Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:180
Date: 1997-03-20
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Free movement of goods;Customs Union;Internal taxation;Charges having an equivalent effect
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Preliminary rulings —Jurisdiction of the Court — Limits 
(EC Treaty, Art. 177) 
2. Association of the overseas countries and territories — Council Decision temporarily authoris­
ing exemptions, subject to monitoring by the Commission, from the octroi de mer levy applied 
in the French overseas departments — Exemptions from octroi de mer — Conditions under 
which permissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 226; Council Decision 89/688, Arts 1 and 2) 
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES C-37/96 AND C-38/96 
1. Within the framework of proceedings 
brought under Article 177 of the Treaty, 
the Court does not have jurisdiction to 
give a ruling on the compatibility of a 
national measure with Community law. 
However, it does have jurisdiction to sup­
ply the national court with a ruling on 
the interpretation of Community law so 
as to enable that court to determine 
whether such compatibility exists in 
order to decide the case before it. 
2. O n a proper construction, Decision 
89/688 concerning the dock dues (octroi 
de mer) in the French overseas depart­
ments precludes exemptions of a general 
or systematic order, which would thus 
amount to the reintroduction of a charge 
having an effect equivalent to that of a 
customs duty. That decision does, how­
ever, authorise exemptions which are nec­
essary, proportionate and precisely deter­
mined and which respect the strict 
conditions laid down in Article 2(3) 
thereof, interpreted in the light of the 
limits laid down in Article 226 of the 
Treaty. 
Those conditions include, first of all, the 
general rule, stated in Articles 1 and 2 of 
the decision, that octroi de mer is to apply 
in principle to all products whether 
imported into or produced in the French 
overseas departments. Next, the system 
of exemptions constitutes an exception to 
that general rule. It must disturb the com­
mon market as little as possible and may 
thus not adversely affect the terms of 
trade to an extent contrary to the com­
mon interest. Monitoring of those condi­
tions is the responsibility of the Commu­
nity institutions, in particular the 
Commission, which must assess the 
extent to which such measures are neces­
sary and proportionate. Finally, that 
system is a measure of support for local 
production faced with difficulties as a 
result of isolation and distance from met­
ropolitan France, its aim being to pro­
mote the economic and social develop­
ment of the French overseas departments 
in that it must contribute to the promo­
tion or maintenance of an economic 
activity in those departments and be in 
line with an economic and social develop­
ment strategy. 
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