Taking formal note that Community law, as it then stood, contained no general rules on the right of national authorities to effect such set-off, the Court held that such a practice was permissible, provided that it did not impair the effectiveness of Community law and provided that the setoff was not made subject to less favourable conditions or procedures than those applicable to cases in which purely domestic claims were set off. Furthermore, it was for each Member State to define the conditions under which its national authorities could apply set-off and to regulate all incidental issues.
Prenant acte que, en son état actuel, le droit communautaire ne comportait pas de règles générales relatives aux droits des autorités nationales de procéder à de telles compensations, la Cour a admis une telle pratique, à condition qu'elle ne soit pas de nature à porter atteinte à l'efficacité du droit communautaire et que ces compensations ne soient pas soumises à des conditions ou à des modalités moins favorables que celles qui s'appliquent à la compensation entre des montants d'origine purement interne.