39As regards the objection of inadmissibility of the Commission’s action raised by the Slovak Republic as its principal argument, it should be recalled that the purpose of the pre-litigation procedure is to give the Member State concerned the opportunity to comply with its obligations arising from EU law or to present its defence effectively against the complaints put forward by the Commission. The proper conduct of that procedure constitutes an essential guarantee not only in order to protect the rights of the Member State concerned, but also so as to ensure that any contentious procedure will have a clearly defined dispute as its subject-matter (see, inter alia, Commission v France, C‑1/00, EU:C:2001:687, paragraph 53; Commission v Germany, C‑135/01, EU:C:2003:171, paragraph 19 and 20; and Commission v Netherlands, C‑79/09, EU:C:2010:171, paragraph 21).
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