According to the Court of Justice, in its judgment of 18 December 1996, in Case C-129/96, Inter-Environnement Wallonie/Région wallonne, although the Member States are not obliged to adopt the measures necessary to achieve the result prescribed by the Directive on waste before the end of the period prescribed for transposition, it follows from the second paragraph of Article 5, taken in conjunction with the third paragraph of Article 189 of the EEC Treaty (now Articles 249 and 10 of the EC Treaty), and from the directive itself, that, during that period, they must refrain from taking any measures liable seriously to compromise the prescribed outcome.