CELEX: C1998/113/05
Language: en
Date: 1998-04-11 00:00:00
Title: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT of 10 February 1998 in Case C-245/95 P: Commission of the European Communities v. NTN Corporation and Koyo Seiko Co. Ltd, supported by NSK Ltd and Others (Appeal - Dumping - Ball-bearings originating in Japan)

C 113/2               EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                      11.4.98
              JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                 Advocate-General and R. Grass, Registrar,              gave a
                     of 10 February 1998                            judgment on 10 February 1998, in which it:
in Case C-245/95 P: Commission of the European                      1. Dismisses the appeal.
Communities v. NTN Corporation and Koyo Seiko Co.
         Ltd, supported by NSK Ltd and Others (1)
                                                                    2. Orders the Commission to pay the costs of this
(Appeal Ð Dumping Ð Ball-bearings originating in                         appeal.
                            Japan)
                        (98/C 113/05)                               (1) OJ C 229, 2.9.1995.
               (Language of the case: English)
In Case C-245/95 P, Commission of the European
Communities (Agents: Eric White and Nicholas Khan)                                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
appeal against the judgment of the Court of First Instance                                  (Fifth Chamber)
of the European Communities (Third Chamber, Extended
Composition) of 2 May 1995 NTN Corporation and                                           of 12 February 1998
Koyo Seiko v. Council (Cases T-163/94 and T-165/94,                 in Case C-346/95 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
ECR II-1381) seeking to have that judgment set aside, the           the Finanzgericht München): Elisabeth Blasi v. Finanzamt
other parties to the proceedings being: NTN Corporation,                                     München I (1)
a company incorporated under Japanese law, whose
registered office is in Osaka (Japan), represented by Jürgen        (Sixth VAT Directive Ð Exemption Ð Letting of
Schwarze and Malte Sprenger, Rechtsanwälte, Düsseldorf,             immovable property Ð Exclusion of accommodation in
with an address for service in Luxembourg at the                        the hotel sector or in sectors with a similar function)
Chambers of Claude Penning, 78 Grand-rue; Koyo Seiko                                         (98/C 113/06)
Co. Ltd, a company incorporated under Japanese law,
whose registered office is in Osaka (Japan), represented by
                                                                                   (Language of the case: German)
Jacques Buhart, of the Paris Bar, and Charles Kaplan,
barrister, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the
Chambers of Messrs Arendt and Medernach, 8Ð10 rue                     (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
Mathias Hardt, supported by: NSK Ltd, a company                              published in the European Court Reports)
incorporated under Japanese law, whose registered office
is in Tokyo (Japan), and eight of its European subsidiaries,
NSK Bearings Europe Ltd, a company incorporated under               In Case C-346/95: reference to the Court pursuant to
English law, whose registered office is in London, NSK-             Article 177 of the EC Treaty from the Finanzgericht
RHP France SA, a company incorporated under French                  München (Finance Court, Munich) Germany, for a
law, whose registered office is in Guyancourt (France),             preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
NSK-RHP UK Ltd, a company incorporated under English                court between Elisabeth Blasi and Finanzamt München I
law, whose registered office is in Ruddington (United               Ð on the interpretation of Article 13(B)(b)(1) of sixth
Kingdom), NSK-RHP Deutschland GmbH, a company                       Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the
incorporated under German law, whose registered office is           harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating
in Ratingen (Germany), NSK-RHP Italia SpA, a company                to turnover taxes Ð Common system of value-added tax:
incorporated under Italian law, whose registered office is          uniform basis of assessment (2) Ð the Court (Fifth
in Milan (Italy), NSK-RHP Nederland BV, a company                   Chamber), composed of: C. Gulmann, President of the
incorporated under Netherlands law, whose registered                Chamber, M. Wathelet (Rapporteur), J. C. Moitinho de
office is in Amstelveen (The Netherlands), NSK-RHP                  Almeida, D. A. O. Edward and J.-P. Puissochet, Judges;
European Distribution Centre BV, a company                          F. G. Jacobs, Advocate-General; D. Louterman-Hubeau,
incorporated under Netherlands law, whose registered                Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a
office is in Amstelveen (The Netherlands), and NSK-RHP              judgment on 12 February 1998, in which it has ruled:
Iberica SA, a company incorporated under Spanish law,
whose registered office is in Barcelona (Spain), all                Article 13(B)(b)(1) of sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC
represented by David Vaughan QC, instructed by Robin                of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the
Griffith, Solicitor, with an address for service in                 Member States relating to turnover taxes Ð common
Luxembourg at the Chambers of Marc Loesch, 8 rue                    system of value-added tax: uniform basis of assessment
Zithe; Council of the European Union (Agent: Antonio                may be construed as meaning that the provision of short-
Tanca)      and     Federation    of    European      Bearing       term accommodation for guests is taxable, as constituting
Manufacturers' Associations established in Frankfurt-on-            the provision of accommodation in sectors with a function
Main (Germany), the Court, composed of G. C.                        similar to that of the hotel sector. In that regard,
Rodríguez Iglesias, President, C. Gulmann, H. Ragnemalm             Article 13(B)(b)(1) does not preclude taxation in respect
(Rapporteur) and M. Wathelet, Presidents of Chambers,               of agreements concluded for a period of less than six
G. F. Mancini, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, P. J. G.                  months, if that duration is deemed to reflect the parties'
Kapteyn, J. L. Murray, D. A. O. Edward, J.-P. Puissochet,           intention. It is, however, for the national court to
G. Hirsch, P. Jann and L. Sevón, Judges; P. LeÂger,                 determine whether, in a case before it, certain factors