Case C-386/24, Centro Petroli Roma – II: Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 11 June 2026 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato – Italy) – Centro Petroli Roma Srl v Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Rule of law – Judicial independence – Article 267 TFEU – Obligation on national courts or tribunals of last instance to make a reference for a preliminary ruling – Individual liability of judges – Taxation – General arrangements for excise duty – Directive 2008/118/EC – Article 16(1) – Tax warehouse – Opening and operation – Authorisation – Conditions – Fixing by national legislation – Distinction according to the storage capacity of warehouses – Criterion relating to the existence of actual operational and supply needs of the installation for all warehouses – Additional criterion relating to the delivery of a minimum quantity of products over a reference period or to the dependence on another tax warehouse for small warehouses – Whether justified – Principle of proportionality)
Date: 2026-06-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: energy storage, excise duty, principle of proportionality, storage, storage of hydrocarbons








C_202603967EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/3967


3.8.2026






Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 11 June 2026 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato – Italy) – Centro Petroli Roma Srl v Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli


(Case C-386/24,
                (1)
Centro Petroli Roma – II)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Rule of law - Judicial independence - Article 267 TFEU - Obligation on national courts or tribunals of last instance to make a reference for a preliminary ruling - Individual liability of judges - Taxation - General arrangements for excise duty - Directive 2008/118/EC - Article 16(1) - Tax warehouse - Opening and operation - Authorisation - Conditions - Fixing by national legislation - Distinction according to the storage capacity of warehouses - Criterion relating to the existence of ‘actual operational and supply needs of the installation’ for all warehouses - Additional criterion relating to the delivery of a minimum quantity of products over a reference period or to the dependence on another tax warehouse for small warehouses - Whether justified - Principle of proportionality)
(C/2026/3967)
Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Consiglio di Stato

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Centro Petroli Roma Srl

Defendant: Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli

Interveners: IP Industrial SpA, Eni SpA

Operative part of the judgment

Article 16(1) of Council Directive 2008/118/EC of 16 December 2008 concerning the general arrangements for excise duty and repealing Directive 92/12/EEC, as amended by Council Directive (EU) 2019/475 of 18 February 2019,
must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, supplemented as the case may be by implementing measures, which makes the authorisation to manage commercial warehouses for liquefied petroleum gas with a capacity of less than 400 cubic metres and commercial warehouses for other energy products with a capacity of less than 10 000 cubic metres under the tax warehouse regime subject to the existence of ‘actual operational and supply needs of the installation’ and to the alternative condition that either (i) the warehouse in question carries out supplies of products exempt from excise duty or at a reduced rate of excise duty, transfers of energy products under duty suspension arrangements to Member States or exports to third countries amounting to at least 30 % of the total withdrawals over a two-year period or (ii) the warehouse in question is an extension of a tax warehouse situated in the immediate vicinity belonging to the same group of companies or, if it is under different ownership, it is intended to operate at the service of the latter warehouse on a permanent basis, provided that the principle of proportionality is observed.


(1)  OJ C, C/2024/5212.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/3967/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)