We should not forget that the latter is a general principle of law (Court of Justice, Case C-368/96, Generics (UK) and others, [1998] ECR I-7967, point 79, and the case law cited therein) and is also included among the fundamental rights enshrined in the Nice Charter.

Pursuant to the principle of the rule of law in criminal matters, the Court of Justice has also recently ruled (in its judgment of 3 May 2005, cases C-387/02, C-391/02 and C-403/02) that a directive 'cannot, of itself and independently of a national law adopted by a Member State for its implementation, have the effect of determining or aggravating the liability in criminal law of persons who act in contravention of the provisions of that directive' (judgment of the Court of 8 October 1987, Case 80/86, Kolpinghuis Nilmegen, reports page 3969, point 13, and judgment of 7 January 2004, in cases C-60/02, X, not yet published in the reports, point 61, and the case law cited the ...[+++]rein).

In so doing, the Court is guided by the Member States' shared constitutional traditions and the principles laid down in the international treaties on human rights which the Member States have jointly drawn up or to which they have subscribed (see, in particular, the Court's judgment of 12 June 2003, in case C-112/00, Schmidberger, reports p. I-5659, point 71, and the case law cited therein, and its judgment of 10 July 2003, in cases C-20/00 and C-64/00, Booker Aquaculture and Hydro Seafood, reports p. I-7411, point 65, and the case law cited therein.

(77) See e.g. the case law cited in footnote 70.

The Commission does, however, have certain reservations concerning the interpretation of the case law referred to in the question, if this interpretation leads one to believe that only fees which are determined by professional bodies or associations of all members of a given profession can be subject to competition law. What is important however is that the existing, clear, objective and justified criteria of general interest, which are determined by the state, are met.