Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations Objective nature Reason for the failure to fulfil obligations Irrelevant

(Art. 226 EC)

2. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations Consideration by the Court of the merits Fact that the alleged failure has no adverse consequences Irrelevant

(Art. 226 EC)

3. Fisheries Conservation of marine resources System of fishing quotas Obligations of Member States regarding control Provisional closure of fishing in sufficient time to ensure that quotas are not exceeded Practical difficulties Irrelevant

(Council Regulation No 2241/87, Art. 11(2))

4. Fisheries Conservation of marine resources System of fishing quotas Infringements to be penalised by the Member State of landing or transhipment Determination by Member States of detailed rules for the utilisation of quotas

(Council Regulations No 170/83, Art. 5(2), and No 2241/87, Art. 1)

Summary

1. Article 226 EC enables the Commission to institute proceedings for failure to fulfil obligations each time it forms the view that a Member State has failed to fulfil an obligation under Community law, without its being required to draw distinctions based on the nature or gravity of the infringement.

The procedure laid down in Article 226 EC is based on the objective finding that a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty or secondary legislation. The fact that failure to fulfil obligations is the result of intention or negligence on the part of the Member State responsible, or of technical difficulties encountered by it, is irrelevant.

( see paras 32-33, 36 )

2. As non-compliance with an obligation imposed by a rule of Community law in itself amounts to a failure to fulfil obligations, the fact that such non-compliance did not have adverse effects is irrelevant.

( see para. 37 )

3. Article 11(2) of Regulation No 2241/87 establishing certain control measures for fishing activities requires Member States to adopt binding measures to prohibit on a provisional basis all fishing activity even before quotas are exhausted. A Member State cannot rely on practical difficulties in order to justify its failure to adopt appropriate supervisory measures. On the contrary, it is for the Member States responsible for implementing Community regulations in the fishery products sector to overcome those difficulties by adopting appropriate measures. Article 11 of Regulation No 2241/87 is binding on Member States as a general rule which is indispensable for guaranteeing the effectiveness of any system for the conservation and management of fishery resources based on the apportionment, in the form of quotas allocated to the Member States, of the volume of catches available for the Community.

( see paras 39, 44-45 )

4. The exceeding of quotas, which the system for the control of fishing activities seeks to preclude, is caused, not by catching certain types of fish, but rather by landing or transhipping excess catches. The infringements of the quota system which must be penalised by the Member State of landing or transhipment are consequently those which take place when catches are landed or transhipped in a port of that Member State or within the maritime waters under its sovereignty or jurisdiction. It is for the Member States to determine the detailed rules for utilisation of the quotas allocated to them, including the conditions governing their application.

( see paras 52, 54 )