Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Acts of the institutions ° Decision ° Direct effect ° Conditions ° Power of Member States to derogate from provisions which may have direct effect ° Consequences

(EEC Treaty, Art. 189, fourth para.)

2. Agriculture ° Approximation of laws concerning health controls ° Financing of health inspections and controls of fresh meat ° Directive 85/73 ° Levels of fees fixed by Decision 88/408 ° Power of Member States to set higher fees by way of derogation ° Power amenable to delegation to regional or local authorities ° Power not precluding, as a result of objective conditions applicable to its exercise, individuals from relying on the decision in order to contest the level of the fee invoiced

(Council Directive 85/73; Council Decision 88/408, Arts 2 and 11)

Summary

1. By virtue of the binding effect attributed to Community decisions by Article 189 of the Treaty, a provision of such a decision addressed to a Member State may be relied on as against that Member State where the provision in question imposes on its addressee an obligation which is unconditional and sufficiently clear and precise. Where it must be implemented within a specified period, the provision may be relied on by individuals as against a Member State only after that period has expired if the Member State fails to implement the decision or does so incorrectly.

The fact that the decision allows its addressees to derogate from clear and precise provisions in it cannot in itself deprive those provisions of direct effect. In particular, such provisions may have direct effect where recourse to the possibilities of derogation thereby granted may be reviewed by the Court.

2. Article 2(1) of Decision 88/408 on the levels of the fees to be charged for health inspections and controls of fresh meat pursuant to Directive 85/73 may be relied on by a private individual as against a Member State in order to oppose the collection of fees in excess of the amount provided for by that provision where the conditions to which Article 2(2) of the decision subjects the possibility of increasing the level of fees laid down by Article 2(1) are not satisfied, namely where the circumstances prevailing in the Member State concerned diverge from the Community average and the fees do not exceed the actual costs of the inspection. However, Article 2(1) of the decision may be relied on only in order to challenge demands for the payment of fees issued after the expiry of the period laid down by Article 11 of that decision.

Article 2(2) of Decision 88/408 must be interpreted as allowing a Member State to delegate to regional or local authorities the exercise of the power conferred on it by that provision.