Report for the Hearing delivered in Case 361/85

I — Facts

1. Article 16 of Council Directive 79/373/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs (Official Journal 1979, L 86, p. 30), Article 2 of the First Commission Directive (80/509/EEC) of 2 May 1980 amending the Annex to Council Directive 79/373/EEC on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs (Official Journal 1980, L 126, p. 9), Article 2 of Commission Directive 80/511/EEC of 2 May 1980 authorizing, in certain cases, the marketing of compound feedingstuffs in unsealed packages or containers (Official Journal 1980, L 126, p. 14) and Article 2 of the Second Commission Directive (80/695/EEC) of 27 June 1980 amending the Annex to Council Directive 79/373/EEC on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs (Official Journal 1980, L 188, p. 23) provided that the Member States were to bring into force the necessary laws, regulations and administrative provisions to enable them to comply with the directives in question with effect from 1 January 1981 and were to inform the Commission thereof forthwith.

2. The Commission failed to receive from the Italian Government within the period prescribed any communication concerning measures taken to transpose the directives into national law and had no information suggesting that the Italian Republic had fulfilled its obligation to implement the requisite provisions. In a letter dated 22 December 1983 it stated that the Italian Government had therefore failed to fulfil its obligations and, in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 169 of the EEC Treaty, gave the Italian Government formal notice to submit observations with regard to this matter within two months.

3. By a letter dated 22 March 1984 the Italian Permanent Representative to the European Communities replied that the directives would be transposed into Italian law by means of a bill laying down rules on the preparation and marketing of feedingstuffs, in respect of which the legislative procedure was already at a very advanced stage.

4. After that letter no further communication was made to the Commission from which it could conclude that the requirements imposed on the Italian Republic by the directives in question had been fulfilled. On 7 June 1985 the Commission delivered a reasoned opinion pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 169 of the EEC Treaty in which it stated that, by failing to adopt within the prescribed period the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with Directives 79/373/EEC, 80/509/EEC, 80/511/EEC and 80/695/EEC, the Italian Republic had failed to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty; pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 169 of the Treaty the Commission asked the Italian Republic to take the necessary measures to comply with that opinion within two months of its notification.

5. The Commission's reasoned opinion evoked no response.

II — Written procedure and conclusions of the parties

1. By an application lodged at the Court Registry on 25 November 1985 the Commission referred to the Court, pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 169 of the EEC Treaty, the alleged failure of the Italian Republic to adopt, within the prescribed period, the provisions necessary to comply with Directives 79/373/EEC, 80/509/EEC, 80/511/EEC and 80/695/EEC.

2. The Government of the Italian Republic submitted a defence; the Commission decided to forgo submitting a reply on the ground that the infringement was proven.

3. Upon hearing the report of the Judge-Rapporteur and the views of the Advocate General, the Court decided to open the oral procedure without any preliminary inquiry.

4. The applicant, the Commission, claims that the Court should: 1. Declare that, by failing to adopt within the prescribed period the provisions necessary to comply with Directives 79/373/EEC, 80/509/EEC, 80/511/EEC and 80/695/EEC on the marketing of compound feedingstuffs, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EEC Treaty; 2. Order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

5. The Government of the Italian Republic, the defendant, did not deny the infringement with which it is charged.

III — Submissions and arguments of the parties

1. The Commission states that under the third paragraph of Article 189 of the EEC Treaty directives are binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State and that, under the first paragraph of Article 5 of the Treaty, Member States are to take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising out of this Treaty or resulting from action taken by the institutions of the Community. The Commission points out that Directives 79/373/EEC, 80/509/EEC, 80/511/EEC and 80/695/EEC provide that the Member States are to bring into force the necessary laws, regulations and administrative provisions to enable them to comply with the directives in question with effect from 1 January 1981 and are to inform the Commission thereof forthwith. It further points out that the Italian Government failed to adopt the measures required by the aforesaid directives within the period prescribed.

2. The Government of the Italian Republic does not deny the infringement with which it is charged. However, it states that the transposition into national law of the directives in question requires the adoption of legislative measures which are difficult to draft owing to the complexity of the subject-matter. In any event, a bill has been drawn up with a view to transposing the directives in question into national law and the Italian Government trusts that the legislation can be enacted within a relatively short period.

F. Schockweiler

Judge-Rapporteur

1 Language of the Case: Italian.