40With respect to the Italian Government's request that it be given the benefit of having made an excusable error, it must be pointed out that proceedings against a Member State for failure to fulfil obligations afford a means of determining the exact nature of the obligations of the Member States, particularly where there are differences of interpretation, and are based on the objective finding that a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty or secondary legislation (see, to that effect, Case C-83/99 Commission v Spain [2001] ECR I-445, paragraph 23). Accordingly, the concept of excusable error cannot be relied on by a Member State to justify a failure to comply with the obligations imposed on it under a directive.
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