Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2006:374
Date: 2006-06-08
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Second Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Concepts: Direct effect;Bodies governed by public law
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 1. Acts of the institutions – Directives – Direct effect – Scope (Art. 249, third para., EC) 2. Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Taxable persons (Council Directive 77/388, Art. 4(5), second subpara.) 1. Individuals are entitled to rely before national courts, against the Member State concerned, on the provisions of a directive which appear, so far as their subject-matter is concerned, to be unconditional and sufficiently precise whenever the full application of the directive is not in fact secured, that is to say, not only where the directive has not been implemented or has been implemented incorrectly, but also where the national measures correctly implementing the directive are not being applied in such a way as to achieve the result sought by it. (see para. 29) 2. A private person who is in competition with a body governed by public law and alleges that that body is, in respect of the activities in which it engages as a public authority, treated as a non-taxable person for value added tax purposes or undertaxed is entitled to rely, in proceedings between a private person and the national tax authorities, on the second subparagraph of Article 4(5) of Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes. Since the bodies and activities to which the rule of treatment as non-taxable persons applies is clearly defined by Article 4(5) of the Sixth Directive, that provision fulfils the criteria for direct effect. (see paras 30, 32, operative part)