Criminal proceedings against Omni Metal Service.
Date: 2007-06-21
12. The Openbaar Ministerie takes the view that such an interpretation is dictated, first, by the need for a restrictive interpretation of the categories of waste the shipment of which is not governed by Regulation No 259/93 and, second, by the lessons to be drawn from Case C-192/96 Beside and Besselen [1998] ECR I-4029, paragraphs 32 and 34.
15. It should be noted at the outset that, when the Court is requested to give a preliminary ruling, its task is to provide the national court with guidance on the scope of the rules of Community law so as to enable that court to apply the rules correctly to the facts in the case before it and it is not for the Court of Justice to apply those rules itself, a fortiori since it does not necessarily have available to it all the information that is essential for that purpose.
16. The procedure for referring questions for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC establishes a relationship of close cooperation between the national courts and the Court of Justice based on the assignment to each of different functions and constitutes an instrument by means of which the Court provides the national courts with the criteria for the interpretation of Community law which they need in order to dispose of disputes which they are called upon to resolve (Joined Cases C‑260/00 to C-263/00 Lohmann and Medi Bayreuth [2002] ECR I‑10045, paragraph 27).
17. On the other hand, the Court has no jurisdiction to give a ruling on the facts in an individual case or to apply the rules of Community law which it has interpreted to national measures or situations, since those questions are matters for the exclusive jurisdiction of the national court (see, inter alia, Joined Cases C-175/98 and C‑177/98 Lirussi and Bizzaro [1999] ECR I-6881, paragraph 38, and Case C‑318/98 Fornasar and Others [2000] ECR I-4785, paragraph 32).
29. As the Court has previously held, it is apparent in particular from the sixth and ninth recitals in the preamble to Regulation No 259/93 that the system set up for the supervision and control of shipments of waste between Member States introduced by that regulation reflects the need to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment and is designed to enable the competent authorities to take all necessary measures for the protection of human health and the environment (see Case C-187/93 Parliament v Council [1994] ECR I-2857, paragraph 18).
30. The 11th and 12th recitals in the preamble to Regulation No 259/93 also confirm that the supervision and control established by that regulation are intended to protect the environment, not only within the Community but also in third countries to which waste is exported from the Community.
39. In view of the uncertainty to which it gives rise, such an approach would also be likely to undermine the objective of the Community legislature, which, by choosing a regulation as a means of legislating on shipments of waste, specifically intended to ensure that that legislation was applied simultaneously and consistently in all Member States, such harmonisation concerning not only the substantive conditions in which those shipments may be carried out but also the procedure applicable to those shipments (Case C-324/99 Daimler Chrysler [2001] ECR I-9897, paragraphs 34 and 67).