CELEX: 31971D0295
Language: en
Date: 1971-07-23 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 23 July 1971 on tax exemptions under the German Law of 28 December 1970, relating to the imposition of a tax on the carriage of goods by road

56                                 Official Journal of the European Communities
  9.8.71                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 179/37
                                              COMMISSION DECISION
                                                     of 23 July 1971
                on tax exemptions under the German Law of 28 December 1968, as extended on 23 De­
                   cember 1970, relating to the imposition of a tax on the carriage of goods by road
                                            (Only the German text is authentic;
                                                      (71 /295/EEC)
 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                                 til 31 December 1971 , without the Commission hav­
 COMMUNITIES,                                                   ing been- informed in sufficient time to submit its
                                                                comments in accordance with Article 93 (3) of the
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro­             Treaty;
pean Economic Community, and in particular the first
 subparagraph of paragraph 2 and paragraph 3 of Ar­                                          II
 ticle 93 thereof;
                                                                Whereas under Article 92 ( 1 ) aid granted by a Mem­
Having regard to the written and oral observations              ber State or through State resources in any form
put forward by the parties concerned;                           whatsoever affecting trade between Member States,
                                                                which distorts or threatens to distort competition by
                               I                                favouring certain undertakings or the production of
                                                                certain goods, is incompatible with the common mar­
Whereas in its recommendation of 31 January 19681               ket ; whereas the concept of aid extends not only to
relating in particular to the tax system governing the          actual financial payments such as subsidies, but also
carriage of goods by road, the Commission has al­               to measures in various forms which reduce the finan­
ready drawn the attention of the German Government              cial obligations normally borne by an undertaking
to the fact that certain forms of tax exemption and             and which thus, without being subsidies in the strict
abatements provided for by the draft law communi­               sense of the term, resemble them and have identical
cated to it in accordance with Article 1 of the Coun­           effects ;
cil Decision of 21 March 1962, might prove to be
incompatible with the common market within the                  (a) whereas the exemptions in respect of German
meaning of Article 92 of the EEC Treaty;                              seaports are likely to affect trade and distort
                                                                      competition between service undertakings at
Whereas the Law of 28 December 19682 includes pro­                    German seaports and those at other Community
vision for:                                                           ports on the one hand, and, on the other, as re­
                                                                      gards intra-Community provision of services be­
 (a) tax exemptions in respect of German seaports                     tween carriers serving respectively German ports
       (§ 3(7 ));                                                     and other Community ports;
 (b) tax abatements in respect of regions other than            (b) whereas the tax exemptions and abatements ap­
      West Berlin and the Zonenrandgebiet as defined                  plying to regions other than West Berlin and the
      by German law (§5 ( 1 ) and 6 (2) and (3 ));                    Zonenrandgebiet are also likely to bring about
 (c) tax relief in respect of certain inter-works long­               equivalent reductions in the cost prices of under­
                                                                      takings operating in those regions ; they are there­
                                                                      fore likely to distort competition and affect trade
Whereas, by a Law of 23 December 19 703., the Law                     between Member States;
of 28 December 1968, application of which was ini­              (c) whereas the tax relief in respect of inter-works
tially limited to 31 December 1970, was extended un­                  long-distance traffic has the same effects as re^
                                                                      gards the undertakings receiving it;
   OT No L 35 , 8.2.1968, p. 14.
   'Gesetz über die Besteuerung des Strassengüterverkehrs'
   of 28 December 1968 (Bundesgesetzblatt I , p . 1461 ,        Whereas the exceptions provided for by the Law in
   paragraph 6. 1) .                                            question, which are in the nature of aid within the
   Bundesblatt I , p . 1869                                     meaning of Article 92 ( 1 ) , have an objective which is
 ---pagebreak---                                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                    57
diametrically opposed to that of transport coordina­           (c) Whereas the tax relief in respect of inter-works
tion, since the changeover from road transport to rail             long-distance traffic by undertakings which
transport - which is the main objective of the Law -               would be placed in difficulty if the tax were
is thereby limited; whereas these exceptions cannot                levied in full, cannot fall within any of the dero­
 therefore find justification under Article 77 ;                   gations provided for in Article 92 (3 ) , since its
                                                                   scope, being general, goes beyond the limited
Whereas, furthermore, these exceptions are not cov­                regional or sectional field of application of those
ered by any of the derogations provided for in para­               derogations,
graphs 2 and 3 of Article 92, even if such derogations
could by applied to this case;                                HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
(a) whereas the tax exemptions in respect of Ger­                                     Article 1
      man seaports benefit the service undertakings at        The Federal Republic of Germany shall forthwith
      German seaports to the detriment of those at            take the measures necessary to abolish:
      other Community ports, and are therefore such
      as might alter trading conditions in a manner            (a) the exemptions in respect of German seaports
      contrary to the common interest;                              (§ 3 (7) of the law of 28 December 1968, as
(b) whereas the tax exemptions and abatements ap­                  extended on 23 December 1970, relating to the
      plying to regions other than West Berlin and the             imposition of a tax on the carriage of goods by
                                                                   road) ;
      Zonenrandgebeit as defined by German law can­
      not be considered as likely to promote the devel­        (b) the tax exemptions and abatements in respect of
      opment of those regions ; whereas, furthermore,              regions other than West Berlin and the Zonen­
      the fact that , those regions differ from those              randgebiet (§ 5 ( 1 ) and § 6 (2) and (3 ) of the
      selected by the German Government for the                    Law);
      granting of regional investment aid shows that           (c) the tax relief in respect of inter-works long­
      the exemptions and abatements in question do                 distance traffic (§ 7 of the Law).
      not have such an objective; whereas therefore
      the provisions of Article 92 (3) (a) and (c) in                                 Article 2
      respect of regional development cannot apply to
     this case;                                               This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic
                                                              of Germany.
Whereas, however, even had such an objective been
in view, that type of support constitutes operational         Done at Brussels, 23 July 1971 .
aid to undertakings which may lead them into errors
of siting or discourage them making adjustment ne­                              For the Commission
cessary in the long term; whereas, consequently, such
aid cannot in any case be regarded as being com­                                   The President
patible with the common market;                                                Franco M. MALFATTI