55Lastly, as regards the effect of the talks in progress within the framework of GATT between 1991 and 1994, it should be remembered that in the absence of specific assurances given by the administration no-one may claim a breach of the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations (T-521/93 Atlanta and Others v EC [1996] ECR II-1707, paragraph 57, and Case T-105/96 Pharos v Commission [1998] ECR II-285, paragraph 64). The applicant does not even claim that it received any assurances from the Community authorities regarding the outcome of the talks. In any event, it is settled case-law that traders cannot have a legitimate expectation that an existing situation which is capable of being altered by the Community institutions in the exercise of their discretionary power will be maintained (see for example Case 245/81 Edeka Zentrale [1982] ECR 2745, paragraph 27, and Exporteurs in Levende Varkens and Others v Commission, cited above, paragraph 148). A fortiori, therefore, such traders are not justified in placing legitimate expectations in a future, hypothetical amendment of legislation, particularly in an area such as the common agricultural policy where, as a result of its potential effects on public health, any legislative amendment depends on unpredictable developments in scientific knowledge and complex assessments to be made by the legislature.
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