Case C-462/24, Braila Winds: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Curtea de Apel București (Romania) lodged on 1 July 2024 – Braila Winds SRL v Președintele Agenției Naționale de Administrare Fiscală, Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală, Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală – Direcția Generală Proceduri pentru Administrarea Veniturilor, Ministerul Finanțelor Publice – Direcția Generală de Soluționare a Contestațiilor, and DGRFP București – Administrația Fiscală pentru Contribuabili Mijlocii București
Date: 2024-07-01
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: State aid, carbon neutrality, electrical energy, environmental tax, equal treatment, polluter pays principle, price of energy, renewable energy, tax exemption








C_202406905EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/6905


25.11.2024






Request for a preliminary ruling from the Curtea de Apel București (Romania) lodged on 1 July 2024 – Braila Winds SRL v Președintele Agenției Naționale de Administrare Fiscală, Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală, Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală – Direcția Generală Proceduri pentru Administrarea Veniturilor, Ministerul Finanțelor Publice – Direcția Generală de Soluționare a Contestațiilor, and DGRFP București – Administrația Fiscală pentru Contribuabili Mijlocii București


(Case C-462/24, Braila Winds)

(C/2024/6905)
Language of the case: Romanian

Referring court

Curtea de Apel București

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Braila Winds SRL

Defendants: Președintele Agenției Naționale de Administrare Fiscală, Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală, Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală – Direcția Generală Proceduri pentru Administrarea Veniturilor, Ministerul Finanțelor Publice – Direcția Generală de Soluționare a Contestațiilor, and DGRFP București – Administrația Fiscală pentru Contribuabili Mijlocii București

Questions referred







1.


Must the provisions of Articles 107 and 108 TFEU be interpreted as meaning that national legislation which imposes a tax only on certain producers of electricity, such as renewable [energy producers], [and] not all electricity producers, constitutes State aid granted to such producers and subject to the notification requirement?










2.


Must the provisions of Article 3(1) and (4), Article 9(2) and Article 58(b) to (d) of Directive 2019/944, (1) as well as Article 3(b), (f), (g), (j) and (n) of Regulation 2019/943, (2) under which the Member States must guarantee a level playing field and non-discriminatory conditions to electricity producers, be interpreted as precluding national legislation that imposes an additional tax only on certain electricity producers, including renewable [energy producers], exempting certain categories of producers from paying tax, even though all electricity producers are in a comparable situation, having regard, inter alia, to the comparable income obtained from the sale of electricity?










3.


Must Articles 49, 56 and 63 TFEU, as well as Article 17 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, be interpreted as precluding national legislation which imposes a discriminatory and excessive tax only on certain producers of electricity (including renewable [energy producers]), to the exclusion of other categories of producer?










4.


Prior to Regulation 2022/1854, (3) must Directive 2019/944 and Regulation 2019/943 be interpreted as precluding national legislation that results in the fixing of selling prices or a restriction on the freedom to set selling prices?










5.


Must (a) the precautionary principle, the principle that preventive action should be taken, the principle that pollution should be rectified at source and the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and (b) Article 2(1) and (2) [and] Article 4 of Regulation 2021/1119, (4) in conjunction with Article 191(2) TFEU and Article 3(1), (3) and (4) of Directive 2018/2001, (5) which regulates the objectives of climate neutrality at EU level, be interpreted as precluding national legislation that undermines the European objectives relating to the achievement of climate neutrality and the European Union’s policy on energy taxation? If so, what are the criteria to be met when determining that tax in order to comply with the principles set out above?










6.


Must Article 401 of Directive 2006/112/EC (6) be interpreted as precluding national legislation such as that introduced by [Ordonanța de urgență a Guvernului nr. 27/2022 privind măsurile aplicabile clienților finali din piața de energie electrică și gaze naturale în perioada 1 aprilie 2022-31 martie 2023, precum și pentru modificarea și completarea unor acte normative, cu modificările și completările ulterioare (Government Emergency Order No 27/2022 laying down measures applicable to final customers in the electricity and natural gas market during the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, and amending and supplementing certain legislative acts, as subsequently amended and supplemented)], which imposes a turnover tax on revenue from the sale of electricity?






(1)  Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU (OJ 2019 L 158, p. 125).

(2)  Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the internal market for electricity (OJ 2019 L 158, p. 54).

(3)  Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 of 6 October 2022 on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices (OJ 2022 L 261I, p. 1).

(4)  Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (‘European Climate Law’) (OJ 2021 L 243, p. 1).

(5)  Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (OJ 2018 L 328, p. 82).

(6)  Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ 2006 L 347, p. 1).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/6905/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)