Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) 9 August 1994

In Case C-393/93, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Finanzgericht Düsseldorf (Federal Republic of Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (Fourth Chamber), composed of: M. Diez de Velasco (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, C. N. Kakouris and P. J. G. Kapteyn, Judges, Advocate General: M. Darmon, Registrar: L. Hewlett, Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: the French Government, by C. de Salins, Deputy Director of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and J.-L. Falconi, Principal Assistant in the Legal Department of the said Ministry, acting as Agents, the Commission of the European Communities, by F. de Sousa Fialho, of its Legal Service, assisted by H.-J. Rabe, of the Hamburg and Brussels Bars, acting as Agents,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of the plaintiff, represented by A. Desing, Rechtsanwalt, Füssen, the French Government, represented by N. Eybalin, Foreign Affairs Assistant in the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agent, and the Commission at the hearing on 5 May 1994,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 16 June 1994,

gives the following

Judgment

Costs

1 Language of the case: German.