Judgment_paragraph 42 · European Commission v Council of the European Union (C-687/15)

42In this case, it must, first, be emphasised that, contrary to what is suggested by the Council, the practice of the institutions, and in particular, with respect to the present case, an alleged consistent practice in relation to the preparation of the EU position for the purposes of the world radiocommunication conferences by means of conclusions, a practice which is contradicted by the position maintained by the Commission in this action, cannot alter the rules of the Treaties that the institutions are obliged to respect. In accordance with settled case-law, a mere practice on the part of the Council cannot derogate from the rules of the Treaty and cannot therefore create a precedent that is binding on the EU institutions (see, to that effect, judgment of 6 May 2008, Parliament v Council, C‑133/06, EU:C:2008:257, paragraph 60 and the case-law cited, and Opinion 1/08 (Agreements modifying the Schedules of Specific Commitments under the GATS) of 30 November 2009, EU:C:2009:739, paragraph 172 and the case-law cited].