Keywords

Summary



Keywords

++++

1 . Competition - Community rules - Obligations of the Member States - Legislation intended to reinforce the effects of pre-existing agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Concept

( EEC Treaty, Arts 5, 85 and 86 )

2 . Competition - Community rules - Obligations of the Member States - Legislation restricting the benefit of tax exemption to income from certain savings deposits - Compatibility - Limits

( EEC Treaty, Arts 3 ( f ), 5 and 85 )

3 . Freedom to provide services - Banking - Liberalization in step with the progressive liberalization of movement of capital - Savings deposits - Liberalization not achieved

( EEC Treaty, Arts 59, 61 ( 2 ) and 67 )

4 . Tax provisions - Internal taxation - Treaty provisions - Scope - Concept of products - Savings deposits - Excluded

( EEC Treaty, Arts 61 ( 2 ), 67 and 95 )

Summary

1 . Although it is true that Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty per se are concerned only with the conduct of undertakings and not with national legislation, the fact remains that those articles in conjunction with Article 5 of the Treaty require the Member States not to introduce or maintain in force measures, even of a legislative nature, which may render ineffective the competition rules applicable to undertakings . Such would be the case in particular if a Member State were to require or favour the adoption of agreements, decisions or concerted practices contrary to Articles 85 or to reinforce their effects, or to deprive its own legislation of its official character by delegating to private traders responsibility for taking decisions affecting the economic sphere .

National legislation may be regarded as intended to reinforce the effects of pre-existing agreements, decisions or concerted practices only if it merely incorporates either wholly or in part the terms of agreements concluded between undertakings and encourages compliance on the part of those undertakings .

2 . National legislation which restricts the benefit of an exemption from income tax in respect of interest on a certain category of savings deposits solely to deposits on which the interest rates and premiums paid do not exceed the maximum levels fixed by legislation is not incompatible with the obligations imposed on the Member States by Article 5 of the EEC Treaty in conjunction with Articles 3 ( f ) and 85, provided the legislation in question did not merely confirm both the method of restricting the yield on deposits and the level of maximum interest rates adopted by pre-existing agreements, decisions or concerted practices .

3 . National legislation which restricts a tax exemption solely to savings deposits denominated in national currency and held at financial insitutions whose registered office is in the Member State concerned is not, under Community law as it now stands, incompatible with Article 59 et seq . of the Treaty . Freedom to provide banking services with regard to the making of savings deposits is linked, by virtue of Article 61 ( 2 ) of the Treaty, with the liberalization of capital movements, which has not yet been achieved in this area .

4 . Savings funds deposited with financial institutions in one currency or another come within the scope of Articles 61 ( 2 ) and 67 of the Treaty and do not therefore constitute products within the meaning of Article 95 of the Treaty