ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
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Keywords

Tax provisions - Harmonization of laws - Turnover taxes - Common system of value added tax - Supplies of services - Determination of the relevant place for tax purposes - Services of consultants, engineers, consultancy bureaux, lawyers, accountants and other similar services - Definition - Services of a member of an arbitration tribunal - Excluded

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 9(2)(e), third indent)

Summary

Article 9(2)(e), third indent, of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, which provides, as part of the special rules governing services supplied to customers established outside the Community or to taxable persons established in the Community but not in the same country as the supplier, that the place where the services of consultants, engineers, consultancy bureaux, lawyers, accountants and other similar services are supplied is to be the place where the customer has established his business or has a fixed establishment to which the service is supplied, uses the professions mentioned as a means of defining the categories of services to which it refers. On a proper construction, it does not refer to the services of a member of an arbitration tribunal.

The services of an arbitrator, which are principally and habitually those of settling a dispute between two or more parties, do not fall within the category of those carried out by a lawyer, which are principally and habitually those of representing or defending the interests of a person, or of those carried out by a consultant, engineer, consultancy bureau or accountant, since none of the services principally and habitually provided as part of any of those professions concerns the settling of a dispute between two or more parties. Nor can the services of an arbitrator be regarded as similar, within the meaning of Article 9(2)(e), to those of the professions listed in that provision since, based as they are on considerations of justice and equity, they do not serve the same purposes as those of a lawyer taking part in a negotiation with a view to reaching an agreement, which are essentially based on expediency and the weighing-up of interests, or of a consultant, engineer, consultancy bureau or accountant.
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Member States - Obligations - Implementation of directives - Failure to fulfil obligations - Justification - Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Art. 169)

Summary

A Member State cannot rely on provisions, practices or situations prevailing in its own internal legal order in order to justify its failure to respect the obligations and time-limits laid down by a directive.
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1 Actions for failure to fulfil obligations - Examination of the merits by the Court - Situation to be taken into consideration - Situation at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion

(EC Treaty, Art. 169)

2 Acts of the institutions - Directives - Implementation by Member States - Mere administrative practices not sufficient

(EC Treaty, Art. 189, third para.)

Summary

3 In the context of proceedings under Article 169 of the Treaty, the question whether a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations must be determined by reference to the situation prevailing in the Member State at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion and the Court cannot take account of any subsequent changes.

4 Mere administrative practices, which by their nature are alterable at will by the administration and are not given the appropriate publicity, cannot be regarded as constituting the proper fulfilment of the obligations incumbent on Member States to which a directive is addressed pursuant to Article 189 of the Treaty.
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Accession of new Member States to the Communities - Austria - Finland - Sweden - Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Sugar - National levy on sugar in stock on the eve of accession - Whether permissible

(EC Treaty, Arts 39 and 40; 1994 Act of Accession, Arts 137(2) and 145(2); Council Regulation No 1785/81; Commission Regulation No 3300/94)

Summary

Articles 137(2) and 145(2) of the 1994 Act of Accession, Articles 39 and 40 of the Treaty, Regulation No 1785/81 on the common organization of the markets in the sugar sector and Regulation No 3300/94 laying down transitional measures in the sugar sector following the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden do not preclude a State acceding to the European Union from adopting, on the eve of its accession, legislation introducing a levy on sugar being then held in stock within that State.

Although Regulation No 3300/94 applied the higher Community selling price to quantities of sugar produced in the acceding States during the 1994/95 marketing year - much of which had been disposed of before the date of accession - without requiring, by way of consideration, contributions to the self-financing arrangements for the sector, such a concession on the part of the Community with regard to a quantity of sugar regarded as marginal in Community terms does not mean that the Community provisions prohibited the adoption of legislation designed to eliminate, before accession, the profit which Swedish sugar producers expected to gain from the fact of accession and the resulting difference in selling price, so long as such legislation does not interfere with the functioning of the mechanisms for the common organization of the markets in the sugar sector.
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Approximation of laws - Quality of bathing water - Directive 76/160 - Implementation by Member States - Obligation to achieve the result set out - Exemptions - Scope

(Council Directive 76/160, Arts. 4(1) and 5(2))

Summary

Directive 76/160 concerning the quality of bathing water, which in Article 4(1) imposes an obligation on the Member States to take all necessary measures to ensure that their waters conform to the physical, chemical and microbiological values set by the directive within a period of ten years following its notification, requires the Member States to take steps to ensure that the results prescribed are attained, and, apart from the derogations expressly laid down by the directive, they cannot rely on particular circumstances to justify a failure to fulfil that obligation.

Although, in that regard, Article 5(2) of the directive provides that deviations from the values in question are not to be taken into consideration when they are the result of abnormal weather conditions, and although an abnormal drought could, by making it impossible to improve the quality of bathing water, constitute abnormal weather conditions within the meaning of that provision, the provision in question constitutes an exception to the obligation to achieve the result set out by the directive and must, therefore, be strictly interpreted. In particular, the weather conditions relied upon must be abnormal and the deviations from the values set must be the result of such conditions.
Case C-143/96

Leonhard Knubben Speditions GmbH

v

Hauptzollamt Mannheim

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof

‛Common Customs Tariff — ‘Crushed’ peppers within the meaning of subheading 0904 20 90 of the Combined Nomenclature’

Opinion of Advocate General La Pergola delivered on 17 July 1997 I-7041

Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 9 December 1997 I-7045

Summary of the Judgment

Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Subheading 0904 20 (dried, crushed or ground peppers) — ‘Sonst zerkleinert’ (‘otherwise crushed’) — Concept — Product cut into pieces measuring between 4 and 8 mm — Not included

Subheading 0904 20 of the Combined Nomenclature, in the version resulting from Regulation No 3174/88 amending Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 and from Regulation No 2886/89 amending Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87, must be construed as meaning that the expression ‘sonst zerkleinert’ (‘otherwise crushed’) does not cover a product cut into pieces measuring between 4 and 8 mm. Peppers are subject to different classifications within subheading 0904 20 according to whether their fragmentation is the result of ‘crushing’ or ‘grinding’ or, on the contrary, results from neither of those processes. Cutting into pieces is a fragmentation process distinct from both ‘crushing’ and ‘grinding’.
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Social policy - Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security - Directive 79/7 - Derogation allowed in respect of determining the statutory pensionable age - Scope - Limited to forms of discrimination necessarily and objectively linked to the difference in pensionable age - Different method of calculating retirement pensions - Permissible

(Council Directive 79/7, Art. 7(1)(a))

Summary

Article 7(1)(a) of Directive 79/7 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security must be interpreted as meaning that, if national legislation has maintained a different pensionable age for male and female workers, the Member State concerned is entitled to calculate the amount of pension differently depending on the worker's sex.

The specification of the age for award of a retirement pension effectively determines the length of the period during which persons can contribute to the pension scheme. If a difference in pensionable age has been maintained, a question of fact which it is for the national court to decide, a form of discrimination in the method of calculating pensions is necessarily and objectively linked to that difference and thus comes under the derogation permitted by Article 7(1)(a).
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Freedom of movement for persons - Workers - Equal treatment - Recognition by a Member State of periods of employment in the national public service for the purposes of employees' salary scale grading and seniority - Periods of employment completed by Community nationals in the public service of another Member State not taken into account - Covert discrimination - Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Art. 48; Council Regulation No 1612/68, Art. 7(1))

Summary

A Member State which, by regulation or administrative practice, renders it absolutely impossible for employment in the public service of another Member State to be taken into account for the purposes of granting to an employee in the national public service a seniority increment and of grading him on the salary scale, whereas periods of employment completed in the national public service are, in certain cases, taken into account, is in breach of its obligations under Community law, in particular under Article 48 of the EC Treaty and Article 7(1) of Regulation No 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community. That rule, which plainly operates to the detriment of migrant workers who have spent part of their working life in the public service of another Member State, is therefore such as to contravene the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in those provisions.
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1 Tax provisions - Harmonisation of laws - Turnover taxes - Common system of value added tax - Supply of services - Determination of relevant place for tax purposes - `Fixed establishment' within the meaning of the Sixth Directive - Definition - Company hiring out or leasing vehicles to customers established in another Member State

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 9(1) and (2)(e))

2 Freedom to provide services - Principle of non-discrimination - Tax legislation - Reimbursement of value added tax to taxable persons not established in the territory of the country - National legislation providing for interest payable only from the date of service of notice to pay on the Member State and at a lower rate than that applied to the interest paid to taxable persons established in the territory of that State automatically on the expiry of the statutory time-limit for reimbursement - Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Art. 59; Council Directive 79/1072)

Summary

1 The term `fixed establishment' in Article 9(1) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes must be interpreted in such a way that an undertaking established in one Member State which hires out or leases a number of vehicles to clients established in another Member State does not possess a fixed establishment in that other State merely by engaging in that hiring out or leasing.

When a leasing company does not possess in a Member State either its own staff or a structure which has a sufficient degree of permanence to provide a framework in which agreements may be drawn up or management decisions taken and thus to enable the services in question to be supplied on an independent basis, it cannot be regarded as having a fixed establishment in that State.

Moreover, it is clear from both the wording and the aim of Article 9(1) and 9(2)(e) of the Sixth Directive, and from the case-law of the Court, that neither the physical placing of vehicles at customers' disposal under leasing agreements nor the place at which they are used can be regarded as a clear, simple and practical criterion, in accordance with the spirit of the Sixth Directive, on which to base the existence of a fixed establishment.

2 It is contrary to Article 59 of the Treaty for national rules to provide that taxable persons not established in a Member State, who apply for a refund of value added tax in accordance with the Eighth Directive 79/1072 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, are entitled to interest only from such time as notice to pay was served on that Member State and at a lower rate than that applied to the interest paid to taxable persons established in the territory of that State automatically on the expiry of the statutory time-limit for reimbursement.
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1 Environment - Waste - Regulation No 259/93 on shipments of waste - `Municipal/household waste' referred to under point AD 160 of the amber list in Annex III - Mixed waste - Included - Information mentioned in Article 11(1) - Whether required in the absence of notification of a shipment - Illegal waste traffic - Obligations of the authorities of the Member States of destination and of shipment - Scope

(Council Regulation No 259/93, Art. 11(1) and Annexes II and III)

2 Environment - Waste - Directive 75/442, as amended by Directive 91/156 - `Storage of materials' within the meaning of point R 13 of Annex II B - Meaning - Scope

(Directive 75/442, as amended by Directive 91/156, Annex II B, point R 13)

Summary

3 The expression `municipal/household waste' referred to under point AD 160 of the amber list in Annex III to Regulation No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community, as amended by Decision 94/721 adapting, pursuant to Article 42(3), Annexes II, III and IV to Regulation No 259/93, includes both waste which for the most part consists of waste mentioned on the green list in Annex II to that regulation, mixed with other categories of waste appearing on that list, and waste mentioned on the green list mixed with a small quantity of materials not referred to on that list. Such mixed waste does not come within the green list unless it has been collected separately or properly sorted.

The information listed in Article 11(1) of the regulation, which must accompany shipments of waste intended for recovery appearing in Annex II, constitutes the minimum evidence which the competent authority may, in the absence of notification, require in order to establish that `green waste' is intended for recovery.

In the case of shipments of waste which have not been notified to all the competent authorities concerned (illegal traffic), the Member State of destination may not unilaterally return waste to the Member State of dispatch without prior notification to the latter; the Member State of dispatch may not oppose its return where the Member State of destination produces a duly motivated request to that effect.

4 The reference to the storage of materials in point R 13 of Annex II B to Directive 75/442 on waste, as amended by Directive 91/156, which lists waste recovery operations, covers not only cases in which storage takes place in the undertaking in which the other operations mentioned in that annex must be carried out but also cases in which storage precedes transport to such an undertaking, regardless of whether the latter is established inside or outside the Community.
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1 Actions for failure to fulfil obligations - Pre-litigation procedure - Subject-matter - Determination of the subject-matter of the action by the reasoned opinion

(EC Treaty, Art. 169)

2 Environment - Water pollution - Directive 76/464 - Obligation to establish programmes for the reduction of pollution caused by certain dangerous substances - Scope

(Council Directive 76/464, Art. 7(1))

Summary

3 In the context of proceedings for failure to fulfil obligations, the purpose of the pre-litigation procedure is to give the Member State concerned an opportunity, on the one hand, to comply with its obligations under Community law and, on the other, to avail itself of its right to defend itself against the complaints made by the Commission.

The subject-matter of an action brought under Article 169 of the Treaty is therefore delimited by the pre-litigation procedure provided for by that article. Consequently, the action cannot be founded on any complaints other than those formulated in the reasoned opinion.

4 Water `pollution', which the programmes referred to in Article 7(1) of Directive 76/464 are intended to reduce, is defined in Article 1(2)(e) of that directive as `the discharge by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the aquatic environment, the results of which are such as to cause hazards to human health, harm to living resources and to aquatic ecosystems, damage to amenities or interference with other legitimate uses of water'. Consequently, the obligation to establish programmes as provided for in Article 7(1) extends to cover waters affected by such waste.
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Appeals - Pleas - Plea alleging breach by the Court of First Instance of Article 48(2) of the Rules of Procedure prohibiting the introduction of new pleas in the course of proceedings - Rejection

(Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 48(2), first subpara.)

Summary

The first subparagraph of Article 48(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, under which no new plea in law may be introduced in the course of proceedings unless it is based on matters of law or of fact which come to light in the course of the procedure, is a rule which applies to the parties and not to the Court of First Instance.

Accordingly, the Court of First Instance cannot be criticised for breaching that rule by raising a plea which was not raised by the parties.
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1 Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Remedies for breach of the prohibition of discrimination - National procedural rules - Compliance with the principle of the effectiveness of Community law - Whether it is possible to contest a worker's claim by relying on national legislation which places limitations on the right to obtain pay arrears or damages - Not permissible on the facts

(EC Treaty, Art. 119; Council Directive 75/117)

2 Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Remedies for breach of the prohibition of discrimination - National procedural rules - Compliance with the principle of equivalence, namely that conditions for obtaining pay arrears or damages must not be less favourable than those governing similar domestic actions - To be determined by the national courts

(EC Treaty, Art. 119; Council Directive 75/117)

Summary

1 Community law precludes the application of a rule of national law which limits an employee's entitlement to arrears of remuneration or damages for breach of the principle of equal pay to a period of two years prior to the date on which the proceedings were instituted, there being no possibility of extending that period, where the delay in bringing a claim is attributable to the fact that the employer deliberately misrepresented to the employee the level of remuneration received by persons of the opposite sex performing like work.

To allow an employer whose deceit has caused a worker to delay in bringing an equal pay claim to rely on a national rule restricting the right to obtain pay arrears to two years before the initiation of the action would be manifestly incompatible with the principle of effectiveness. Application of the national rule would be likely to make it virtually impossible or excessively difficult to obtain arrears of remuneration in respect of sex discrimination. The employee so informed would have no way of determining whether he was being discriminated against or, if so, to what extent. Consequently, by relying on the rule at issue in that situation, the employer would be able to deprive his employee of the means provided for by Directive 75/117 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women of enforcing the principle of equal pay before the courts.

2 Community law precludes the application of a rule of national law which limits an employee's entitlement to arrears of remuneration or damages for breach of the principle of equal pay to a period of two years prior to the date on which the proceedings were instituted, even when another remedy is available, if the latter is likely to entail procedural rules or other conditions which are less favourable than those applicable to similar domestic actions. It is for the national court to determine whether that is the case.
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Tax provisions - Harmonisation of laws - Turnover taxes - Common system of value added tax - Sixth Directive - Scope - Supply of counterfeit perfume products - Covered

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 2)

Summary

Although unlawful imports or supplies of goods, such as narcotics or counterfeit currency, which, because of their intrinsic nature or special characteristics, cannot be placed on the market or incorporated into economic channels are wholly alien to the provisions of the Sixth Directive on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, that is not the position in the case of counterfeit perfumes.

Transactions involving counterfeit products infringe intellectual property rights. However, any consequential prohibition is not linked to the nature or essential characteristics of such products, but to their detrimental impact on the rights of third parties, and is conditional, not absolute.

Furthermore, counterfeit perfumes cannot be regarded as extra commercium, since there can be competition between counterfeit products and goods which are lawfully traded.

Accordingly, on a proper construction of Article 2 of the Sixth Directive, VAT is payable on the supply of counterfeit perfumes.
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Member States - Obligations - Implementation of directives - Failure to fulfil obligations - Justification - Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Art. 169)

Summary

A Member State cannot rely on provisions, practices or situations of its own internal legal order in order to justify its failure to respect the obligations and time-limits laid down by a directive.