Judgment_paragraph 62 · Commission of the European Communities v French Republic (C-1/00)

62The Commission responds to this complaint by stating that the period which a Member State is allowed for replying to a letter of formal notice must be reasonable and that, in order to determine whether it is, account must be taken of all the circumstances of the case (Case C-473/93 Commission v Luxembourg [1996] ECR I-3207, paragraph 20). Here, the French authorities were well aware of the Commission's standpoint before the letter of formal notice was sent but had made clear their intention not to implement the decisions at issue and, moreover, announced that intention to the press before notifying the Commission. Furthermore, the present case did not involve a subtle and new interpretation of a provision of the Treaty or of secondary Community legislation, but a failure to implement Community measures benefiting from the presumption of legality against which no action for annulment had been brought within the time-limit laid down for that purpose. The Commission also points out that it granted the extension of time sought by the French Government.