31 As the Court held in its order in Case C-341/97 Commission v Netherlands [2000] ECR I-6611, at paragraph 17, it follows from the function assigned to the pre-litigation stage of proceedings for failure of a State to fulfil its obligations that the purpose of the letter of formal notice is, first, to delimit the subject-matter of the dispute and to indicate to the Member State, which is invited to submit its observations, the factors enabling it to prepare its defence (Case C-289/94 Commission v Italy [1996] ECR I-4405, paragraph 15) and, second, to enable the Member State to comply before proceedings are brought before the Court (Case C-365/97 Commission v Italy [1999] ECR I-7773, paragraphs 23 and 24).
Nee, ik weet niet hoeEurLex-2 EurLex-2