Case C-78/10: Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 17 February 2011 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour d’appel de Rouen — France) — Marc Berel and Others v Administration des douanes de Rouen, Receveur principal des douanes du Havre, Administration des douanes du Havre (Community Customs Code — Articles 213, 233 and 239 — Joint and several liability of several debtors for the same customs debt — Remission of import duties — Extinction of the customs debt — No possibility for a jointly and severally liable debtor to rely on a remission granted to another debtor)
Date: 2011-02-17
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: customs regulations, customs territory (EU), customs union, interpretation of the law, simplification of formalities








C_2011103EN.01000902.xml










2.4.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 103/9





Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 17 February 2011 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour d’appel de Rouen — France) — Marc Berel and Others v Administration des douanes de Rouen, Receveur principal des douanes du Havre, Administration des douanes du Havre
(Case C-78/10) (1)

(Community Customs Code - Articles 213, 233 and 239 - Joint and several liability of several debtors for the same customs debt - Remission of import duties - Extinction of the customs debt - No possibility for a jointly and severally liable debtor to rely on a remission granted to another debtor)
2011/C 103/14
Language of the case: French

Referring court

Cour d’appel de Rouen

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: Marc Berel, acting as agent of the company Port Angot Développement, Emmanuel Hess, acting as court-appointed administrator of the company Port Angot Développement, Rijn Schelde Mondia France SA, Receveur principal des douanes de Rouen Port, Administration des douanes — Havre port, Société Port Angot Développement, successor to Manutention de Produits Chimiques et Miniers Maprochim SAS, Asia Pulp & Paper France EURL

Defendants: Administration des douanes de Rouen, Receveur principal des douanes du Havre, Administration des douanes du Havre

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Cour d’appel de Rouen — Interpretation of Articles 213, 233 and 239 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1) — Remission of import duties — Whether a co-debtor of a customs debt may rely on joint and several liability for customs obligations in order to benefit from a remission of import duties previously accorded to another co-debtor

Operative part of the judgment

Articles 213, 233 and 239 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 82/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996, must be interpreted as precluding the application, in the context of joint and several liability for a customs debt within the meaning of Article 213 such as that at issue in the main proceedings, of a principle of national law which has the effect that a partial remission of duty granted on the basis of Article 239 to one of the debtors may be relied on by all the other debtors, so that the extinction of the debt provided for in point (b) of Article 233 of that Code relates to the debt as such and thus releases all the jointly and severally liable debtors from payment of the debt to the extent of the amount remitted.


(1)  OJ C 113, 01. 05. 2010.