Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2007:151
Date: 2007-03-08
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Customs Union
Concepts: Origin of goods
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment Origin of goods – Determination – Substantial process or operation – Assembly operation (Council Regulation No 2913/92, Arts 24 and 249; Commission Regulation No 2454/93, Annex 11) The operation of assembling various parts amounts to a substantial working or processing operation, capable of being regarded as conferring origin, where it represents, from a technical point of view and having regard to the definition of the goods in question, the decisive production stage during which the use to which the component parts are to be put becomes definite and the goods in question are given their specific qualities. However, in view of the variety of operations which may be described as assembly, there are situations where consideration on the basis of technical criteria may not be decisive in determining the origin of goods. In such cases it is necessary to take account of the value added by the assembly as an ancillary criterion. In that regard, the onus is on the Commission, within the framework of its discretion to adopt the measures required for the implementation of the Community Customs Code and in particular those relating to the origin of goods, to adopt provisions of a general nature which, with a view to ensuring legal certainty, take into account the overall situation of an industrial sector on a long‑term basis and which, consequently, will not be called into question by the specific situation at a given time of one particular undertaking within that sector. Thus, the account taken by the Commission of the wide variety of operations covered by the concept of assembly throughout the industrial sector concerned may justify reliance being placed on the criterion of added value. (see paras 26-27, 36-37, operative part)