Opinion of Advocate General Gulmann delivered on 14 October 1992

1 Original language: Danish.

2 That part of the Commission's claim also refers to the said requirement's being an infringement of provisions in Regulation No 827/68 on the common organization of the market in certain products Usted in Annex II to the Treaty (OJ, English Special Edition 1968 (1), p. 209) and Regulation No 805/68 on the common organization of the market in beef and veal (OJ, English Special Edition 1968 (1), p. 187). The provisions in question contain a prohibition corresponding to the prohibition in Article 30 of the Treaty. It appears to me to be superfluous to refer to those two regulations separately in the claim. Both were adopted before 1970 and since Article 30 of the Treaty only became directly applicable in 1970 independent legal effect was therefore dependent on inclusion in the regulations of the prohibition against obstacles to trade corresponding to the prohibition in Article 30. Specific prohibition in the regulations is no longer necessary after 1970 and is not included in the regulations adopted since then. The Commission has not, moreover, explained why, in addition to the first of the two regulations mentioned which covers bull semen directly, it also included a reference to the second regulation concerning the market organization for beef and veal.

3 This is shown most clearlv in the reasoned opinion, where it is stated: Given the fact that the present procedure only concerns semen of domestic bovine animals and swine ....

4 [1983] ECR 2079.

5 See the judgment in Case 124/81 Commission v United Kingdom [1983] ECR 203, at paragraph 9 et seq.

6 Council Directive 77/504/EEC of 25 July 1977 on pure-bred breeding animals of the bovine species, OJ 1977 L 206, p. 8, and Commission Decision 88/124/EEC of 21 January 1988 laying down the specimen pedigree certificates for the semen and embryos of pure-bred breeding animals of the bovine species and the particulars to be entered on those certificates, OJ 1988 L 62, p. 32.

7 It is, moreover, hard to understand the Commission's claim inasmuch as, on its wording, it covers restrictive conditions in connection with the import of semen whether the semen originates from bulls, swine, or other animals, whereas the legislation which is alleged to be infringed is a directive and a decision which concern only bovines.