Report for the Hearing in Case C-296/90

I — Legal background

1. Professional activities in the sphere of architecture are governed, at the Community level, by the following directives:

2. The aim of the first directive is to facilitate access to activities in the field of architecture, both for self-employed and employed persons, and, as far as the former are concerned, through freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services.

3. That directive contains, in particular, provisions on the harmonization of architects' training, a list of diplomas to be mutually recognized in order to provide access to activities in the field of architecture together with other provisions designed to facilitate the effective exercise of their rights for citizens of other Member States.

4. The second and third directives supplement the first in order to take account of the accession of Spain and Portugal, by setting out the Spanish and Portuguese diplomas.

5. Those three directives were to enter into force in the Member States on 5 August 1987 at the latest, and included an obligation for States to notify the Commission forthwith of measures taken to that effect. Member States were granted an additional year, expiring on 5 August 1988, for transposing Article 22 of the first directive into domestic law.

II — Facts

6. Pursuant to Article 7 of Directive 85/384, the Italian authorities communicated to the Commission by telex messages No 164 of 17 March 1987 and No 344 of 16 June, a list of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications which are awarded in Italy and fulfil the conditions laid down in Articles 3 and 4 of the directive, and a list of the establishments and authorities awarding them.

7. By 31 December 1988, having received no other communication from the Italian Government concerning the measures for the transposition of the directives in question into Italian law and having no further information enabling it to conclude that Italy had fulfilled its obligation to take the necessary measures, the Commission, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 169 of the EEC Treaty, gave formal notice to that Government to submit its observations. That letter was unanswered. A reasoned opinion followed on 22 January 1990. It was also unanswered.

8. By letter of 24 September 1990 the Commission brought the present action.

III — Written procedure

9. The application was lodged at the Court Registry on 28 September 1990.

10. Upon hearing the report of the Judge-Rapporteur and the views of the Advocate General, the Court decided to open the oral procedure without any preparatory inquiry.

11. The Commission claims that the Court should:

IV — Pleas in law and arguments of the parties

12. The Commission notes that the periods prescribed for the transposition of the directives into domestic law have expired.

13. The Italian Government observes that the Law laying down provisions for the performance of the obligations arising from Italy's membership of the European Community (Community law for 1990) was adopted on 29 December 1990 and published in Ordinary Supplement No 10 to the Gazzetta Ufficiale delL Repubblica Italiana of 12 January 1991. Article 5 of that Law (architect's profession: authorization criteria) confers on the Government the power to pass decrees containing the provisions needed to transpose the three directives.

1 Language of the case: Iulian.