Judgment of the Court, 19 January 1994

In Case C-435/92, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Administrative Court of Nantes for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT, composed of: O. Due, President, G.F. Mancini, J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, M. Diez de Velasco (Rapporteur), (Presidents of Chambers), F.A. Schockweiler, F. Grévisse, M. Zuleeg, P.J.G. Kapteyn and J.L. Murray, Judges, Advocate General: W. Van Gerven, Registrar: D. Louterman-Hubeau, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: the Rassemblement des Opposants à la Chasse, by F. Herbert, of the Brussels Bar, the Fedération Départementale des Chasseurs de Loire-Atlantique, by C. Lagier, of the Lyons Bar, the Commission of the European Communities, by V. Di Bucci, a member of its Legal Service, by B. Leplat, national civil servant on secondment to the Legal Service, acting as Agents, the French Government, by P. Pouzoulet, Deputy Director in the Legal Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and J.-L. Falconi, Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the same ministry, acting as Agents,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of the Rassemblement des Opposants à la Chasse, the Fédération Départementale des Chasseurs de Loire-Atlantique, the French Government, represented by J.-L. Falconi and J.-J. Lafitte, senior staff at the Ministry of the Environment, and the Commission of the European Communities at the hearing on 7 July 1993,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 21 September 1993,

gives the following

Judgment

The first question

The second question

The third question

Costs

1 Language of the case: French.