# C_2006131EN.01000801.xml

| 3.6.2006 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 131/8 |
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Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 23 February 2006 — Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain

(Case C-546/03)( 1 )

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations - Community' own resources - Community Customs Code - Procedures for collecting import or export duties - Late payment of own resources relating to those duties and failure to pay default interest)

(2006/C 131/13)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: M. Diaz-Llano La Roche and G. Wilms, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Spain (represented by: M. Muñoz Perez, acting as Agent)

Interveners in support of the defendant: Republic of Denmark (represented by: J. Molde, acting as Agent), Republic of Finland (represented by: A. Guimaraes-Purokoski, acting as Agent), Kingdom of Sweden (represented by: K. Wistrand, acting as Agent)

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Article 220 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1) and Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1854/89 of 14 June 1989 on the entry in the accounts and terms of payment of the amounts of the import duties or export duties resulting from a customs debt (OJ L 1989, p. 1) — Late payment of part of the European Communities' own resources in the case of recovery a posteriori of customs duty — Refusal to pay default interest due as a consequence of the delay in making the entry in the Commission's account

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

| 1. | Declares that
(a)
by failing to comply with the time-limits for late entry in the accounts of duties arising from a customs debt laid down in Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1854/89 of 14 June 1989 on the entry in the accounts and terms of payment of the amounts of the import duties or export duties resulting from a customs debt, and, from 1 January 1994, with Article 220(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, leading to a delay in making available of own resources, and (b)
by failing to pay to the Commission of the European Communities the interest under Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 of 29 May 1989 implementing Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resources, and, from 31 May 2000 of Article 11 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 implementing Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resources, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under all of those provisions; | (a) | by failing to comply with the time-limits for late entry in the accounts of duties arising from a customs debt laid down in Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1854/89 of 14 June 1989 on the entry in the accounts and terms of payment of the amounts of the import duties or export duties resulting from a customs debt, and, from 1 January 1994, with Article 220(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, leading to a delay in making available of own resources, and | (b) | by failing to pay to the Commission of the European Communities the interest under Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 of 29 May 1989 implementing Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resources, and, from 31 May 2000 of Article 11 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 implementing Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resources, |
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| (a) | by failing to comply with the time-limits for late entry in the accounts of duties arising from a customs debt laid down in Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1854/89 of 14 June 1989 on the entry in the accounts and terms of payment of the amounts of the import duties or export duties resulting from a customs debt, and, from 1 January 1994, with Article 220(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, leading to a delay in making available of own resources, and | | | | |
| (b) | by failing to pay to the Commission of the European Communities the interest under Article 11 of Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 of 29 May 1989 implementing Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resources, and, from 31 May 2000 of Article 11 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 implementing Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resources, | | | | |

| 2. | Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs; |
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| 3. | Orders the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to bear their own costs. |
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( 1 )  OJ C 59 of 06.03.2004.

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