Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2015:830
Date: 2015-12-17
Language of the case: Greek
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation;Free movement of goods
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Greece

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 17 December 2015 1. Acts of the institutions — Directives — Direct effect — Conditions (Art. 288, third para., TFEU) 2. Tax provisions — Harmonisation of laws — Excise duties — Directive 2008/118 — Article 1(3) — Direct effect (Council Directive 2008/118, Art. 1(3)) 3. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Questions to be reformulated (Art. 267 TFEU) 4. Tax provisions — Internal taxation — Registration tax levied on the registration of motor vehicles for the purpose of their being put into circulation in national territory — Classification as internal taxation and not a charge having equivalent effect (Arts 28 TFEU, 30 TFEU and 110 TFEU) 5. Tax provisions — Internal taxation — Registration tax levied on new motor vehicles where there is no similar or competing domestic production — Examination in the light of Article 110 TFEU — Conditions — Within the scope of that provision (Art. 110 TFEU) 6. Tax provisions — Harmonisation of laws — Excise duties — Directives 92/12 and 2008/118 — Scope — Motor vehicles — Not included — Member States’ powers of taxation — Limits (Council Directives 92/12, Art. 3(1) and (3), and 2008/118, Art. 1(1) and (3)) 7. Free movement of goods — Customs duties — Charges having equivalent effect —Definition — Levying of a tax on motor vehicles at the time of their import — Not included — Internal taxation — Exception — No refund of the tax where the vehicle is not registered — Tax charged solely by reason of the crossing of a frontier (Arts 28 TFEU, 30 TFEU and110 TFEU) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 25) 2. Article 1(3) of Directive 2008/118 concerning the general arrangements for excise duty and repealing Directive 92/12 must be interpreted as fulfilling the conditions for producing direct effect allowing individuals to rely on it before a national court in a dispute between them and a Member State. That article is unconditional and sufficiently clear in that, without providing for any condition or making it necessary to adopt any further measures, it unequivocally obliges Member States to ensure that, when they levy taxes on goods other than excise goods and on supplies of services, it does not entail formalities connected with the crossing of frontiers in trade between Member States. (see paras 27, 28, operative part 1) 3. See the text of the decision. (see paras 29-32) 4. See the text of the decision. (see paras 33-35) 5. See the text of the decision. (see paras 36-38) 6. Motor vehicles are not included in the categories of excise goods in all Member States under Article 3(1) of Directive 92/12 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such goods and Article 1(1) of Directive 2008/118 concerning the general arrangements for excise duty and repealing Directive 92/12 and therefore are not covered by the harmonised excise duty arrangements. Although Member States may introduce or maintain taxes on those goods, they must exercise their competence in that field in a manner consistent with EU law. Specifically, Member States must comply not only with the provisions of the FEU Treaty, in particular Articles 30 and 110, but also with Articles 3(3) of Directive 92/12 and 1(3) of Directive 2008/118, since the latter provisions prohibit the levying of a tax from entailing formalities connected with the crossing of frontiers in trade between Member States. (see paras 39, 40) 7. Article 30 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding a practice by a Member State, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, by which the registration tax collected upon import of motor vehicles originating from other Member States is not refunded when the vehicles concerned were never registered in that Member State and were re-exported to another Member State. Any pecuniary charge, whatever its designation and mode of application, which is imposed unilaterally on goods by reason of the fact that they cross a frontier, and which is not a customs duty in the strict sense, constitutes a charge having equivalent effect within the meaning of Articles 28 TFEU and 30 TFEU. Although a registration tax has, in principle, as its chargeable event the registration of motor vehicles in a Member State and is, accordingly, internal taxation within the meaning of Article 110 TFEU, that ceases to be the case if it is collected and not refunded when vehicles imported from other Member States have never been registered in that Member State. In such a scenario, it is in reality collected solely by virtue of the crossing of a frontier of a Member State, thereby causing it to constitute a charge having equivalent effect to a customs duty, which is prohibited by Article 30 TFEU. (see para. 44-46, operative part 2)