Opinion of Mr Advocate General Darmon delivered on 19 November 1986. # Commission of the European Communities v Italian Republic. # Intra-Community trade in cattle and swine - Transposition into national law of certain directives. # Case 364/85.

Opinion of the Advocate-General

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Mr President,

Members of the Court,

1 . The Commission is asking for a declaration that, by failing to adopt within the prescribed period the provisions necessary to comply with Council Directives 80/219/EEC, 80/1098/EEC and 80/1102/EEC, amending Directive 64/432/EEC on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EEC Treaty .

2 . The defendant Member State does not contest that it has failed to fulfil its obligations . Its representative confirmed at the sitting that the legislation designed to implement the aforementioned directives in Italy is still being discussed in the Italian Parliament .

3 . Once again, as the Court held in a similar case, it must be pointed out that

"the governments of the Member States participate in the preparatory work for directives and must therefore be in a position to prepare, within the period prescribed, the draft legislative provisions necessary for their implementation" ( judgments of 12 October 1982 in Cases 136, 148, 149 and 151/81 ).

4 . The Commission' s action must therefore be upheld since the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 5 and 189 of the EEC Treaty .

(*) Translated from the French .

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