Commission of the European Communities v. Council of the European Union,supported by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Commission sought the annulment of the Council Decision of 24 May 2007 establishing the position to be adopted on behalf of the European Community with regard to certain proposals submitted at the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), because it failed to indicate the legal basis on which it was founded. The Commission had proposed to use a dual legal basis, namely Article 175 and 300(2) EC Treaty, but Member States could not agree in the Council on this point and decided not to indicate any legal basis. The ECJ noted that the contested decision is a measure which produces binding legal effects, in so far as it establishes the Community position at that 14th CITES meeting, and which is binding in nature, first, with respect to the Council and the Commission and, second, with respect to the Member States inasmuch as it obliges them to defend that position. The Court therefore held that the contested decision must be reasoned and must therefore indicate the legal basis on which it is founded in order that the Court may be able to exercise its powers of review. For that reason, the Court annulled the contested decision, but ruled that the effects of the annulled decision must be maintained on grounds of legal certainty.