60The applicants submit that, when BSE appeared, the Council and the Commission had a sufficient legal basis on which to adopt the legal instruments necessary to prevent the spread of the disease. They refer, first, to the competences governing the protection of animal health, provided for in Article 32 EC et seq. relating to the common agricultural policy, and to the regulations introducing the common organisation of the markets in the pig and bovine sectors. The applicants also refer to Article 100 of the EC Treaty (now Article 94 EC), the general legal basis allowing for the adoption of the directives necessary for the smooth functioning of the common market. In addition, Directive 89/662 requires the Commission to monitor the programmes of checks implemented by the national authorities, and also to carry out on-site inspections to ensure the effectiveness of those checks. The applicants refer, second, to the Community competences in the area of public health, expressly recognised in the Maastricht Treaty and extended by the Treaty of Amsterdam (Article 152 EC). The protection of public health is an overriding public interest and must take precedence over economic considerations (order in Case C-180/96 R United Kingdom v Commission [1996] ECR I-3903, paragraphs 91 to 93, and Case C-183/95 Affish [1997] ECR I-4315, paragraphs 43 and 57).
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