CELEX: C2001/369/11
Language: en
Date: 2001-12-22 00:00:00
Title: Case C-387/01: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Verwaltungsgerichtshof, by order of that court of 20 September 2001, in the case of (1) Dr Harald Weigel and (2) Ingrid Weigel against the Finanzlandesdirektion für Vorarlberg

22.12.2001            EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                         C 369/7
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Verwaltungsge-              Action brought on 8 October 2001 by the French Repub-
richtshof, by order of that court of 20 September 2001,               lic against the Commission of the European Communities
in the case of (1) Dr Harald Weigel and (2) Ingrid Weigel
     against the Finanzlandesdirektion für Vorarlberg
                                                                                               (Case C-394/01)
                                                                                               (2001/C 369/12)
                         (Case C-387/01)
                         (2001/C 369/11)                              An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                      ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
                                                                      Communities on 8 October 2001 by the French Republic
                                                                      represented by G. de Bergues and F. Million, acting as Agents,
                                                                      with an address for service in Luxembourg.
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
European Communities by order of the Verwaltungsgerichts-             The French Republic claims that the Court should:
hof (Federal Administrative Court) of 20 September 2001,
received at the Court Registry on 8 October 2001, for a
preliminary ruling in the case of (1) Dr Harald Weigel and (2)        —     annul the Commission’s decision of 25 July 2001, taken
Ingrid Weigel against the Finanzlandesdirektion für Vorarlberg,             on the basis of Articles 87 and 88 EC relating to State aid
on the following questions:                                                 granted by France in the form of development assistance
                                                                            for the liner ‘Le Levant’ built by Alstom Leroux Naval and
                                                                            intended for operation in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon; and
1.   Is Article 39 EC (freedom of movement for workers) or
     Article 12 EC (discrimination on the ground of national-         —     order the Commission to pay the costs.
     ity) to be construed as meaning that those provisions are
     infringed where Normverbrauchsabgabe (basic duty plus
     surcharge) is charged on a vehicle brought into the
     Republic of Austria from another part of the Community
     in connection with a transfer of residence necessitated by       Pleas in law and main arguments
     a change of job?
                                                                      Errors of fact and of law and manifest errors of assessment
2.   Do Article 90 EC (prohibition of higher taxation on              relating to the ‘development’ component of the aid at issue;
     goods from other Member States) or Article 23 EC
     (Customs Union) and Article 25 EC (prohibition of
     customs duties or charges having equivalent effect as
     between Member States) preclude the imposition of                The Commission is wrong to take the view that the objectives
     the Normverbrauchsabgabe (basic duty and surcharge               regarding job creation have not been achieved. Seventeen crew
     respectively) mentioned in the first preliminary question?       members were recruited in the West Indies and twelve in Saint-
                                                                      Pierre-et-Miquelon. The permanent staff attached to the ship
                                                                      thus tallies with the estimates (55 posts) and eleven posts were
3.   Is imposition of the surcharge determined as part of the         created with the shipowners instead of the five projected.
     Normverbrauchsabgabe referred to in the first prelimi-
     nary question compatible with Sixth Council Directive
     (77/388/EEC) of 17 May 1977 (1) on the harmonization             Lastly, the French Government challenges the Commission’s
     of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover            assessment which finds that the economic consequences of the
     taxes Common system of value added tax: uniform                  aid for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon are inadequate. First, it submits
     basis of assessment, as amended by Council Directive             that the Commission could not evaluate the economic conse-
     91/680/EEC of 16 December 1991 (2) supplementing the             quences arising from the aid over the period 2001-2003 by
     common system of value added tax with a view to the              reference to a calculation involving the extrapolation of figures
     abolition of fiscal frontiers?                                   recorded for the years 1999 and 2000 without committing an
                                                                      error of law. Second, the Commission’s evaluation is based on
                                                                      errors of fact. In any event, even if the economic consequences
                                                                      for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon do not exceed the amount of the
(1) OJ 1997 L 145, p. 1.                                              aid, it is nevertheless appropriate to evaluate them in the
(2) OJ 1991 L 376, p. 1.                                              context of the archipelago, that is to say, by reference, in
                                                                      particular, to its size and economic potential.