# C_2007170EN.01000301.xml

| 21.7.2007 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 170/3 |
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21.7.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 170/3

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Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 7 June 2007 — Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic

(Case C-178/05) (1)

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(Failure of a Member to fulfil obligations - Directive 69/335/EEC - Indirect taxes on the raising of capital - Capital duty - Exhaustive harmonisation - National legislation providing for taxation of any transfer of the effective centre of management or registered office, in so far as the company concerned is not subject to capital duty in the Member State of origin - National legislation under which agricultural cooperative organisations, and associations or consortia thereof of any kind, are exempted from the tax - National legislation under which co-ownership of vessels, shipping consortia and any form of shipping company are exempted from the tax - Prevention of tax avoidance - Abuse of rights - Limitation of the temporal effects of a judgment)

(2007/C 170/04)

Language of the case: Greek

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: D. Triantafyllou, acting as Agent)

Applicant:

Defendant: Hellenic Republic (represented by: S. Khala and M. Tassopoulou, acting as Agents)

Defendant:

Intervener in support of the defendant: Kingdom of Spain (represented by: N. Diaz Abad, acting as Agent)

Intervener in support of the defendant:

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Breach of Council Directive 69/335/EEC of 17 July 1969 concerning indirect taxes on the raising of capital (OJ, English Special Edition 1969 (II), p. 412) — Transfer of a company's effective centre of management or registered office — Exemption from capital duty for agricultural cooperatives and shipping companies

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

| 1. | Declares that, as a result of its legislation relating to the charging of capital duty in the event of transfer of the registered office or the effective centre of management of a company and to the exemption from that duty of co-ownership of vessels, shipping consortia and any form of shipping company, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Council Directive 69/335/EEC of 17 July 1969 concerning indirect taxes on the raising of capital, as amended by Council Directive 85/303/EEC of 10 June 1985; |
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1.

Declares that, as a result of its legislation relating to the charging of capital duty in the event of transfer of the registered office or the effective centre of management of a company and to the exemption from that duty of co-ownership of vessels, shipping consortia and any form of shipping company, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Council Directive 69/335/EEC of 17 July 1969 concerning indirect taxes on the raising of capital, as amended by Council Directive 85/303/EEC of 10 June 1985;

| 2. | Dismisses the action as to the remainder; |
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2.

Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

| 3. | Orders the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs. |
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3.

Orders the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs.

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(1)  OJ C 155, 25.6.2005.

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