 of
     the Treaty, fails to take account of the fact that the                   (1) the exchanges of quotas authorised by Article 9 of
     appellant claimed at first instance that its fundamental                      Regulation No 3760/92 must accord with the prin-
     rights had been infringed by the contested measure, fails                     ciples of the common fisheries policy and of Com-
     to mention that the remaining rights relied upon by the                       munity legislation, which include the principle of
     appellant may only be protected before the Community                          relative stability;
     judicature and, finally, does not state that the duty of the
     Community judicature is to ascertain whether Community
     acts are valid in accordance with fundamental rights.                    (2) in accordance with the abovementioned Article 9,
                                                                                   exchanges of fishing availabilities are a matter falling
                                                                                   within the competence of the Member States, which
                                                                                   are required only to notify the Commission of them; in
                                                                                   the present case, however, it is the Council that has
                                                                                   decided that 3 000 tonnes may be fished by Portugal
                                                                                   in waters of the Bay of Biscay and that they may be
                                                                                   subsequently ceded to France;
Action brought on 7 March 2000 by the Kingdom of                              (3) although the legal basis of Council Regulation No
      Spain against the Council of the European Union                              685/95 on the management of the fishing effort
                                                                                   relating to certain Community fishing areas and
                                                                                   resources is clearly Article 43 of the EC Treaty (now
                           (Case C-81/00)                                          Article 37 EC), that does not mean that the Council
                                                                                   may use that regulation in order to disregard the
                                                                                   principles established in the basic fisheries regulation
                          (2000/C 176/06)                                          (that is to say, Regulation No 3760/92), in particular
                                                                                   the principle of relative stability.
An action against the Council of the European Union was
brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communi-             — The contested provision, which has no scientific basis
ties on 7 March 2000 by the Kingdom of Spain, represented                     whatever, gives rise to a de facto alteration to the TAC
by Rosario Silva, de Lapuerta, acting as Agent, with an address               fixed for the year 2000 in respect of anchovies, reducing it
for service in Luxembourg at the Spanish Embassy, 4-6                         to 16 000 tonnes in ICES zone VIII from a figure of
Boulevard Emmanuel Servais.                                                   19 000. In so doing, it infringes Regulation No 3760/92,
                                                                              since, instead of achieving the objective of rational and
                                                                              responsible exploitation of the available resources, it results
The applicant claims that the Court should:                                   in over-fishing of a species such as the anchovy in ICES
                                                                              zone VIII.
— annul the point relating to anchovies referred to in note
     (2) to the item relating to stocks of ‘Anchovy; Zone: IX, X,
     CECAF 34.1.1’ contained in Annex I D to Council
     Regulation (EC) No 2742/1999 (1) of 17 December 1999                (1) OJ L 341 of 31.12.1999, p. 1.
     fixing for 2000 the fishing opportunities and associated            (2) Establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture
     conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks,           (OJ L 389 of 31.12.1992, p. 1, with corrigendum in OJ L 92 of
     applicable in Community waters and, for Community                       16.4.1993, p. 51).
     vessels, in waters where limitations in catch are required
     and amending Regulation (EC) No 66/98;
— order the defendant institution to pay the costs.