Opinion of Advocate General Darmon delivered on 15 December 1993

1 Original language: French.

2 Council Directive 65/65/EEC of 26 January 1965 on the approximation of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to proprietary medicinal products (OJ, English Special Edition 1965-1966, p. 20).

3 Law of 24 August 1976 (Bundesgesetzblatt I, 1976, p. 2445, 2448) amended on 16 August 1986 ( Bundesgesetzblatt I, 1986, p. 1296), on 20 July 1988 ( Bundesgesetzblatt I, 1988, p. 1050) and 11 April 1990 ( Bundesgesetzblatt I, 1990, p.

4 Bundesgesetzblatt I, 1985, p. 546.

5 Bundesgesetzblatt I, 1988, p. 480.

6 Article 2(2)(1)(a) of the Law of 24 August 1976, cited above in footnote 2.

7 Case 7/68 [1968] ECR 423.

8 P. 428.

9 Case 324/82 [1984] ECR 1861.

10 Paragraph 12.

11 Judgment in Case 39/72 Commission v Italy [1973] ECR 101, paragraph 9.

12 This wording follows from the amendment made by Council Directive 83/570/EEC amending Directive 65/65/EEC; the original wording appearing in Directive 65/65/EEC was: 7. Expiry date for proprietary products with a shelf life of less than three years.

13 Council Directive 81/851/EEC of 28 September 1981 on the approximation of laws of the Member States relating to veterinary medicinal products (OJ 1981 L 317, p. 1) which extended to veterinary medicinal products the provisions of Directive 65/65/EEC.

14 See, for the details of the legislation, the Commission's application, pp. 2 to 6 of the French translation, and the Federal Republic of Germany's defence, pp. 9 to 14 of the French translation.

15 Judgment in Case 8/74 [1974] ECR 837, paragraph 5.

16 See also the judgment of 25 May 1993 in Case C-228/91 Commission v Italy [1993] ECR I-2701, paragraph 12.

17 Judgment of 24 November 1993 in Cases C-267/91 and C-268/91 [1993] ECR I-6097.

18 Paragraph 17.

19 In Case 12/74 [1975] ECR 181.

20 In Case C-179/90 Merci Convenzionali Porto di Genova SpA v Siderurgica Gabrielli SpA [1991] ECR I-5889, paragraph 22.

21 See above, paragraph 12.

22 Judgment in Case 16/83 [1984] ECR 1299.

23 Judgment in Case C-126/91 Schutzverband Gegen Unwesen in der Wirtschaft e. V. v Yves Rocher GmbH [1993] ECR I-2361, paragraph 21.

24 Judgment in Case 120/78 REWE-Zentral [1979] ECR 649.

25 On that point, see Manfred A. Dauses Measures having equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions in the light of the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, RTDE 28 (4), October-December 1992, p. 607, in particular pp. 615 et seq.

26 See judgments in Case 35/76 Simmenthal [1976] ECR 1871 and Case 28/84 Commission v Germany [1985] ECR 3097, paragraph 25.

27 Directives 65/65/EEC, 81/851/EEC and 83/570/EEC, cited above.

28 Judgment in Case 272/80 Frans-Nederlandse Maatschappij voor Biologische Producten [1981] ECR 3277, paragraph 12.

29 Judgment in Case C-290/90 Commission v Germany [1992] ECR I-3317, paragraphs 16 and 17.

30 Judgment in Case C-169/91 [1992] ECR I-6635, paragraph

31 Judgment in Case 261/81 Rau v De Smedt [1982] ECR 3961, paragraph 12.

32 Paragraph 11.

33 Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (OJ 1983 L 109, p. 8).