Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:1998:181
Date: 1998-07-16
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Customs Union
Concepts: Statement of reasons;Own resources of the Communities
Procedure: Action for annulment - successful
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Own resources of the European Communities — Repayment or remission of import duties — 
Article 239 of the Community Customs Code — Commission decision concerning the repay­
ment of import duties in special circumstances — Powers of the Commission — Limits — 
Application of substantive customs law — Exclusive competence of national authorities 
(Council Regulation No 2913/92, Arts 236, 239 and 243; Commission Regulation No 2454/93, 
Art. 905) 
II - 2907 
SUMMARY — CASE T-195/97 
2. Own resources of the European Communities — Repayment or remission of import duties — 
Article 239 of the Community Customs Code — Commission decision concerning the repay­
ment of import duties in special circumstances — Duty to state reasons — Scope 
(EC Treaty, Art. 190; Council Regulation No 2913, Art. 239) 
1. Applications for the repayment or remis­
sion of import duties on equitable 
grounds, which are submitted to the 
Commission pursuant to Article 239 of 
Regulation N o 2913/92 establishing the 
Community Customs Code, in conjunc­
tion with Article 905 of Regulation 
N o 2454/93 laying down provisions for 
the implementation of Regulation No 
2913/92, are not concerned with whether 
or not the provisions of substantive cus­
toms law have been correctly applied by 
the national customs authorities. Under 
Article 236 of the Customs Code such a 
question falls within the exclusive compe­
tence of the national authorities, whose 
decisions may be challenged before the 
national courts pursuant to Article 243 of 
the Customs Code; those courts may 
make a reference to the Court of Justice 
pursuant to Article 177 of the Treaty. 
2. When it adopts a position on applications 
for repayment of import duties submitted 
pursuant to the general equitable provi­
sion in Article 239 of the Customs Code, 
it is for the Commission to indicate in 
respect of each such application whether 
or not special circumstances within the 
meaning of that provision exist and to 
give reasons for its decision on that point. 
That requirement is not satisfied by a 
Commission decision rejecting an appli­
cation submitted on the basis of Article 
239 of the Customs Code, the grounds of 
which give the reasons why the Commis­
sion considers that the import duties 
imposed by the national customs auth­
ority are legally payable, and the opera­
tive part of which answers the questions 
whether the circumstances of the case 
enabled the importers to be exempted, 
pursuant to the general equitable provi­
sion, from payment of the duties which 
were, according to the formal legislative 
provisions, legally payable. Such a 
decision is therefore vitiated by a failure 
to state reasons. 
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