10Further, it follows from the case-law of the Court of Justice that a Member State cannot rely on provisions, practices or circumstances existing in its internal legal order to justify its failure to comply with the obligations and time-limits laid down by Community directives, nor therefore the late or incomplete implementation of a directive (see, in particular, Case C-140/01 Commission v Belgium [2002] ECR I-2105, paragraph 16). Likewise, as the Court has also held, it is irrelevant that the failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations is the result of technical difficulties encountered by it (see, in particular, Case C-152/98 Commission v Netherlands [2001] ECR I-3463, paragraph 41).
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