Commission of the European Communities v Council of the European Communities.
Date: 1989-05-30
6 As the Court has already stated, it follows from the very wording of Article 235 that its use as the legal basis for a measure is justified only where no other provision of the Treaty gives the Community institutions the necessary power to adopt the measure in question ( judgment of 26 March 1987 in Case 45/86 Commission v Council (( 1987 )) ECR 1493 ).
18 In so far as the argument is based on the fact that the budgetary decisions concerning the Erasmus programme need to be subject to more onerous procedural requirements than those laid down in Article 128, it must be pointed out that under the scheme of the Treaty the conditions under which legislative powers and budgetary powers are exercised are not the same . Consequently, the requirements of the budgetary procedure laid down for making available the appropriations needed for the implementation of the programme at issue cannot have any implications regarding the procedural requirements for the adoption of the contested decision, since those requirements fall under a completely separate provision .
25 In its judgment of 2 February 1988 in Case 24/86 Blaizot (( 1988 )) ECR 379, the Court has already stated that, in general, university studies fulfil those criteria and the only exceptions are certain courses of study which, because of their particular nature, are intended for persons wishing to improve their general knowledge rather than prepare themselves for an occupation .
33 It was also maintained that recourse to Article 235 of the Treaty was necessary because the programme in question included some aspects falling within the sphere of research .
34 It is clear that scientific research is characteristically one of the proper functions of a university . Not only does a proportion of university staff devote its time exclusively to research but research constitutes in principle an essential element in the work of most university teachers and of some students, for example those studying for a doctorate or similar qualification .
35 Any interpretation of the contested decision to the effect that it did not concern the scientific research work of universities would lead to a considerable limitation on the scope of certain objectives of the Erasmus programme, in particular that of "(( promoting )) broad and intensive cooperation between universities in all Member States" and that of "(( harnessing )) the full intellectual potential of the universities in the Community by means of increased mobility of teaching staff, thereby improving the quality of the education and training provided by the universities with a view to securing the competitiveness of the Community in the world market" ( Article 2(ii ) and ( iii ) ).
36 Consequently, in the absence of any express reservation in the contested decision as regards scientific research, it must be held that at least some of the initiatives planned are aimed at the spheres of both research and vocational training . That is especially true of Action 1 (" Establishment and operation of a European university network "), which provides in particular for "support for teaching staff and university administrators to visit other Member States, to enable them to prepare programmes of integrated study with universities of these Member States and to exchange experience on the latest developments in their area of expertise", and support to encourage greater mobility for teaching staff ( paragraphs 3 and 4 ). Moreover, Article 130G of the Treaty, added by the Single European Act, sets out, among other activities to be carried out by the Community in pursuing the objectives laid down in the new title of the Treaty on research and technological development, the stimulation of training and mobility of researchers in the Community .
37 It follows that inasmuch as the contested decision concerns not only the sphere of vocational training but also that of scientific research, the Council did not have the power to adopt it pursuant to Article 128 alone and thus was bound, before the Single European Act entered into force, to base the decision on Article 235 as well . The Commission' s first submission that the legal basis chosen was unlawful must therefore be rejected .
Statement of reasons