Opinion of the Advocate-General
1 By application lodged at the Court Registry on 15 January 1997, the Commission requested the Court to declare that, `by failing to adopt or, in the alternative, to communicate to the Commission, within the period prescribed, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply fully with Council Directive 90/434/EEC of 23 July 1990 on the common system of taxation applicable to mergers, divisions, transfers of assets and exchanges of shares concerning companies of different Member States, (1) the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty and that directive.'
2 Under Article 12(1) of the Directive, Member States were required to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with it not later than 1 January 1992 and forthwith to inform the Commission thereof.
3 The Hellenic Republic does not deny that it has so far failed to adopt the necessary provisions, but it points out that the draft legislation designed to incorporate the Directive's provisions in the Greek legal system is at present being adopted by the Greek Parliament.
4 Since the Directive was not transposed within the period specified therein, the Commission's action must be treated as well founded (2) and the Hellenic Republic ordered to pay the costs, pursuant to Article 69(2) of the Rules of Procedure.
Conclusion
5 I accordingly propose that the Court should:
(1) rule that, by failing to adopt, within the period prescribed, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply fully with Council Directive 90/434/EEC of 23 July 1990 on the common system of taxation applicable to mergers, divisions, transfers of assets and exchanges of shares concerning companies of different Member States, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 12(1) of that directive;
(2) order the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.
(1) - OJ 1990 L 225, p. 1 (`the Directive').
(2) - See, for example, the judgment in Case C-139/96 Commission v Germany [1997] ECR I-4845.
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