<TI><P>The relevant Community legislation</P></TI>3According to Article 4(2)(a) of Directive 77/93, as amended by Directive 91/683:The Member States shall provide that, from 1 January 1993, the introduction of plants, plant products and other objects listed in Annex III, part B, into the relevant protected zones located in their territory is prohibited.
4Article 2(1 )(h) of Directive 77/93, as amended by Directive 91/683, defines a protected zone as:...a zone in the Community:
in which one or more harmful organisms referred to in this directive, which are established in one or more parts of the Community, are not endemic or established, despite favourable conditions for them to establish there,
in which there is a danger that certain harmful organisms will establish themselves, given propitious ecological conditions, for particular crops, despite the fact that these organisms are not endemic or established in the Community,
and which has been recognised, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16a, as fulfilling the conditions set out in the first and second indents....
5Article 16a of Directive 77/93, as inserted by Council Directive 89/439/EEC of 26 June 1989 (OJ 1989 L 212, p. 106), lays down the procedure which enables the Commission to adopt provisions concerning the recognition of protected zones.6Annex III to Directive 77/93, as amended by Commission Directive 92/103/EEC of 1 December 1992 (OJ 1992 L 363, p. 1), lists the plants, plant products and other objects the introduction of which is prohibited either in all the Member States (Part A) or in certain protected zones (Part B). Part B contains two columns.7The left-hand column, which describes the plants, plant products and other objects to which the ban applies, includes in particular 3. Fruits of Citrus L., Fortunella Swingle, Poncirus Raf., and their hybrids, except Citrus paradisi Macf., originating in third countries. The fruits referred to belong to the family of lemons, oranges and grapefruits.8The right-hand column, which lists the protected zones where the ban applies, mentions Italy.9Article 1 of Directive 92/76 provides:The zones in the Community listed in the Annex are hereby recognised for a period expiring on 31 December 1994 as protected zones referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 2(1)(h) of Directive 77/93/EEC, in respect of the harmful organism(s) listed against their names in the Annex.
10Article 2 of that directive provides:The extension of the recognition beyond the date referred to in Article 1, and any amendment to the list of protected zones referred to in Article 1, shall be made in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16a of Directive 77/93/EEC... .
11The annex to Directive 92/76 includes Italy, at points (a) 17, (b) 3, (c) 5 and (d) 3, among the zones which are protected against the introduction of all unknown non-European organisms harmful to fruit of Citrus L., Fortunella Swingle, Poncirus Raf. and their hybrids, whether the organism infesting the fruit is an insect, mite or nematode, a bacterium, a fungus or a virus or virus-like organism.12As is clear from the sixth recital in the preamble to Directive 92/76, recognition of the protected zones listed in that directive was merely provisional. Initially, the zones were recognised provisionally for a period expiring on 31 December 1994. That date was postponed to 1 July 1995 by Commission Directive 94/61/EC of 15 December 1994 extending the period of provisional recognition of certain protected zones provided for in Article 1 of Directive 92/76/EEC (OJ 1994 L 330, p. 63), which also stated that the extension of recognition was provisional. The period was subsequently extended to 1 April 1996 in connection with, inter alia, the recognition of Italy as a protected zone as regards the harmful organisms in question by Directive 95/40, which again stated that the extension of the period of recognition was provisional.13Article 1 of Directive 96/15 changed the expiry date for the recognition of certain protected areas. However, as regards the recognition of Italy as a zone protected against the harmful organisms in question, it confirmed that the expiry date was 1 April 1996, Article 1(1) of the directive providing as follows:Directive 92/76/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
1.Article 1, first subparagraph shall be replaced as follows:
The zones in the Community listed in the Annex are hereby recognised as protected zones referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 2(1)(h) of Directive 77/93/EEC, in respect of [the] harmful organism(s) listed against their names in the Annex; in the case of points (a) 17, (b) 3, (c) 5 and (d) 3, the said zones are recognised for a period expiring on 1 April 1996....
14The seventh and eighth recitals in the preamble to Directive 96/15 state as follows:Whereas it should be established that the extension of the recognition beyond the dates referred to in Article 1, and any amendment to the list of protected zones referred to in Article 1, shall be made in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16a of Directive 77/93/EEC...
Whereas in absence of any extension of the recognition beyond the dates referred to in Article 1, the relevant protected zones cease on these dates to be protected zones within the meaning of Directive 77/93/EEC, including its Annexes.
15The first subparagraph of Article 2(1) of Directive 96/15 provides that that directive was to be implemented by the Member States with effect from 1 April 1996.<TI><P>The questions referred for a preliminary ruling</P></TI>26In those circumstances, the Magistrate, Turin, resolved to stay proceedings and to refer the following three questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling:1.Having regard to Article 1 of Directive 95/40/EC of 19 July 1995, Article 2 of Directive 96/14/Euratom, ECSC, EC of 12 March 1996 and Article 1 of Directive 96/15/EC of 14 March 1996, does the ban on the importation of organisms of the Citrus genus still apply in Italy (or in any region of Italy) ?2.Did that ban cease to apply with effect from 1 April 1996?3.Is the Ministerial Decree of 31 January 1996 of the Ministry of Agricultural Resources, which implemented Directive 95/40/EC, incompatible, so far as the relevant provisions are concerned, with the discontinuance of the ban on imports into Italian territory (or into any part thereof) of plant organisms of the Citrus genus, as would appear to result from the combined effect of Directive 95/40/EC of 19 July 1995, Article 2 of Directive 96/14/Euratom, ECSC, EC of 12 March 1996 and Article 1 of Directive 96/15/EC of 14 March 1996?
27It should be observed at the outset that, as the Commission was right to point out, Question 3 concerns the compatibility with Community law of the Italian legislation designed to implement the directives at issue in the main proceedings.28It is settled case-law (see, inter alia, Case 6/64 Costa [1964] ECR 585, at p. 593, Case 13/78 Eggers [1978] ECR 1935, paragraph 19, and Joined Cases 141/81, 142/81 and 143/81 Holdijk and Others [1982] ECR 1299, paragraph 8) that it is not for the Court, in proceedings brought under Article 177 of the EC Treaty, to rule on the compatibility of provisions of national law with Community law. The Court does, however, have jurisdiction to provide the national court with all such factors relating to the interpretation of Community law as may enable that court to determine the compatibility of those provisions with Community law.29In order to answer the questions referred, it is necessary to ascertain until what date Directive 77/93, as amended by Directive 96/14, and Directive 92/76, as amended by Directives 95/40 and 96/15, prohibited the introduction of citrus fruits (Citrus L., Poncirus Raf., Fortunella Swingle and their hybrids) into Italy and to establish whether Community law precludes national authorities from keeping in force a ban on the importation of such fruits after that date.30The dispute between the parties to the main action essentially concerns the relationship between Directive 77/93, which imposed the initial ban on the importation of citrus fruits into Italy, and Directive 92/76, which conferred upon Italy until 1 April 1996 the status of protected zone as regards certain harmful organisms.31The Regione Piemonte argues that the two directives, as amended, differ in scope, with the result that Directive 92/76 did not amend Directive 77/93. Consequently, the ban on introducing citrus fruits from nonmember countries remained in force even after 1 April 1996, the date upon which Italy lost its status as a protected zone under Directive 92/76, as amended by Directives 95/40 and 96/15.32Battital and the Commission, on the other hand, submit that, because the ban on importing fruit which is a potential carrier of a harmful organism is merely an adjunct to the ban on importing that organism itself, the expiry of the latter ban automatically causes the first to expire as well. Therefore, once Italy lost its status as a zone protected against the harmful organisms in question, that Member State was no longer entitled to prohibit the importation of citrus fruits.33As Advocate General Jacobs observed at paragraphs 28 to 35 of his Opinion, the successive amendments to Directive 77/93 and Directive 92/76 show that their respective provisions are closely linked in that Directive 92/76 was intended to complement Directive 77/93.34The concept of protected zones was introduced into Directive 77/93 by Directive 91/683 and it was after that amendment that Directive 92/76 established a list of recognised protected zones within the meaning of Article 2(1)(h) of Directive 77/93. The import ban set out in Part B of Annex III to Directive 77/93 is therefore directly dependent upon recognition of a protected zone under Directive 92/76.35Moreover, it is clear from the actual wording of Directive 77/93 that recognition of a protected zone is governed by the procedure set out in Article 16a of that directive, as inserted by Directive 89/439, and cannot be inferred from other provisions.36That being so, from the date when recognition of a protected zone within the meaning of the Annex to Directive 92/76 ceased by application of Directives 95/40 and 96/15, the import ban arising under Article 4(2)(a) and Annex III, Part B, of Directive 77/93 became devoid of purpose, even if, at that time, Directive 77/93 had not yet been amended.37In addition, it is clear from the objective pursued by Directive 77/93 that the Community legislature focused on protection against the introduction or dissemination within the protected zones of harmful organisms, whilst fruits and plants are regulated only in so far as they may be carriers of such organisms.38Thus, as Battital and the Commission were right to point out, the prohibitions on importing plants are ancillary in nature and can no longer be justified once temporary recognition of a zone as protected against organisms which may be harmful to plants ceases.39It follows that loss of status as a zone protected against the introduction of harmful organisms automatically implies the expiry of the ban on importing fruits of the Citrus genus.40More specifically, in a case such as that before the national court, the combined provisions of Directives 77/93 and 92/76, as amended, imply that the ban on importing citrus fruits into Italy came to an end on 1 April 1996.41It follows from the foregoing that national legislation which keeps the ban on importing citrus fruits in force beyond that date cannot in any way be justified by Community plant health legislation.42Furthermore, other than in the exceptional circumstances referred to in Article 15 of Directive 77/93, as amended by Council Directive 90/168/EEC of 26 March 1990 (OJ 1990 L 92, p. 49) and by Directive 91/683, which are of no relevance in this case, Member States have no jurisdiction unilaterally to adopt measures designed to prohibit the importation of citrus fruits into their territory.43Lastly, the provisions of Directive 77/93 and Directive 92/76, as amended, which are in issue in the main action create rights which individuals may themselves assert in proceedings before the national courts. Those provisions are formulated in sufficiently precise and unconditional terms for them to be relied upon by individuals in challenging any provision of national law which is incompatible with those directives.44In light of all the foregoing considerations, the questions referred must be answered as follows:The ban on importing fruits of the Citrus genus into the protected zone Italy, set out in Article 4(2)(a) of Directive 77/93, ceased to apply in that Member State on 1 April 1996, the date on which recognition of Italy as a protected zone under Directive 92/76 came to an end by application of Directives 95/40 and 96/15.
Those directives preclude the application of national legislation which keeps such a ban in force beyond that date.