WRITTEN QUESTION P-1792/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 June 2001)

Subject: Current system of car taxation and its inconsistency with the internal market and free trade

In its answer to Question E-3519/00(1), the Council accepts that it is empowered to act with regard to the harmonisation of indirect taxation, to the extent that such harmonisation is necessary to ensure the establishment and the functioning of the internal market. However, to do so, the Council continues, it must receive a proposal from the Commission, which it has not yet received. In its work programme for 2001, the Commission announced that it intended to submit this year a communication on the taxation of vehicles in the European Union.

Can the Commission provide information, even in broad terms, about the general guidelines for tackling this problem provided for in the above communication? Does it intend to go further by drawing up a legally binding proposal?

(1) OJ C 235 E, 21.8.2001, p. 5.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 2001)

As the Honourable Member is aware, there is little Community legislation, or harmonisation of national fiscal provisions, applied by the Member States

in the area of vehicle taxation. Existing harmonisation concerns two Council Directives, adopted in 1983: Directive 83/182/EEC of 28 March 1983, concerning tax exemptions for certain means of transport temporarily imported into one Member State from another(1), and Directive 83/183/EEC of 28 March 1983, concerning tax exemptions applicable to permanent imports from one Member State to another of the personal property of individuals(3), including passenger cars. Approximation of vehicle taxation levels has proven very difficult to achieve due to the unanimity rule required for decisions on fiscal matters.

The Commission presented a Proposal for a Council Directive(2) in 1998, with the overall objective of bringing the tax treatment of vehicles, which accompany private individuals moving from one Member State to another, more in line with the concept and principles of the single Market. The Proposal also intended to update the provisions of the two Council Directives mentioned above and to repeal and replace them by a single, consolidated Directive. Situations such as double payment of registration tax, or payment of excessive amounts of vehicle taxes, which have been the subject of repeated complaints by citizens or of judgements by the Court of Justice were also addressed in this Proposal. Member States only discussed the Proposal once, in February 1999, and it remains on the Council's table. The Parliament gave its favourable opinion on the Proposal in June 1999.

The Commission intends to present a Communication on vehicle taxation before the end of this year, or early in 2002. This will launch a discussion, with Member States and other Community Institutions, on future options for action at Community and national levels. The Commission will wait until the outcome of this discussion is known, before taking any initiative in the area of vehicle taxation. The Communication will, therefore, not be accompanied by any legal proposal.

Concerning the general guidelines of the Communication, the Commission is pleased to inform the Honourable Member that they will address specific fiscal and environmental aspects of vehicle taxation. Other vehicle taxation related issues, such as double payment, or non-refund, of registration tax paid when private motor vehicles are moved permanently to another Member State and the orientations taken by the Court of Justice in its jurisprudence, will be taken into account.

(1) OJ L 105, 23.4.1983.

(2) OJ C 108, 7.4.1998.

(3) OJ L 105, 23.4.1983.