Case C-205/04: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of  23 February 2006  — Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain (Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Freedom of movement for workers — Failure to take account of seniority and professional experience acquired in the public service of other Member States — Article 39 EC — Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68)
Date: 2006-06-03
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Spain, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, civil service, free movement of workers, professional experience, recognition of vocational training qualifications, seniority, worker (EU)

C 131/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

3.6.2006

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Belgische Staat

Defendant: Molenbergnatie NV

Re:

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 23 February
2006 — Commission of the European Communities v
Kingdom of Spain

(Case C-205/04) (1)

its obligations —
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil
Freedom of movement for workers — Failure to take account
of seniority and professional experience acquired in the public
service of other Member States — Article 39 EC — Article 7
of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68)

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Hof van Beroep te
Antwerpen — Interpretation of Council Regulation (EEC) No
2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community
Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1) — Temporal application
— Recovery of a customs debt incurred before the regulation
became applicable — Interpretation of Article 221 of the Com-
munity Customs Code — Duty to notify the debtor of the
amount of duty owed as soon as it has been entered in the
accounts and to effect such notification no later than three
years from the date when the customs debt was incurred.

Parties

(2006/C 131/21)

Language of the case: Spanish

Operative part of the judgment

1. Only the procedural rules set out in Articles 217 to 232 of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992
establishing the Community Customs Code apply to the recovery,
commenced after 1 January 1994, of a customs debt incurred
prior to that date.

2. Article 221(1) of Regulation No 2913/92 requires the amount
of import or export duty to be entered in the accounts before it is
communicated to the debtor.

3. On expiry of the period prescribed by Article 221(3) of Regulation
No 2913/92, an action for recovery of a customs debt is time-
barred subject to the exception laid down in that article, which
amounts to the debt itself being time-barred and, consequently,
extinguished. In the light of
the rule thus established, Article
221(3) must be considered, unlike Article 221(1) and (2), to be
a substantive provision and cannot,
therefore, be applied to
recovery of a customs debt incurred prior to 1 January 1994.
Where the customs debt was incurred prior to 1 January 1994,
that debt can be governed only by the rules on limitation in force
at that date, even if the procedure for recovery of the debt was
commenced after 1 January 1994.

4. Member States are not required to adopt specific procedural rules
on the manner in which communication of the amount of import
or export duties is to be made to the debtor where national proce-
dural rules of general application can be applied to that communi-
cation, which ensure that the debtor receives adequate information
and which enable him, with full knowledge of the facts, to defend
his rights.

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: G. Rozet, acting as Agent)

Defendant): Kingdom of Spain (represented by: N. Díaz Abad,
acting as Agent)

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Article 39
EC and Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of the
Council of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for
workers within the Community (English Special Edition 1968
(II), p. 475) — Access to the Spanish civil service — Obligation
to recognise from an economic point of view the services
undertaken by Community citizens in the public service of
another Member State

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1. Declares that, by failing to adopt a law which expressly provides,
in respect of the Spanish civil service, for account to be taken, for
financial purposes, of previous periods of employment in the public
service of another Member State, the Kingdom of Spain has failed
to fulfil its obligations under Article 39 of the EC Treaty and
Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of the Council of 15
October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the
Community;

2. Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.

(1) OJ C 179, 10.07.2004.

(1) OJ C 168 of 26.06.2004.