Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) 23 May 1990

In Case C-169/89 REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Supreme Court of the Netherlands) for a preliminary ruling in the criminal proceedings pending before that court against

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber) composed of: C. N. Kakouris, President of Chamber, F. A. Schockweiler, G. F. Mancini, T. F. O'Higgins, M. Diez de Velasco, Judges, Advocate General: W. Van Gerven Registrar: J. A. Pompe, Deputy Registrar

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of the accused in the main proceedings, by G. Portocarero, of the Antwerp Bar, the Commission of the European Communities, by R. Barents, a member of its Legal Department, acting as Agent,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing and further to the hearing on 7 February 1990,

after hearing the oral observations of the Netherlands Government, represented by J. W. de Zwaan, acting as Agent, and

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General delivered at the sitting on 20 March 1990,

gives the following

Judgment

Costs

1 Language of the case: Dutch.