WRITTEN QUESTION E-0570/03 by Freddy Blak (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Punitive charges on imported vehicles.
Date: 2003-02-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Denmark, application of EU law, case-law (EU), motor car, tax system, technical barriers to trade, used goods, vehicle registration, vehicle tax

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/327

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(7 March 2003)

The table below shows the Community exports of live bovine animals and beef to Lebanon and Egypt for
the calendar years 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Complete statistical data for the calendar year 2002 are not yet available.

EU15 exports in metric tonne carcass equivalent

To Lebanon

To Egypt

1999

2000

2001

1999

2000

Live bovines

53 705

49 402

40 923

8 493

14 067

2001

277

Beef

8 506

8 022

2 339

192 271

171 107

5 436

(2004/C 88 E/0332)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0570/03

by Freddy Blak (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(28 February 2003)

Subject: Punitive charges on imported vehicles

The Danish Government imposes various charges on imported used motor vehicles depending on the age
of the vehicle.

§ 4, paragraph 6 (1) and (2) of Law No 977 of 2 December 2002 on registration fees for motor vehicles,
for example, indicates that the older the vehicle is, the higher the rate applied to the value of the vehicle
(180 % as opposed to 105 %).

This means in practice that the system of importing used motor vehicles into Denmark in many cases
makes it more expensive to import and register a foreign motor vehicle than an equivalent vehicle bought
in Denmark, which constitutes a technical barrier to trade to the detriment of imported goods.

Will the Commission say whether this system is consistent with the provisions on the free and non-
discriminatory movement of goods across borders in the EU?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(8 April 2003)

At present there is little Community legislation or harmonisation of national fiscal provisions applied by
the Member States in the area of taxation of passenger cars. Additionally, Community law on vehicle
taxation is extremely complex and is not in keeping with the needs of an internal market. However, any
change to that law can only be brought about by the unanimous agreement of the Member States, and in
practice there is little that the Commission can do to improve the position in the short term.

In principle, Member States remain free to apply internal taxation to motor cars on the occasion of their
first entry into circulation within their territory, and the majority of Member States in fact apply such
taxes. However, Member States’ rights in that respect are considerably restricted by the provisions of both
the EC Treaty and derived Community law.

First, under Article 90 of the EC Treaty, Member States are not allowed to charge higher taxes on imports
than on similar and competing domestic products. Bearing that in mind, a number of Member States
charge their taxes on imported 2nd hand vehicles by reference to arbitrary valuation criteria.

C 88 E/328

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

Such a system of valuation came before the Court in case C-393/98 (Gomes Valente), recently confirmed
by case C-101/00 (Antti Siilin). The Court ruled that:

The first paragraph of Article 95 of the Treaty (now Article 90) does not permit a Member State to
apply to second-hand vehicles imported from other Member States a system of taxation in which the
depreciation in the actual value of those vehicles is calculated in a general and abstract manner, on the
basis of fixed criteria or scales determined by a legislative provision, a regulation or an administrative
provision, unless those criteria or scales are capable of guaranteeing that the amount of the tax due
does not exceed, even in a few cases, the amount of the residual tax incorporated in the value of
similar vehicles already registered in the national territory.

In other words, no matter what system of valuation is used, where tax is charged on a 2nd hand import,
the value on which tax is charged plus the tax itself should never exceed the price of an equivalent tax-
paid 2nd hand vehicle already within the Member State. Denmark has yet to adapt its law in accordance
with the ruling. The resulting legal position is currently under examination.

In addition to the provisions of the EC Treaty, two Council Directives severely restrict the rights of
Member States to apply consumption taxes to vehicles that citizens import for their personal use from
other Member States.

The first of these, Council Directive 83/182/EEC of 28 March 1983 on tax exemptions within the
Community for certain means of transport temporarily imported into one Member State from another (1).
The second Directive, Council Directive 83/183/EEC of 28 March 1983 on tax exemptions applicable to
permanent imports from a Member State of the personal property of individuals (1).

In this respect, the Commission has already taken action against Denmark concerning the application of
article 1 of the above-mentioned Directive. In particular, a reasoned opinion was recently sent to Denmark
on this matter. If the Commission does not receive a satisfactory response within two months, the matter
could be taken to the Court of Justice. At this regard, it is made reference to the press communication that
was released on 23 January 2003.

The Commission presented recently a Communication on taxation of passenger cars in the Union (2), in
order to launch a consultation with Member States, other Community Institutions and important
stakeholders, on future options for action at Community and national levels. This consultation is currently
underway. Based on the main principles of the Communication and in the light of the results of the
consultation process,
the Commission could submit proposals in 2004 for Community legislation
covering, inter alia, the method of calculation of registration tax on used passenger cars transferred from
one Member State to another.

(1) OJ L 105, 23.4.1983.
(2) COM(2002) 431 final.

(2004/C 88 E/0333)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0610/03

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(3 March 2003)

Subject: EU/São Tomé and Príncipe 1999-2003: cooperation, development, human rights, assistance, etc.

For the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 and with regard to São Tomé and Príncipe, can the
Commission provide information on the following: What programmes have been or are being undertaken
by the EU with São Tomé and Príncipe? What are the funds allocated? What is the expected duration of
the individual programmes? What results have been obtained by the programmes, and what assessment
has been made of their success or otherwise? What particular developments have characterised each of the
programmes?