CELEX: C2001/061/17
Language: en
Date: 2001-02-24 00:00:00
Title: Cases C-9, 10, 11 and 12/01: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Hof van Beroep te Gent by judgment of that court of 3 January 2001 in the cases of S. Monnier against Govan Sports N.V., E. Van Ankeren against Govan Sports N.V., Govan Sports N.V. against P. Jacobs, and Govan Sports N. V. against D. D'Hondt

C 61/10               EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                    24.2.2001
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Østre Landsret               Question 5
by decision of 20 December 2000 in the case of Assur-
andør-Societet, acting on behalf of Taksatorring, v Skatte-            Does the fact that assessment services are, so far as the largest
                           ministeriet                                 insurance companies are concerned, provided by assessors
                                                                       employed by those insurance companies themselves and are
                                                                       thus exempt from VAT have any bearing on the answers to
                          (Case C-8/01)                                Questions 1 and 2?
                         (2001/C 61/16)                                (1) OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1.
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by decision of 20 December 2000 by
the Østre Landsret (Eastern Regional Court), which was
received at the Court Registry on 10 January 2001, for a
preliminary ruling in the case of Assurandør-Societet, acting
on behalf of Taksatorring, v Skatteministeriet on the following
questions:
                                                                       Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Hof van Beroep
                                                                       te Gent by judgment of that court of 3 January 2001 in
Question 1                                                             the cases of S. Monnier against Govan Sports N.V., E. Van
                                                                       Ankeren against Govan Sports N.V., Govan Sports N.V.
                                                                       against P. Jacobs, and Govan Sports N. V. against
Must the provisions of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of                                      D. D’Hondt
17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member
States relating to turnover taxes Common system of value
added tax: uniform basis of assessment (1), and in particular the                      (Cases C-9, 10, 11 and 12/01)
provision in Article 13B(a) thereof, be interpreted as meaning
that assessment services which an undertaking provides for its                                  (2001/C 61/17)
members are to be regarded as being covered by the term
‘insurance transaction’, within the meaning of that provision,
or by the term ‘related services performed by insurance brokers        Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
and insurance agents’?                                                 European Communities by judgments of 3 January 2001 of
                                                                       the Hof van Beroep te Gent (Court of Appeal, Ghent), received
                                                                       at the Court Registry on 10 January 2001, for a preliminary
Question 2                                                             ruling in the cases of S. Monnier against Govan Sports N. V.
                                                                       (C-9/01), E. Van Ankeren against Govan Sports N. V.
                                                                       (C-10/01), Govan Sports N. V. against P. Jacobs (C-11/01) and
Must Article 13A(1)(f) of the Sixth VAT Directive be interpreted       Govan Sports N. V. against D. D’Hondt (C-12/01) on the
as meaning that exemption from VAT must be granted for                 following question:
services of the type which an undertaking — which otherwise
meets the conditions set out in that provision for VAT
exemption — provides for its members, in the case where it             Do the provisions of the Treaty concerning the free provision
cannot be demonstrated that the exemption will produce                 of services preclude a statutory prohibition on providing
actual or imminent distortion of competition but where there           employment procurement services for paid sportspersons
is merely a possibility that this might happen?                        (whether or not they are professionals) and/or does the holding
                                                                       of a monopoly on the provision of such services for such
                                                                       sportspersons by the Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling
Question 3                                                             (Flemish Employment Procurement Service) constitute an
                                                                       abuse of a dominant position? Do the provisions of the Royal
                                                                       Decree of 28 November 1975 thus infringe the provisions of
Does the issue of how remote the possibility of a distortion of        Community law, and in particular Articles 86 and 90(1) of the
competition may be assumed to be, or whether the possibility           EC Treaty, in so far as that Royal Decree confers the exclusive
seems unrealistic, have any bearing on the answer to Ques-             right to procure employment for paid (professional or non-
tion 2?                                                                professional) sportspersons on a public employment agency,
                                                                       in so far as that statutory provision also renders the actual
Question 4                                                             pursuit of such activities by private employment agencies
                                                                       impossible by maintaining in force a statutory provision under
                                                                       which such activities are prohibited and non-observance of
Would it be incompatible with Article 13A(1)(f) of the Sixth           that provision renders the agreements concerned void, and in
VAT Directive to proceed on the basis that under national law          so far as the procurement activities concerned may extend to
it is possible to make a tax exemption that is notified pursuant       the nationals or to the territory of other Member States?
to that provision limited in time in cases where there is doubt
as to whether the exemption might at a later stage distort
competition?