Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) 3 December 1992

In Case C-264/90, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Finanzgericht Hamburg for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

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

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: the plaintiff in the main proceedings, Heinrich Wehrs, by H. J. Beyer, Rechtsanwalt, Bremervörde, the Commission of the European Communities, by Dierk Booss, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent, and the Council of the European Communities, by B. Schloh, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing oral argument from the plaintiff in the main proceedings, the Commission and the Council at the hearing on 2 April 1992,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 21 May 1992,

gives the following

Judgment

Costs

1 Language of the case: German.