Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) 4 June 1992

In Joined Cases C-13/91 and C-113/91, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Pretura Circondariale Pordenone, (in Case C-13/91) and the Pretura Circondariale, Vigevano, (in Case C-113/91) for a preliminary ruling in the criminal proceedings before those courts against

THE COURT (Fifth Chamber), composed of: R. Joliét, President of the Chamber, F. Grévisse, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, G. C. Rodríguez Iglesias and M. Zuleeg, Judges, Advocate General: W. Van Gerven, Registrar: H. A. Rühi, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: the Netherlands Government, by B. R. Bot, Secretaris-generaal in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italian Government, by Luigi Ferrari Bravo, Head of the Department for Contentious Diplomatic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, assisted by Ivo M. Braguglia, Avvocato dello Stato, the Commission of the European Communities, by Antonio Aresu, of its Legal Service, acting as Agent,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Mr Debus, represented by Pierre Soler Couteaux, of the Strasbourg Bar, the Netherlands Government, represented by J. W. De Zwaan, Assistant Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italian Government and the Commission at the hearing on 13 February 1992,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 24 March 1992,

gives the following

Judgment

The first question

The second and third questions

Costs

1 Language of the case: Italian.