The EU Court of Justice states that the public law status of a national body does not preclude the application of competition law (Italian Republic)

Case C-35/96 Commission of the European Communities v Italian Republic* 1. In view of the general scheme of the rules relating to the action for failure to fulfil obligations, the fact that a Member State is constrained to defend itself in two separate cases in which the facts are the same but which are based on different provisions of Community law cannot per se constitute a breach of rights of defence. 2. The activity of customs agent falls within the concept of an undertaking for the purposes of the application of the Community competition rules, since under competition law that concept covers any entity engaged in an economic activity, in particular an activity consisting in offering goods and services on a given market, regardless of its legal status and the way