27It must be noted, as a preliminary point, that the only defence available to a Member State in opposing an infringement action by the Commission under Article 88(2) EC is to plead that it was absolutely impossible for it to implement the decision in question (see, in particular, Case C-348/93 Commission v Italy [1995] ECR I-673, paragraph 16; Case C-261/99 Commission v France [2001] ECR I-2537, paragraph 23, and Case C-499/99 Commission v Spain [2002] ECR I-6031, paragraph 21).
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