Court of Justice 13 September 2001, C-302/00 (Commission of the European Communities v French Republic.)

Opinion of the Advocate-General Opinion of the Advocate-General I - Introduction 1. In these proceedings for failure to fulfil Treaty obligations, the Commission claims that since 1998 the French Republic has, firstly, imposed a minimum reference price for cigarettes instead of allowing the price to be freely determined by manufacturers, and, secondly, taxed light-tobacco cigarettes more heavily