CELEX: C1999/366/06
Language: en
Date: 1999-12-18 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 16 September 1999 in Case C-414/97: Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Spain (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Imports and acquisitions of armaments - Sixth VAT Directive - National legislation not complying therewith)

C 366/4                   EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                         18.12.1999
1. On a proper construction of Council Regulation (EEC)                     1. Declares that, by exempting from value added tax intra-
     No 1768/92 of 18 June 1992 concerning the creation of a                     Community imports and acquisitions of arms, ammunition and
     supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products and,            equipment exclusively for military use, other than the aircraft and
     in particular, Article 3(b) thereof, where a product in the form            warships mentioned in points 23 and 25 of Annex F to Sixth
     referred to in the marketing authorisation is protected by a basic          Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the
     patent in force, the supplementary protection certificate is capable        harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to
     of covering the product, as a medicinal product, in any of the              turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform
     forms enjoying the protection of the basic patent.                          basis of assessment, in the version resulting from Council
                                                                                 Directive 91/680/EEC of 16 December 1991 supplementing
2. In order to determine, in connection with the application of                  the common system of value added tax and amending Directive
     Regulation No 1768/92 and, in particular, Article 3(a) thereof,             77/388/EEC with a view to the abolition of fiscal frontiers,
     whether a product is protected by a basic patent, reference must            notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 2(2), 14, 28a, and
     be made to the rules which govern that patent.                              28c(B) of that directive, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil
                                                                                 its obligations under that directive;
(1) OJ No C 41 of 7.2.1998.                                                 2. Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.
                                                                            (1) OJ No C 41 of 7.2.1998.
                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                           (Sixth Chamber)                                                    JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                        of 16 September 1999                                                          (Sixth Chamber)
in Case C-414/97: Commission of the European Communi-                                             of 16 September 1999
                     ties v Kingdom of Spain (1)
                                                                            in Case C-435/97 (reference for a preliminary ruling
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Imports                  from the Verwaltungsgericht, Autonome Sektion für die
and acquisitions of armaments — Sixth VAT Directive —                       Provinz Bozen): World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Others
          National legislation not complying therewith)                               v Autonome Provinz Bozen and Others (1)
                            (1999/C 366/06)                                 (Environment — Directive 85/337/EEC — Assessment of
                                                                                    the effects of certain public and private projects)
                     (Language of the case: Spanish)                                                   (1999/C 366/07)
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published                          (Language of the case: German)
                     in the European Court Reports)
In Case C-414/97: Commission of the European Communities                    (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
(Agents: Miguel Dı́az-Llanos La Roche and Carlos Gómez de la                                   in the European Court Reports)
Cruz) v Kingdom of Spain (Agent: Nuria Diaz Abad) —
application for a declaration that, by exempting from value                 In Case C-435/97: reference to the Court under Article 177 of
added tax intra-Community imports and acquisitions of arms,                 the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the Verwaltungs-
ammunition and equipment exclusively for military use, other                gericht, Autonome Sektion für die Provinz Bozen (Administrat-
than the aircraft and warships mentioned in points 23 and 25                ive Court, Autonomous Division for the Province of Bolzano),
of Annex F to Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May                  Italy, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending
1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States                  before that court between World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and
relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added                   Others and Autonome Provinz Bozen and Others — on the
tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1),                     interpretation of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June
notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 2(2), 14, 28a and                1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and
28c(B) of that directive, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to                private projects on the environment (OJ 1985 L 175, p. 40)
fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty — the Court (Sixth               — the Court (Sixth Chamber), composed of: P.J.G. Kapteyn,
Chamber), composed of: P.J.G. Kapteyn, President of the                     President of the Chamber, J.L. Murray and H. Ragnemalm
Chamber, G. Hirsch and J.L. Murray (Rapporteur), Judges;                    (Rapporteur), Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate General; L. Hewlett,
A. Saggio, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a               Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment on
judgment on 16 September 1999, in which it:                                 16 September 1999, in which it has ruled: