Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 15 October 2009.#Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of the Netherlands.#Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Regulation (EC) No 850/1998 - Article 29(2) - Restrictions on fishing for plaice - Maximum engine power of fishing vessels - Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 - Article 2(1) - Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 - Article 23 - Control, and enforcement of the rules.#Case C-232/08.

Subject of the case

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Infringement of Article 29(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms, Article 23 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy and Article 2(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy – Fishing for plaice – Inspection and control of fishing vessels and their activities – Responsibility of the Member States.

Operative part

Operative part

The Court:

1. Declares that, by allowing fishing vessels to have a higher engine power than permitted under Article 29(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2166/2005 of 20 December 2005, the Kingdom of the Netherlands has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 23 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy and Article 2(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 of 26 April 2005;

2. Orders the Kingdom of the Netherlands to pay the costs.