1 By application lodged with the Court Registry on 13 April 1999, the Commission of the European Communities brought an action under Article 169 of the EC Treaty (now Article 226 EC) for a declaration that, by failing to inform the Commission of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (OJ 1994 L 365, p. 10, hereinafter the Directive), or failing to adopt the necessary measures to comply therewith, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty and the Directive.
2 Article 22(1) of the Directive provides that the Member States are to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive before 30 June 1996 and that they are to inform the Commission thereof immediately.
3 Since the Commission had received no notification of any measures taken to implement the Directive into the Greek legal order, and since there was no other evidence available to it to suggest that the Hellenic Republic had complied with its obligations, on 16 January 1997 the Commission sent the Greek Government a letter of formal notice.
4 Having received no reply, on 2 October 1997 the Commission served on the Greek Government a reasoned opinion requiring it to adopt the necessary measures within two months of service of that opinion.
5 By letter of 22 June 1998 the Greek Government sent the Commission a draft law transposing the Directive.
6 None the less, since it had still not received notification of transposition of the Directive, the Commission brought this action.
7 Referring to the Member States' obligations under Article 5 and the third paragraph of Article 189 of the EC Treaty (now Article 10 EC and the third paragraph of Article 249 EC), the Commission considers that the Hellenic Republic should have adopted the necessary measures to comply with the Directive within the prescribed period and notified it accordingly.
8 The Hellenic Republic does not dispute that it failed to fulfil its obligations as alleged. It states, however, that a draft law is currently before the competent ministers for signature.
9 Since the Directive has not been transposed within the period prescribed in the reasoned opinion, the action brought in this connection by the Commission is well founded.
10 On the other hand, the Court does not have to take account of the failure to provide information concerning the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary in order to comply with the Directive, since the Hellenic Republic did not adopt those provisions within the period prescribed in the reasoned opinion (see, inter alia, Case C-303/93 Commission v Italy [1994] ECR I-1901, paragraph 6).
11 Therefore, the Court finds that, by failing to adopt the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive within the prescribed period, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Directive.