Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:341
Date: 1999-07-01
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Excise duties
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - unfounded
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Community law — Interpretation — Effectiveness 
2. Community law — Interpretation — Multilingual texts — Divergence between the 
various language versions 
3. Tax provisions — Harmonisation of laius — Excise duty — Directives 92/12 and 
92/83 — Alcohol and alcoholic beverages — Indirect taxation for a specific purpose — 
Implementing rules 
(Council Directives 92/12, Art. 3(2), and 92/83) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-434/97 
1. Where a provision of Community law 
is open to several interpretations, pre­
ference must be given to the interpreta­
tion which ensures that the provision 
retains its effectiveness. 
(see para. 21) 
2. Where there is divergence between the 
various language versions of a Com­
munity text, the provision in question 
must be interpreted by reference to the 
purpose and general scheme of the 
rules of which it forms part. 
(see para. 22) 
3. Article 3(2) of Directive 92/12 on the 
general arrangements for products sub­
ject to excise duty and on the holding, 
movement and monitoring of such 
products — which is designed to allow 
the Member States to establish (in 
addition to the minimum excise duty 
fixed by Directive 92/83 on the harmo­
nisation of the structures of excise 
duties on alcohol and alcoholic bev­
erages) other indirect taxes having a 
specific purpose, that is to say, a 
purpose other than a budgetary pur­
pose — does not require Member 
States to comply with all rules applic­
able for excise duty or VAT purposes as 
far as determination of the tax base, 
calculation of the tax, and chargeabil-
ity and monitoring of the tax are 
concerned. It is sufficient that the 
indirect taxes pursuing specific objec­
tives should, on these points, accord 
with the general scheme of one or other 
of these taxation techniques as struc­
tured by the Community legislation. 
(see paras 19, 27) 
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