Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Acts of the institutions - Choice of legal basis - Criteria - Context in which the measure was adopted - Irrelevance - Application of the Treaty rules in force at the time the measure was adopted

2. Agriculture - Common organisation of the markets - Beef and veal - System for the identification and registration of bovine animals and labelling of beef and veal - Regulation No 820/97 - Legal basis - Article 43 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 37 EC) - Taking into account of public health

(EC Treaty, Arts 39 and 129(1), third subpara., (now Arts 33 EC and 152(1), third subpara. EC) and Art. 43 (now, after amendment, Art. 37 EC); Council Regulation No 820/97)

Summary

1. In the context of the organisation of the powers of the Community the choice of the legal basis for a measure must rest on objective factors which are amenable to judicial review. Those factors include in particular the aim and the content of the measure. In this connection, the fact that an institution wishes to participate more fully in the adoption of a given measure, the work carried out in other respects in the sphere of action covered by the measure and the context in which the measure was adopted are irrelevant. Furthermore, Community measures must be adopted in accordance with the Treaty rules in force at the time of their adoption.

( see paras 43-45 )

2. Article 43 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 37 EC) constitutes the appropriate legal basis for all rules concerning the production and marketing of the agricultural products listed in Annex II to the Treaty, which contributes to the implementation of one or more objectives of the common agricultural policy listed in Article 39 of the Treaty (now Article 33 EC).

Regulation No 820/97 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products, in regulating the conditions for the production and marketing of beef and beef products with a view to improving the transparency of those conditions, is essentially intended to attain the objectives of Article 39 of the Treaty, in particular the stabilisation of the market, and was therefore rightly adopted on the basis of Article 43 of the Treaty.

That conclusion is not undermined by the fact that the system introduced by the contested regulation will have positive effects for the protection of public health. The taking into account of public health in the context of measures adopted on the basis of Article 43 is compatible with the third subparagraph of Article 129(1) of the Treaty (now the third subparagraph of Article 152(1) EC). Moreover, the protection of health contributes to the attainment of the objectives of the common agricultural policy which are laid down in Article 39(1) of the Treaty, particularly where agricultural production is directly dependent on demand amongst consumers who are increasingly concerned to protect their health.

( see paras 47, 49, 59-62 )