In its judgment of 9 October 2001, in Case C-377/98, Netherlands v Parliament and Council, in response to the application for annulment of the directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, the Court of Justice rejects the second plea (breach of the principle of subsidiarity), since the objective pursued by the directive could not be achieved by action taken by the Member States alone and, given the scale and effects of the proposed action, could be better achieved at Community level.