CELEX: C1998/055/34
Language: en
Date: 1998-02-20 00:00:00
Title: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Bundesfinanzhof by order of that court of 2 October 1997 in the case of Sarclad International Ltd, Wittington, Chesterfield, United Kingdom, against the Bundesamt für Finanzen (Case C-428/97)

C 55/18                EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                                   20.2.98
Regulation No 17 which was adopted to implement                     Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Bundesfinanzhof
Article 86; (ii) infringement of Article 173; and (iii) breach      by order of that court of 2 October 1997 in the case of
of essential procedural requirements.                               Sarclad International Ltd, Wittington, Chesterfield, United
                                                                           Kingdom, against the Bundesamt für Finanzen
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                                        (Case C-428/97)
                                                                                             (98/C 55/34)
Ð Error in classification
    Ð Erroneous interpretation of Regulation No 17.
                                                                    Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                    European Communities by order of the Bundesfinanzhof
    Ð Erroneous interpretation of Article 169 of the EC             (Federal Finance Court) of 2 October 1997, received at
        Treaty: in order for Article 169 concerning failure         the Court Registry on 18 December 1997, for a
        of a Member State to fulfil obligations to apply, it        preliminary ruling in the case of Sarclad International Ltd,
        is not sufficient that a failure to comply with            Wittington, Chesterfield, United Kingdom, against the
        Directive 93/38' is concerned and was expressly             Bundesamt für Finanzen (Federal Finance Office) on the
        referred to in the complaint, since the complaint           following question:
        was directed only at the conduct of the contracting
        entity, both as regards competition and free
        movement of goods.
                                                                    Is Article 3(a) of the eighth Council Directive 79/1072/
                                                                    EEC of 6 December 1979 on the harmonisation of the
        Nor does the Court of First Instance establish that
                                                                    laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes (1) to
        the procedure followed by the Commission was
                                                                    be interpreted as meaning:
        appropriate by citing the case-law of the Court of
        Justice according to which acts of contracting
        entities are imputable to the Member States to
        which those entities belong. If that case-law is            Ð that the duplicate of a substitute document may also
        applied to the present case, the SNCB has no                    be regarded as the original import document or the
        liability, contrary to the principle set out in                 Member States are allowed in some circumstances to
        Article 222 of the Treaty, even though the same                 treat the duplicate as the original import document, or
        misconduct could be raised against a private
        undertaking.
                                                                    Ð that taxable persons not established in the territory of
    Ð Misinterpretation of the concept of an act against                the country Ð who are covered by the eighth
        which proceedings may be brought.                               Directive 79/1072/EEC Ð are definitively precluded
                                                                        from asserting their right to deduct input tax if the
Ð Breach of essential procedural requirements                           import document originally issued has been lost before
                                                                        the application for a refund of the value added tax is
                                                                        made?
    Ð Manifest violation of the rights as of defence: the
        Court of First Instance acted in breach of this
        fundamental principle by adopting the premise               (1) OJ L 331, 27.12.1979, p. 11.
        that, in the context of a procedure pursuant to
        Article 169 of the Treaty, persons who have lodged
        a complaint have no procedural rights.
    Ð Distortion of the subject-matter of the dispute:
        with regard to the plea of inadmissibility raised by
        the Commission, the Court of First Instance failed
        to find in limine litis that there was no legal basis       Action brought on 18 December 1997 by the Commission
        for the Commission's letter closing the file, as            of the European Communities against the French Republic
        SATEBA, in its application, requested it to do. The                                (Case C-429/97)
        Court of First Instance could not, therefore,
        without exceeding its powers, act in the place of                                    (98/C 55/35)
        the Commission in selecting one of the procedures
        made available to the Commission in the context
        of Article 155 of the Treaty, in order to establish a
        ground for declaring the applicant's action                 An action against the French Republic was brought before
        inadmissible.                                               the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
                                                                    18 December 1997 by the Commission of the European
                                                                    Communities, represented by HeÂleÁne Michard and Enrico
(1) OJ C 357, 22.11.1997, p. 27.
                                                                    Traversa, acting as Agents, with an address for service in
                                                                    Luxembourg at the office of Carlos Gómez de la Cruz,
                                                                    Wagner Centre, Kirchberg.