Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) 2 October 1991

In Case C-7/90, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Politierechtbank te Hasselt (Local Criminal Court, Hasselt), (Belgium) for a preliminary ruling in the criminal proceedings pending before that court against

THE COURT (First Chamber), composed of: G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias, President of the Chamber, Sir Gordon Slynn and R. Joliét, Judges, Advocate General: W. Van Gerven, Registrar: J. A. Pompe, Deputy Registrar,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: the German Government, by Ernst Roder, Regierungsdirektor at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, and Joachim Karl, acting as Agents; the Italian Government, by Oscar Fiumara, Avvocato dello Stato, acting as Agent; the United Kingdom, by Rosemary Caudwell, Treasury Solicitor's Department, acting as Agent; the Commission of the European Communities, by Thomas van Rijn, a member of its Legal Service, acting as Agent;

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing oral argument on behalf of the United Kingdom, represented by D. Wyatt, acting as Agent, of the Italian Government and of the Commission at the hearing on 15 January 1991,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 19 February 1991,

gives the following

Judgment

The first question

The second question

The third question

Costs

1 Language of the case: Dutch.