75The applicants also invoke a principle of confidence on the part of the operator in the proper application of Community legislation. They submit that, given the existence of the administrative assistance agreement between Italy and Yugoslavia, referred to above, the Slovenian customs authorities were under a duty to alert the Italian authorities that the consignments in question were sensitive goods, because they are the subject of a valuable monopoly, and that the consequences of any shortcomings in the system for notifying the existence of and preventing smuggling should not have to be borne by the person making the customs declaration. Thus, even if the line of case-law following the judgment in De Haan does not apply in the present case, the principle laid down in Eyckeler & Malt v Commission and Case C-250/91 Hewlett Packard France [1993] ECR I-1819 should apply since the applicants have a legitimate expectation that the Community institutions will carry out preventive checks of sensitive goods.
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