CELEX: C2000/163/34
Language: en
Date: 2000-06-10 00:00:00
Title: Case C-129/00: Action brought on 4 April 2000 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Italian Republic

10.6.2000              EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 163/19
Are the provisions of Article 56 et seq. of the EC Treaty to be         Such conduct clearly conflicts with Community law, as
interpreted as precluding the application of Paragraphs 12 to           interpreted by the Court of Justice, and specifically
14 of the Salzburger Grundverkehrsgesetz, (Salzburg Land
Transfer Law) of 1997 in the version published in LGBl. No.
11/1999, whereby any person who wishes to acquire a                     (a) with the principles of effectiveness and judicial protection
building plot in the federal Land of Salzburg must comply                    of rights recognised by Community law;
with a notification or authorisation procedure in respect of the
acquisition of that plot, with the consequence that one of the
fundamental freedoms of the acquirer of title as guaranteed by          (b) with the prohibition of making the exercise of rights
the laws of the European Union has been infringed in this                    conferred by Community law excessively difficult;
case?
                                                                        (c) with the prohibition of rules of evidence which place on
                                                                             the taxpayer the onus of proving that the taxes unduly
                                                                             paid have not been passed on to others.
Action brought on 4 April 2000 by the Commission of
  the European Communities against the Italian Republic
                         (Case C-129/00)
                         (2000/C 163/34)
An action against the Italian Republic was brought before
Court of Justice on 4 April 2000 by the Commission of the               Action brought on 5 April 2000 by the Commission of
European Communities, represented by Enrico Traversa, Legal             the European Communities against the Federal Republic
Adviser, Acting as Agent, with an address for service in                                           of Germany
Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, Wagner
Centre, Kirchberg.
                                                                                                 (Case C-130/00)
The applicant claims that the Court of Justice should:
(a) Declare that, by keeping in force the second paragraph of                                    (2000/C 163/35)
     Article 29 of Law No 428 of 29 December 1990 which, as
     interpreted and applied by the administrative and judicial
     authorities, lays down rules of evidence in relation to the        An action against the Federal Republic of Germany was
     passing on of taxes levied in breach of Community                  brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communi-
     provisions which in practice make exercise of the right to         ties on 5 April 2000 by the Commission of the European
     reimbursement of such taxes impossible or in any event             Communities, represented by Josef Christian Schieferer of the
     excessively difficult for the taxpayer and as such are             Legal Service of the Commission of the European Communi-
     incompatible with the legal principle laid down by the             ties, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office of
     Court of Justice regarding the recovery of sums paid but           Carlos Gómez de la Cruz, Wagner Centre C 254 Kirchberg,
     not due, has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC         Luxembourg.
     Treaty;
(b) Order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.
                                                                        The applicant claims that the Court should:
Pleas in law and main arguments                                         1. Declare that, by failing to adopt and communicate to the
                                                                             Commission the necessary measures to implement into
The Commission considers that the specific way in which the                  domestic law European Parliament and Council Directive
Italian provision is interpreted by the Italian judiciary and in             97/52/EC (1) of 13 October 1997 amending Directives
particular the Corte Suprema di Cassazione ultimately places                 92/50/EEC, 93/36/EEC and 93/37/EEC concerning the
on the taxpayer the burden of proving that he did not pass on                coordination of proposals for the award of public service
to his customers the amount of the unlawful tax, making it                   contracts, public supply contracts and public works con-
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to secure reimbursement              tracts respectively within the prescribed period the Federal
of the taxes. The Italian Administration has systematically,                 Republic of Germany has failed to fulfil its obligations
since the entry into force of Law No 428/90, opposed any                     under the EC Treaty and that directive.
application for reimbursement based on the illegality, under
Community law, of the levy or other charges made in
connection with customs operations or consumer taxes.                   2. Order the Federal Republic of Germany to pay the costs.