Judgment_paragraph 72 · European Commission v Kingdom of Spain (C-658/19)

72Nor is that assessment called into question by the argument based on the institutional situation of the Kingdom of Spain between 27 April 2016, date of adoption of Directive 2016/680, and 6 May 2018, date of expiry of the transposition deadline laid down in that directive, characterised by repeated dissolutions of the national parliament, the interim nature of the government and the holding of new elections. The Court held, in a situation similar to that at issue in the main proceedings, that such circumstances cannot be relied on to justify failure to observe obligations arising under EU law (see, to that effect, judgment of 13 July 2017, Commission v Spain, C‑388/16, not published, EU:C:2017:548, paragraph 41).