Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 29 March 2001 in Case C-404/99: Commission of the European Communities v French Republic (Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Sixth VAT Directive — Taxable amount — Exclusion — Service charges)
Date: 2001-07-14
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, France, VAT, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, provision of services

14.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 200/5

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Fifth Chamber)

of 29 March 2001

(Second Chamber)

of 5 April 2001

in Case C-404/99: Commission of the European Communi-
ties v French Republic (1)

in Case C-201/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Finanzgericht Düsseldorf): Deutsche Nichimen GmbH
v Hauptzollamt Düsseldorf (1)

(Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Sixth
VAT Directive — Taxable amount — Exclusion — Service
charges)

(Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Classifi-
cation in the Combined Nomenclature — Satellite television
receivers)

(2001/C 200/07)

(Language of the case: French)

(2001/C 200/08)

(Language of the case: German)

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

In Case C-404/99: Commission of the European Communities
(Agent: E. Traversa, assisted by N. Coutrelis) v French Republic
(Agents: K. Rispal-Bellanger and S. Seam) — application for a
declaration that, by authorising, under certain conditions, the
exclusion from the taxable amount for the purposes of value
added tax of the ‘service charges’ claimed by certain taxable
persons, the French Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations
under Articles 2(1) and 11A(1)(a) of the Sixth Council Directive
77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the
laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes —
Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assess-
ment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1) — the Court (Fifth Chamber),
the Chamber,
composed of: A. La Pergola, President of
M. Wathelet
Jann and
L. Sevo´ n, Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate General; H.A. Rühl,
Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment
on 29 March 2001, in which it:

(Rapporteur), D.A.O. Edward, P.

1. Declares that, by authorising, under certain conditions, the
exclusion from the taxable amount for the purposes of value
added tax of the compulsory price supplements claimed by
certain taxable persons by way of remuneration for the service
provided (‘service charges’), the French Republic has failed to
fulfil its obligations under Articles 2(1) and 11A(1)(a) of the
Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the
harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to
turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform
basis of assessment;

2. Orders the French Republic to pay the costs.

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

In Case C-201/99: reference to the Court under Article 234
EC from the Finanzgericht (Finance Court) Düsseldorf (Ger-
many) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending
before that court between Deutsche Nichimen GmbH and
Hauptzollamt Düsseldorf — on the interpretation of
the
Combined Nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff as
set out in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of
23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on
the Common Customs Tariff (OJ 1987 L 256, p. 1), as
amended by the Annexes to Commission Regulation (EEC)
No 2886/89 of 2 August 1989 (OJ 1989 L 252, p. 1),
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2472/90 of 31 July 1990
(OJ 1990 L 247, p. 1) and Commission Regulation (EEC)
No 2587/91 of 26 July 1991 (OJ 1991 L 250, p. 1) — the
Court (Second Chamber), composed of: V. Skouris, President
of the Chamber, R. Schintgen (Rapporteur) and N. Colnerie,
Judges; F.G. Jacobs. Advocate General; H. von Holstein, Deputy
Registrar, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on 5 April
2001, in which it has ruled:

The Combined Nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff as set
out in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July
1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common
Customs Tariff, as amended by the Annexes
to Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2886/89 of 2 August 1989, Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2472/90 of 31 July 1990 and Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2587/91 of 26 July 1991, must be interpreted
as meaning that between 1990 and 1992 satellite television receivers
were to be classified under tariff heading 8528.

(1) OJ C 47 of 19.2.2000.

(1) OJ C 204 of 17.7.1999.