Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:215
Date: 1997-04-24
Language of the case: Portuguese
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Portugal

summary, onlyan alternative source of accumulated energy designed to supply, within the limitsof its autonomy, the inverter in the event of disruption or failure of the primarynetwork of the rectifier/charger cabinet. Furthermore, the rectifier converts thealternating current into direct current which keeps the accumulator battery charged. It follows that an electrical apparatus which is an 'uninterruptible power supply,such as the product in dispute, must be classified under a single tariff heading,namely tariff heading 85.01.B.II, this being the position allocated to therectifier/charger cabinet. The answer to the questions, as rephrased, must therefore be that theNomenclature must be interpreted as meaning that an electrical apparatus whichis an 'uninterruptible power supply consisting, on the one hand, of a cabinetcontaining a rectifier/charger, an inverter and a static bypass switch and, on theother, of a cabinet housing a sealed lead-acid accumulator battery must beclassified under tariff subheading 85.01.B.II as 'transformers, static converters,rectifiers and rectifying apparatus. Costs The costs incurred by the Portuguese Government and the Commission of theEuropean Communities, which have submitted observations to the Court, are notrecoverable. Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main action, a stepin the proceedings pending before the national court, the decision on costs is amatter for that court. On those grounds, THE COURT (First Chamber), in answer to the questions referred to it by the Supremo Tribunal Administrativoby order of 28 February 1996, hereby rules: Council Regulation (EEC) No 950/68 of 28 June 1968 on the Common CustomsTariff, as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3331/85 of 5 December 1985,must be interpreted as meaning that an electrical apparatus which is an'uninterruptible power supply consisting, on the one hand, of a cabinet containinga rectifier/charger, an inverter and a static bypass switch and, on the other, of acabinet housing a sealed lead-acid accumulator battery must be classified undertariff subheading 85.01.B.II as 'transformers, static converters, rectifiers andrectifying apparatus. SevónEdward Jann Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 17 June 1997. R. Grass L. Sevón Registrar President of the First Chamber 1: Language of the case: Portuguese.