Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) 28 June 1990

In Case C-80/89 REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Finanzgericht (Finance Court) Hamburg (Federal Republic of Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (Third Chamber) composed of: M. Zuleeg, President of Chamber, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida and F. Grévisse, Judges, Advocate General: M. Darmon Registrar: D. Louterman, Principal Administrator

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of the Commission of the European Communities, by its Legal Adviser, Jörn Sack, acting as Agent, assisted by Renate Kubicki, an official in the Ministry of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany seconded to the Commission under a scheme for exchanges with national civil servants, acting as Agents,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing oral argument presented by the Commission at the hearing on 7 February 1990,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General delivered at the sitting on 6 March 1990,

gives the following

Judgment

The validity of the Commission decision

The interpretation of Article 5(1) of the Council regulation

Costs

1 Language of the case: German.