C-147/94

JUDGMENT OF 6. 4. 1995 — CASE C-147/94

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber) 6 April 1995 *

In Case C-147/94,

Commission of the European Communities, represented by Dimitrios Goulous- sis, Legal Adviser, and F. Enrique Gonzalez Diaz, a member of the Legal Service, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of Georgios Kremlis, of the Commission's Legal Service, Wagner Centre, Kirchberg,

applicant,

v

motor vehicle liability insurance, Directive 73/239/EEC and Directive 88/357/EEC which concern the coordination of laws, regulations and administra­ tive provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance (OJ 1990 L 330, p. 44) and by not informing the Commission thereof, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),

composed of: F. A. Schockweiler, President of the Chamber, P. J. G. Kapteyn, C. N . Kakouris (Rapporteur), J. L. Murray and H . Ragnemalm, Judges,

Advocate General: F. G. Jacobs, Registrar: R. Grass,

having regard to the report of the Judge-Rapporteur,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 9 March 1995,

2 The first paragraph of Article 12 of the directive provides that the Member States are to amend their national provisions to comply with the directive within 18 months of the date of its notification and inform the Commission thereof forth­ with. The directive was notified to the Kingdom of Spain on 20 November 1990.

3 Since it received no communication from the Kingdom of Spain concerning mea­ sures transposing the directive, on 6 August 1992 the Commission sent it a letter of formal notice requesting it to submit its observations. No reply to that letter was received. Consequently, on 24 May 1993 the Commission issued a reasoned opinion requesting the Kingdom of Spain to take the measures necessary to com­ ply with the directive within a period of two months from the date of notification of the reasoned opinion. Since that also met with no response, the Commission lodged the present action.

4 The Kingdom of Spain does not dispute the fact that the directive has not been transposed. It states merely that a 'Draft law amending the legislation concerning private insurance' had been prepared by the Directorate General for Insurance, but when the time-limit for introducing amendments in the Senate expired and the draft law was going through the Parliamentary stage, the Chambers were dissolved and general elections called; the result was that the draft law was lost and the leg­ islative procedure had to begin again and has still not been completed.

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COMMISSION v SPAIN

5 According to the settled case-law of the Court, a Member State may not plead provisions, practices or circumstances existing in its internal legal system in order to justify a failure to comply with the obligations and time-limits laid down in Community directives.

JUDGMENT OF 6. 4. 1995 — CASE C-147/94

On those grounds,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber)

hereby:

1. Declares that, by failing to adopt and bring into force within the prescribed period the laws, regulations or administrative provisions necessary to com- ply with Council Directive 90/618/EEC of 8 November 1990 amending, par- ticularly as regards motor vehicle liability insurance, Directive 73/239/EEC and Directive 88/357/EEC which concern the coordination of laws, regula- tions and administrative provisions relating to direct insurance other than life assurance, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty;

2. Dismisses the remainder of the application;

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