Judgment_paragraph 61 · Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain (C-71/92)

61The first point to note is that the Spanish Government has acknowledged that this provision did not correctly transpose into national law the order of preference of the standards by reference to which the technical specifications in public supply contracts are to be defined, as laid down in Article 7(1) of Directive 77/62. The fact invoked by the Spanish Government that that provision was substantially amended by Council Directive 88/295/EEC of 22 March 1988 amending Directive 77/62/EEC coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts and repealing certain provisions of Directive 80/767/EEC (OJ 1980 L 127, p. 1), which granted the Kingdom of Spain an additional period for its implementation, is not such as to justify that acknowledged failure to fulfil its obligations. In any event the period prescribed for the transposition of Directive 88/295 into Spanish law expired on 1 March 1992.