Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of  19 January 2006  in Case C-547/03 P Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) v Commission of the European Communities (Appeal — Asia-Invest Programme — Public call for proposals — Contract — Article 111 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance — Manifest inadmissibility — No legal interest in bringing proceedings — Article 64 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance — Measures of organisation of procedure — Request for production of documents — Parties requested to make written submissions on certain aspects of the proceedings)
Date: 2006-03-25
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Asia, action for annulment (EU), contract, research body, research project, scientific cooperation

25.3.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 74/1

I

(Information)

COURT OF JUSTICE

COURT OF JUSTICE

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Third Chamber)

of 12 January 2006

in Joined Cases C-354/03, C-355/03 and C-484/03: Refer-
ences for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of
Justice of England and Wales, Chancery Division (United
Kingdom) in Optigen Ltd, Fulcrum Electronics Ltd and
Bond House Systems Ltd v Commissioners of Customs &
Excise (1)

(Sixth VAT Directive — Article 2(1), Article 4(1) and (2)
and Article 5(1) — Deduction of input tax — Economic
activity — Taxable person acting as such — Supply of goods
— Transaction forming part of a chain of supply involving a
defaulting trader or a trader using an unauthorised VAT
number — Carousel fraud)

(2006/C 74/01)

(Language of the cases: English)

In Joined Cases C-354/03, C-355/03 and C-484/03: references
for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the High
Court of
Justice of England and Wales, Chancery Division
(United Kingdom), made by decisions of 28 July 2003 (C-354/
03 and C-355/03) and 27 October 2003 (C-484/03), received
at the Court on 18 August 2003 and 19 November 2003
respectively, in the proceedings between Optigen Ltd (C-354/
03), Fulcrum Electronics Ltd (C-355/03), Bond House
Systems Ltd (C-484/03) and Commissioners of Customs &
Excise — the Court (Third Chamber), composed of A. Rosas,
President of the Chamber, J. Malenovský, J.-P. Puissochet, S.
Judges; M. Poiares
von Bahr (Rapporteur) and U. Lõhmus,
Maduro, Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Principal Administrator,
for the Registrar, gave a judgment on 12 January 2006,
in
which it rules:

Transactions such as those at issue in the main proceedings, which
are not
themselves vitiated by value added tax fraud, constitute
supplies of goods or services effected by a taxable person acting as
such and an economic activity within the meaning of Articles 2(1), 4
and 5(1) of 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, as amended by Council Directive 95/7/EC of 10 April

1995, where they fulfil the objective criteria on which the definitions
of those terms are based, regardless of the intention of a trader other
than the taxable person concerned involved in the same chain of
supply and/or the possible fraudulent nature of another transaction in
the chain, prior or subsequent to the transaction carried out by that
taxable person, of which that taxable person had no knowledge and
no means of knowledge. The right to deduct input value added tax of
a taxable person who carries out such transactions cannot be affected
by the fact that in the chain of supply of which those transactions
form part another prior or subsequent transaction is vitiated by value
added tax fraud, without that taxable person knowing or having any
means of knowing.

(1) OJ C 251 of 18.10.2003.
OJ C 35 of 07.02.2004.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 19 January 2006

in Case C-547/03 P Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) v
Commission of the European Communities (1)

(Appeal — Asia-Invest Programme — Public call for propo-
sals — Contract — Article 111 of the Rules of Procedure of
the Court of First Instance — Manifest inadmissibility — No
legal interest in bringing proceedings — Article 64 of the
Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance — Measures
of organisation of procedure — Request for production of
documents — Parties requested to make written submissions
on certain aspects of the proceedings)

(2006/C 74/02)

(Language of the case: French)

In Case C-547/03 P: appeal under Article 56 of the Statute of
the Court of Justice lodged on 22 December 2003, by Asian
Institute of Technology (AIT), established in Pathumthani

C 74/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

25.3.2006

(Thailand) (lawyer: H. Teissier du Cros), the other party to the
proceedings being Commission of the European Commu-
nities (represented by P.J. Kuijper and B. Schöfer, Agents) —
the Court (Second Chamber), composed of C.W.A. Timmer-
mans, President of the Chamber,
J. Makarczyk, R. Silva de
Lapuerta, P. Kūris and G. Arestis (Rapporteur), Judges; C. Stix-
Hackl, Advocate General; K. Sztranc, Administrator, gave a
judgment on 19 January 2006, in which it:

preted as including the service described in Question 1
above?

3. Are the answers to the above questions affected by the fact
that the body which makes the teacher available is itself also
an educational institution?

1. Dismisses the appeal;

2. Orders the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 47 of 21. 2. 2004.

(1) Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmo-
nization of the laws of Member States relating to turnover taxes —
Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment OJ
1977 L 145, p 1.

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad
Der Nederlanden by order of that court of 2 December
2005 in Investrand B.V. v Staatssecretaris van Financiën

(Case C-435/05)

(2006/C 74/04)

(Language of the case: Dutch)

Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the Euro-
pean Communities by order of the Hoge Raad Der Nederlanden
(Supreme Court of the Netherlands) of 2 December 2005,
received at the Court Registry on 5 December 2005, for a preli-
minary ruling in the proceedings between Investrand B.V. and
Staatssecretaris van Financiën on the following question:

In the context of the right of deduction granted in Article 17(2)
of the Sixth Directive (1), must it be held that there is a direct
and immediate link between specific services obtained by a
taxable person and taxable transactions yet to be performed by
that same taxable person in a case where those services have
been obtained with a view to establishing a monetary claim
that forms part of his assets but which arose in a period
preceding that in which he was liable for VAT?

(1) Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmo-
nization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes
– Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment
OJ 1977 L 145, p. l

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad
Der Nederlanden by order of that court of 2 December
2005 in Stichting Regionaal Opleidingen Centrum Noord-
Kennemerland/West-Friesland (Horizon College) v Staats-
secretaris van Financiën

(Case C-434/05)

(2006/C 74/03)

(Language of the case: Dutch)

Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the Euro-
pean Communities by order of the Hoge Raad Der Nederlanden
(Supreme Court of the Netherlands) of 2 December 2005,
received at the Court Registry on 5 December 2005, for a preli-
minary ruling in the proceedings between Stichting Regionaal
Opleidingen
Centrum Noord-Kennemerland/West-Friesland
(Horizon College) and Staatssecretaris van Financiën on the
following questions:

1. Is Article 13 A(1)(i) of the Sixth Directive (1) to be inter-
preted as meaning that the provision of education includes
the making available, for consideration, of a teacher to an
educational
institution in order that he may temporarily
provide teaching services there within the area of responsi-
bility of that educational institution?

2. If the answer to that question is in the negative, can the
concept of ‘services closely related to education’ be inter-