Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2007:266
Date: 2007-05-08
Language of the case: Italian
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Economic, social and territorial cohesion
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment Economic and social cohesion – Structural assistance – Community financing – Grant of financial assistance (Council Regulation No 4253/88, as amended by Regulation No 2082/93, Art. 21(3), second subpara.) The second subparagraph of Article 21(3) of Regulation No 4253/88 laying down provisions for implementing Regulation No 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the different Structural Funds between themselves and with the operations of the European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments, as amended by Regulation No 2082/93, must be interpreted as not precluding a national tax provision which includes grants paid by the Community Structural Funds in the assessment of taxable income. Deductions or retentions which have the effect of reducing the amount of the Community grants received by the beneficiary which do not have a direct and inseparable link with the latter, do not obstruct the effective application of the mechanism established by Regulation No 4253/88. Moreover, the differences which exist between the beneficiaries of the Structural Funds, by reason of the different rates of taxation imposed in the Member States on amounts received by way of Community assistance, cannot be regarded as likely to infringe the principle of equal treatment. For that to be the position, it would be necessary for the situations of the beneficiaries of Community aid to be comparable. That cannot be the case since those beneficiaries receive that aid in a socio-economic context specific to each Member State and, in the absence of Community harmonisation on the assessment of taxable income, objective disparities between the rules in Member States still exist in that field, thereby inevitably creating such differences between those beneficiaries. (see paras 18-21, operative part)