C-333/01

OPINION OF MR LÉGER — CASE C-333/01

O P I N I O N OF ADVOCATE GENERAL LÉGER delivered on 16 January 2003 1

1. By this action, the Commission of the EC, the question whether a Member State European Communities asks the Court to has failed to fulfil its obligations must be make a declaration that, by not adopting or determined by reference to the situation in by not notifying to it, within the prescribed the Member State as it stood at the end of period, the laws, regulations and adminis- the period laid down in the reasoned trative provisions necessary to comply fully opinion, and the Court cannot take account with Council Directive 98/81/EC of of any subsequent changes. 3 26 October 1998 amending Directive 90/219/EEC on the contained use of gen- etically modified micro-organisms, 2 the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive. The Com- mission also seeks an order that the King- dom of Spain is to pay the costs.

3. In this case it is clear from the contents of the file that, at the expiry of the period laid down by the reasoned opinion, that is 17 March 2001, the Kingdom of Spain had not adopted the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary for the complete transposition of Directive 98/81. The Kingdom of Spain does not dispute 2. According to the Court's established that fact, even though it seeks the dismissal case-law, in an action under Article 226 of this action.

1 — Original language: French. 3 — See, particularly, Case C-71/99 Commission v Germany [2001] ECR I-5811, paragraph 29, and Case C-110/00 2 — OJ 1998 L 330, p. 13. Commission v Austria [20011 ECR I-7545, paragraph 13.

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