Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) 1 April 1993

In Joined Cases C-260/91 and C-261/91, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by Tribunal Económico Administrativo Central, Madrid, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (Fifth Chamber), composed of: G. C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President of the Chamber, R. Joliét, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, F. Grévisse and D. A. O. Edward, Judges, Advocate General: C. Gulmann, Registrar: L. Hewlett, Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: Diversinte SA and Iberlacta SA, by Erik H. Pijnacker Hordijk of the Amsterdam Bar and H. J. Bronkhorst, Advocaat with right of audience before the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden; the Greek Government, by Vassileios Kontolaimos, Assistant Legal Adviser, of the State Legal Service, and Ioannis Chalkias, representative of the said service, acting as Agents; the Commission of the European Communities by José Luis Iglesias Buhigues, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent;

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Diversinte SA and Iberlacta SA, the Greek Government and the Commission at the hearing on 11 November 1992,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 3 December 1992,

gives the following

Judgment

The validity of the retroactive effect of the regulation in dispute

Costs

1 Language of the case: Spanish.