CELEX: C1999/188/22
Language: en
Date: 1999-07-03 00:00:00
Title: Case C-115/99: Action brought on 8 April 1999 by the Kingdom of Sweden against the Council of the European Union

C 188/10              EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                            3.7.1999
Action brought on 8 April 1999 by the Kingdom of                       establishment of Sweden’s allocations of the Community’s
    Sweden against the Council of the European Union                   fishing opportunities in the Act of accession.
                        (Case C-115/99)                                (1) Of 18 December 1998 fixing, for certain fish and groups of fish
                                                                           stocks, the total allowable catches for 1999 and certain conditions
                                                                           under which they may be fished, OJ L 13, 18.1.1999, p. 1.
                        (1999/C 188/22)                                (2) OJ L 1, 1.1.1995, p. 1.
An action against the Council of the European Union was
brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communi-
ties on 8 April 1999 by the Kingdom of Sweden, represented
by Lotty Nordling, Head of the Legal Secretariat, with an
address for service in Luxembourg at the Swedish Embassy,
2 Rue H. Heine, 1720 Luxembourg.
                                                                       Action brought on 8 April 1999 by the Commission of
                                                                         the European Communities against the Italian Republic
The applicant claims that the Court should:
                                                                                                  (Case C-116/99)
1. pursuant to Article 173, annul Council Regulation (EC)
     No 48/99 (1) to the extent that the regulation concerns the                                  (1999/C 188/23)
     allocation of cod in Zone IIIbcd and haddock in Zone IIa
     and the North Sea, and:
                                                                       An action against the Italian Republic was brought before the
2. order the Council to pay Sweden’s costs.                            Court of Justice of the European Communities on 8 April
                                                                       1999 by the Commission of the European Communities,
                                                                       represented by Paolo Stancanelli, of its Legal Service, acting as
                                                                       Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office
Pleas in law and main arguments                                        of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, of its Legal Service, Wagner
                                                                       Centre, Kirchberg.
Disregard of Article 121(1) of the Act concerning the con-             The applicant claims that the Court should:
ditions of accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of
Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden and the adjustments to
the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, in the            1. Declare that, by failing to adopt and bring into force
version pursuant to Council Decision No 95/1/EC, Euratom,                   within the prescribed period the laws, regulations and
ECSC (2):                                                                   administrative provisions necessary to comply with Parlia-
                                                                            ment and Council Directive 95/16/EC of 29 June 1995 on
                                                                            the approximation of the laws of the Member States
For 1999 a catch of 77 434 tonnes of cod is available to the                relating to lifts, (1) the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil
Community for fishing in the Community waters in Zone                       its obligations under the EC Treaty;
IIIbcd. According to the conditions in Article 121(1) of
the Act of accession, Sweden should have been allocated                2. Order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.
26 382 tonnes of that catch. In this connection account has
been taken of the fact that transfers of 500 tonnes to Poland
and 79 tonnes to Latvia have been deducted from Sweden’s
quota and that 1 763 tonnes of Sweden’s quota for 1999 is to           Pleas in law and main arguments
be transferred to other Member States in accordance with the
agreement reached in conjunction with the signing of the
EEA Agreement. Instead, Regulation No 48/99 has allocated              Under Article 189 of the EC Treaty, according to which a
Sweden 25 870 tonnes, which is 512 tonnes less than follows            directive is to be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon
from the Act of accession.                                             each Member State to which it is addressed, Member States are
                                                                       required to observe the time-limits laid down in directives for
                                                                       their transposition. That time-limit expired on 1 January 1997
Sweden has been allocated 290 tonnes of haddock, which is              without the Italian Republic having brought into force the
68 tonnes less than provided for under the Act of accession.           necessary provisions in order to comply with the directive
Since the allocations to be made to Sweden from the Com-               referred to in the Commission’s application.
munity’s fishing opportunities have been specified in the Act
of accession, the Council has no scope, when establishing the
catch to be allocated to Sweden, to make a discretionary               (1) OJ 1995 L 213, p. 1.
assessment on the basis of the basic regulation and to take into
account the so-called ‘Hague preferences’. The balancing of
various interests which is to take place when establishing
catches has already taken place in connection with the