Judgment of the Court 9 July 1985

In Case 179/84 REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Pretore [Magistrate], Cremona, Italy, for a preliminary ruling in the action pending before him between

THE COURT composed of: Lord Mackenzie Stuart, President, G. Bosco and O. Due (Presidents of Chambers), P. Pescatore, T. Koopmans, U. Everling, K. Bahlmann, Y. Galmot and R. Joliét, Judges, Advocate General: M. Darmon, Registrar: H. A. Rühi, Principal Administrator

after considering the observations submitted pursuant to Article 20 of the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Communities on behalf of the plaintiff in the main proceedings, by Emilio Cappelli and Paolo De Caterini, of the Rome Bar, the Government of the Italian Republic, by Arnaldo Squillante, Head of the Department for Contentious Diplomatic Affairs, Treaties and Legislative Matters in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assisted by Ivo M. Braguglia, Avvocato dello Stato, the Council of the European Communities, by Antonio Sacchettini, an adviser in the Legal Department, assisted by Arthur Bräutigam, an administrator in that Department, the Commission of the European Communities, by its Legal Adviser, Alberto Prozzillo,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General delivered at the sitting on 23 May 1985,

gives the following

JUDGMENT

Decision

The regulations

Background to the dispute

The first question: the nature of the co-responsibility levy

The second question: the validity of the method of fixing the co-responsibility levy

Costs

1 Language of the Case: Italian.