Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2005:627
Date: 2005-10-20
Language of the case: Greek
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Association Agreement;External relations;Free movement of goods
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment 1. International agreements – Agreements concluded by the Community – EC-Hungary Association Agreement (EC-Hungary Association Agreement, Protocol 4, Arts 31(2), 32 and 33) 2. International agreements – Agreements concluded by the Community – EC-Hungary Association Agreement (EC-Hungary Association Agreement, Protocol 4, Art. 33) 1. Articles 31(2) and 32 of Protocol 4 to the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Hungary, of the other part, as amended by Decision No 3/96 of the Association Council between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Hungary, of the other part, are to be interpreted as meaning that the customs authorities of the State of import are bound to take account of judicial decisions delivered in the State of export on actions brought against the results of verification of the validity of goods movement certificates conducted by the customs authorities of the State of export, once they have been informed of the existence of those actions and the content of those decisions, regardless of whether the verification of the validity of the movement certificates was carried out at the request of the customs authorities of the State of import. The fact that the dispute was not referred to the Association Committee pursuant to Article 33 of Protocol 4 cannot be used as a justification to derogate from the system of cooperation and not to respect the powers as allocated under the Association Agreement. (see paras 32, 52, 54, operative part 1, 3) 2. The effectiveness of the abolition of the imposition of customs duties under the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Hungary, of the other part, as amended by Decision No 3/96 of the Association Council between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Hungary, of the other part, precludes administrative decisions imposing the payment of customs duties, taxes and penalties taken by the customs authorities of the State of import before the definitive result of actions brought against the findings of the subsequent verification have been communicated to them, when the decisions of the authorities of the State of export which initially issued the movement certificates EUR.1 have not been revoked or annulled. This interpretation is not affected by the fact that the dispute was not referred to the Association Committee pursuant to Article 33 of Protocol 4 to that agreement. (see paras 43, 52, 54, operative part 2-3)