Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Measures adopted by the Community institutions - Directives - Implementation by the Member States - Implementation of a directive without legislative action - Conditions - Existence of a general legal context which guarantees full application of the directive - Mere administrative practices inadequate

(EEC Treaty, Art. 189(3) )

2. Approximation of laws - Protection of groundwater - Directive 80/68 - Need for precise transposition by the Member States

(Council Directive 80/68)

3. Measures adopted by the institutions - Directives - Implementation by the Member States - Reliance on measures adopted by regional or local authorities - Permissibility - Limits

(EEC Treaty, Art. 189(3) )

Summary

1. The transposition of a directive into domestic law does not necessarily require that its provisions be incorporated formally and verbatim in express, specific legislation; a general legal context may, depending on the content of the directive, be adequate for the purpose provided that it does indeed guarantee the full application of the directive in a sufficiently clear and precise manner so that, where the directive is intended to create rights for individuals, the persons concerned can ascertain the full extent of their rights and, where appropriate, rely on them before the national courts.

Mere administrative practices, which are alterable at the will of the administration and are not given adequate publicity, cannot be regarded as constituting adequate compliance with the obligation imposed on Member States to whom a directive is addressed by Article 189 of the EEC Treaty.

2. Directive 80/68 seeks to protect the Community's groundwater fully and effectively by laying down specific and detailed provisions requiring the Member States to adopt a series of prohibitions, authorization schemes and monitoring procedures, which create rights and obligations for individuals, in order to prevent or limit discharges of certain substances. It must therefore be transposed in a manner which satisfies certain requirements as to precision and clarity.

3. Each Member State is free to delegate powers to its domestic authorities as it sees fit and to implement directives by means of measures adopted by regional or local authorities. That division of powers does not, however, release it from the obligation to ensure that the provisions of the directive are properly implemented in national law.