Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2003:116
Date: 2003-02-27
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Free movement of goods;Measures having equivalent effect;Quantitative restrictions;Internal taxation
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Denmark

Summary of the Judgment 
Tax provisions — Internal taxation — Charge on the registration of new motor vehicles 
where there is no similar or competing domestic production — Examination in the light 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-383/01 
of Article 90 EC — Conditions — Compliance with that provision — Assessment of the 
charge on the basis of Article 28 EC et seq. — Excluded where there are no figures to 
show the free movement of goods is impeded 
(Arts 28 EC and 90 EC) 
Since it is part of a general system of 
internal dues applied systematically to cat­
egories of vehicles in accordance with 
objective criteria, irrespective of the origin 
of the products, a charge on the registration 
of new motor vehicles established by a 
Member State which does not have any 
domestic production of vehicles constitutes 
internal taxation whose compatibility with 
Community law must be examined in the 
light of Article 90 EC. That provision must 
be interpreted as not precluding such a 
charge where there is no domestic produc­
tion of cars nor of any products liable to 
compete with cars in the Member State 
concerned. 
Although, moreover, it is true that it is not 
permissible for the Member States to 
impose on products which thus escape the 
application of the prohibitions contained in 
Article 90 EC charges of such an amount 
that the free movement of goods within the 
common market would be impeded as far 
as those goods were concerned, it cannot be 
considered that that charge has ceased to be 
internal taxation and should be classified as 
a measure having equivalent effect to a 
quantitative restriction, for the purposes of 
Article 28 EC, where the figures as to the 
number of new vehicles registered in the 
Member State concerned, and thus 
imported into that Member State, do not 
in any way show that the free movement of 
that type of goods between that Member 
State and the other Member States is 
impeded. 
(see paras 35, 39-43, operative part) 
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