Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2009:464
Date: 2009-07-16
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Concepts: Bodies governed by public law
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Ireland

Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 16 July 2009 – Commission v Ireland (Case C‑554/07) Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Value added tax – Directive 2006/112/EC – Articles 2, 9 and 13 – Economic activity in which the State, local authorities and other bodies governed by public law engage – Exemption Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Taxable persons – Bodies governed by public law (Council Directive 2006/112, Arts 2, 9 and 13) (see paras 47-50, 62-68, 74-76, operative part 1) Re: Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Incorrect transposition of Article 13 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ 2006 L 347, p.1) – Exemption of all economic activities carried on by the State, local authorities and other bodies governed by public law. Operative part The Court: 1. Declares that, by failing to lay down, in its national legislation, a general requirement that economic activities in which bodies governed by public law engage otherwise than in their capacity as a public authority are to be subject to value added tax; by failing to lay down, in its national legislation, either a general requirement that bodies governed by public law acting in their capacity as a public authority are to be subject to value added tax where their treatment as non-taxable persons gives rise to significant distortions of competition or any criterion providing a framework for the exercise, in that connection, of the Minister for Finance’s discretion, and by failing to lay down, in its national legislation, a general requirement that bodies governed by public law engaged in activities listed in Annex I to Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax are to be subject to such tax, provided that those activities are not carried out on such a small scale as to be negligible, Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 2, 9 and 13 of the Directive. 2. Orders Ireland to pay the costs.