# C_2017283EN.01000301.xml

| 28.8.2017 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 283/3 |
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28.8.2017

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 283/3

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Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 29 June 2017 — European Commission v Portuguese Republic

(Case C-126/15) (1)

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((Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Excise duty on cigarettes - Directive 2008/118/EC - Chargeability - Place and time duty falls due - Tax markings - Free movement of goods subject to excise duty - Temporal limit on the marketing and sale of packets of cigarettes - Principle of proportionality))

(2017/C 283/03)

Language of the case: Portuguese

Parties

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: F. Tomat and G. Braga da Cruz, acting as Agents)

Applicant:

Defendant: Portuguese Republic (represented by: L. Inez Fernandes, N. Silva Vitorino and A. Cunha, acting as Agents)

Defendant:

Interveners in support of the defendant: Kingdom of Belgium (represented by: M. Jacobs and J.-C. Halleux, acting as Agents), Republic of Estonia (represented by: K. Kraavi-Käerdi, acting as Agent), Republic of Poland (represented by: B. Majczyna, acting as Agent)

Interveners in support of the defendant:

Operative part of the judgment

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

| 1. | Declares that, by providing that cigarettes released for consumption in a given year may no longer be marketed or sold to the public after the expiry of the time limit laid down in Article 27(a) of the Portaria No 1295/2007 do Ministério das Finanças e da Administração Pública (Decree No 1295/2007 of the Ministry for Finance and Public Administration) of 1 October 2007, in the version applicable to the present action, where there is no increase in the excise duty on those products taking effect the following year, the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 9, first paragraph of Council Directive 2008/118/EC of 16 December 2008 concerning the general arrangements for excise duty and repealing Directive 92/12/EEC and the principle of proportionality. |
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1.

Declares that, by providing that cigarettes released for consumption in a given year may no longer be marketed or sold to the public after the expiry of the time limit laid down in Article 27(a) of the Portaria No 1295/2007 do Ministério das Finanças e da Administração Pública (Decree No 1295/2007 of the Ministry for Finance and Public Administration) of 1 October 2007, in the version applicable to the present action, where there is no increase in the excise duty on those products taking effect the following year, the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 9, first paragraph of Council Directive 2008/118/EC of 16 December 2008 concerning the general arrangements for excise duty and repealing Directive 92/12/EEC and the principle of proportionality.

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

Dismisses the action as to the remainder.

| 3. | Orders the Portuguese Republic to bear half of its own costs. |
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3.

Orders the Portuguese Republic to bear half of its own costs.

| 4. | Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay half of the costs incurred by the Portuguese Republic. |
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4.

Orders the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay half of the costs incurred by the Portuguese Republic.

| 5. | Orders the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Poland to bear their own costs. |
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5.

Orders the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Poland to bear their own costs.

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(1)  OJ C 155, 11.5.2015.

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