CELEX: C2001/200/30
Language: en
Date: 2001-07-14 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 15 May 2001 in Case C-34/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the House of Lords): Commissioners of Customs and Excise v Primback Ltd (Value added tax — Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC — Taxable amount — Retail credit sales of goods — Credit granted by a person other than the seller and at no cost to the customer — Payment by finance company to the seller of less than the price of the goods)

14.7.2001                 EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                             C 200/17
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                                       JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                           (Fourth Chamber)
                                                                                                        of 15 May 2001
                            of 10 May 2001
in Case C-285/00: Commission of the European Communi-                       in Case C-34/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
                       ties v French Republic (1)                           the House of Lords): Commissioners of Customs and
                                                                                                  Excise v Primback Ltd (1)
(Failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations — Failure
to transpose Directive 89/48/EEC within the prescribed
period — Recognition of diplomas giving access to the
                      profession of psychologist)                           (Value added tax — Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC — Taxable
                                                                            amount — Retail credit sales of goods — Credit granted by
                                                                            a person other than the seller and at no cost to the customer
                            (2001/C 200/29)                                 — Payment by finance company to the seller of less than the
                                                                                                       price of the goods)
                      (Language of the case: French)
                                                                                                        (2001/C 200/30)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                    in the European Court Reports)
In Case C-285/00: Commission of the European Communities                                         (Language of the case: English)
(Agent: B. Mongin) v French Republic (Agents: J.-F. Dobelle
and C. Bergeot-Nunes) — application for a declaration that, by
its failure to enact legislation specifically concerning the
recognition of diplomas giving access to the profession of                  In Case C-34/99: reference to the Court under Article 177 of
psychologist for the purpose of implementing, as regards that               the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the House of Lords
profession, Council Directive 89/48/EEC of 21 December                      (United Kingdom) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings
1988 on a general system for the recognition of higher-                     pending before that court between Commissioners of Customs
education diplomas awarded on completion of professional                    and Excise and Primback Ltd — on the interpretation of
education and training of at least three years’ duration (OJ                Article 11A(1)(a) of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of
1989 L 19, p. 16), the French Republic has failed to fulfil its             17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member
obligations under that directive — the Court (Fourth Chamber),              States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value
composed of: A. La Pergola, President of the Chamber,                       added tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1)
D.A.O. Edward (Rapporteur) and C.W.A. Timmermans, Judges;                   — the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodrı́guez Iglesias, President,
D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; R. Grass, for the                 C. Gulmann, A. La Pergola, V. Skouris (Presidents of Cham-
Registrar, has given a judgment on 10 May 2001, in which it:                bers), D.A.O. Edward, J.-P. Puissochet, L. Sevón, R. Schintgen
                                                                            (Rapporteur) and N. Colneric, Judges; S. Alber, Advocate
1.    Declares that, by its failure to enact legislation specifically       General; H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar, for the Registrar,
      concerning the recognition of diplomas giving access to the           has given a judgment on 15 May 2001, in which it has ruled:
      profession of psychologist for the purpose of implementing, as
      regards that profession, Council Directive 89/48JEEC of
      21 December 1988 on a general system for the recognition of           On a proper construction of Article 11A(1)(a) of Sixth Council
      higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of pro-               Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of
      fessional education and training of at least three years’ duration,   the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common
      the French Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under        system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment, where a
      that directive;                                                       supply of goods for consideration has the following features:
2.    Orders the French Republic to pay the costs.
                                                                            —     a retail trader sells goods in return for payment of the advertised
                                                                                  price which he invoices to the purchaser and which does not
                                                                                  vary according to whether the customer pays in cash or by way
                                                                                  of credit;
(1) OJ C 259 of 9.9.2000.
                                                                            —     should the purchaser so request, the acquisition of the goods is
                                                                                  financed by the provision to him of interest-free credit by a
                                                                                  finance company distinct from the seller;
 ---pagebreak--- C 200/18                 EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                       14.7.2001
—     the finance company gives an undertaking to the purchaser that        1.   Dismisses the appeal;
      it will pay to the seller on the purchaser’s behalf the sales price
      advertised and invoiced by the seller;                                2.   Orders International Express Carriers Conference (IECC) to pay
                                                                                 the costs.
—     the finance company in fact pays to the seller, pursuant to
      agreements concluded with the seller but of which the purchaser
      is unaware, a sum less than the price advertised and invoiced;        (1) OJ C 48 of 20.2.1999.
      and
—     the purchaser repays to the finance company a sum equal to the
      price advertised and invoiced,
the taxable amount for purposes of calculating the value added tax
payable on that sale consists of the full amount payable by the
purchaser.
                                                                                            JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
(1) OJ C 100 of 10.4.1999.                                                                          of 17 May 2001
                                                                            in Case C-450/98 P: International Express Carriers Confer-
                                                                            ence (IECC) v Commission of the European Communities
                                                                                                      and Others (1)
                                                                            (Appeal — Decision rejecting complaint — Abuse of a
                                                                                   dominant position — Postal services — Remail)
                  JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                                                   (2001/C 200/32)
                           of 17 May 2001
                                                                                              (Language of the case: English)
in Case C-449/98 P: International Express Carriers Confer-
ence (IECC) v Commission of the European Communities                        In Case C-450/98 P: International Express Carriers Conference
                             and Others (1)                                 (IECC), established in Geneva (Switzerland), represented by
                                                                            E. Morgan de Rivery, J. Derenne and M. Cunningham, avocats,
(Appeal — Decision rejecting complaint — Competition —                      appeal against the judgment of the Court of First Instance
                     Postal services — Remail)                              of the European Communities (Third Chamber, Extended
                                                                            Composition) of 16 September 1998 in Joined Cases T-133/95
                                                                            and T-204/95 IECC v Comission [1998] ECR II-3645, seeking
                           (2001/C 200/31)                                  to have that judgment set aside in so far as it relates to Case T-
                                                                            204/95 and paragraphs 78 to 83 of Case T-133/95, the other
                                                                            parties to the proceedings being: Commission of the European
                    (Language of the case: English)                         Communities (Agent: K. Wiedner, assisted by N. Forwood),
                                                                            Deutsche Post AG (avocat: by D. Schroeder), United Kingdom
                                                                            of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The Post Office and La
In Case C-449/98 P: International Express Carriers Conference               Poste, the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodrı́guez Iglesias,
(IECC), established in Geneva (Switzerland), represented by                 President, A. La Pergola and M. Wathelet (Presidents of
E. Morgan de Rivery, J. Derenne and M. Cunningham, avocats                  Chambers), J.-P. Puissochet, P. Jann, L. Sevón, N. Colneric,
— appeal against the judgment of the Court of First Instance                S. von Bahr and C.W.A. Timmermans (Rapporteur), Judges;
of the European Communities (Third Chamber, Extended                        D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; H. von Holstein,
Composition) of 16 September 1998 in Case T-110/95 IECC                     Deputy Registrar, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
v Commission [1998] ECR II-3605, seeking to have that                       17 May 2001, in which it:
judgment set aside, the other parties to the proceedings
being Commission of the European Communities, (Agents:                      1.   Dismisses the appeal;
K. Wiedner, assisted by N. Forwood), La Poste (avocat:
H. Lehman), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern                    2.   Orders International Express Carriers Conference (IECC) to pay
Ireland, and The Post Office — the Court, composed of:                           the costs.
G.C. Rodrı́guez Iglesias, President, A. La Pergola and M. Wathe-
let (Presidents of Chambers), J.-P. Puissochet, P. Jann, L. Sevón,
N. Colneric, S. von Bahr and C.W.A. Timmermans (Rapporte-                   (1) OJ C 48 of 20.2.1999.
ur), Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate General; D. Lou-
terman-Hubeau, Head of Division, for the Registrar, has given
a judgment on 17 May 2001, in which it: