(Judgment) 1. The need to provide an interpretation of Community law which will be of use to the national court makes it necessary for the latter to define the factual and legislative context of the questions submitted or, at the very least, explain the factual circumstances on which those questions are based.
The information provided in orders for reference serves not only to enable the Court to give helpful answers but also to enable the Governments of the Member States and other interested parties to submit observations in accordance with Article 20 of the Statute of the Court. It is the Court’ s duty to ensure that the opportunity to submit observations is safeguarded, in view of the fact that, by virtue of the abovementioned provision, only the orders for reference are notified to the interested parties.
2. Article 5 and the third paragraph of Article 189 of the Treaty must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from imposing criminal penalties to ensure compliance with the obligations laid down by Directive 91/156 amending Directive 75/442 on waste, provided that those penalties are analogous to those applicable to infringements of national law of a similar nature and importance and are, in any event, effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Although the directive in question does not impose any specific obligation on the Member States as regards systems of controls and penalties, that does not mean that national provisions which impose criminal penalties for infringements of legislation implementing the directive are incompatible with the latter. The Member States are required, within the bounds of the freedom left to them by the third paragraph of Article 189 of the EC Treaty, to choose the most appropriate forms and methods to ensure the effectiveness of directives, and Article 5 of the Treaty requires them, in the circumstances referred to above, to take all measures necessary to guarantee the application and effectiveness of Community law.
Citations:
C-58/95, [1996] EUECJ C-58/95
Links:
Jurisdiction:
European
Environment
Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.161527
