Valsts ieņēmumu dienests v "LS Customs Services", SIA.
Date: 2017-11-09
27


It is apparent from the wording of that provision, in particular of the expression ‘sold for export to the customs territory of the Community’, that the transaction value must be equal to a price for export to the European Union. It must therefore be agreed, at the time of sale, that the goods originating in a third country will be transported into the customs territory of the European Union (see, to that effect, judgments of 6 June 1990, Unifert, C‑11/89, EU:C:1990:237, paragraph 11, and of 28 February 2008, Carboni e derivati, C‑263/06, EU:C:2008:128, paragraph 28).
30


The customs value must reflect the real economic value of imported goods (see, to that effect, judgment of 12 December 2013, Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 40 and the case-law cited).
35


In that regard, it should be recalled that only an economic operator on whose part the national authorities have promoted reasonable expectations on account of precise, unconditional and consistent assurances, given to that operator from authorised, reliable sources has the right to rely on the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations (see, to that effect, judgments of 10 December 2015, Veloserviss, C‑427/14, EU:C:2015:803, paragraph 39, and of 14 June 2016, Marchiani v Parliament, C‑566/14 P, EU:C:2016:437, paragraph 77).
39


As a preliminary point, it should be noted that the right to good administration, insofar as it reflects a general principle of EU law, has requirements that must be met by the Member States when they implement EU law (see, by analogy, judgment of 8 May 2014, N., C‑604/12, EU:C:2014:302, paragraphs 49 and 50).
40


Among those requirements, the obligation to state reasons for decisions adopted by the national authorities is particularly important, since it puts their addressee in a position to defend its rights under the best possible conditions and decide in full knowledge of the circumstances whether it is worthwhile to bring an action against those decisions. It is also necessary in order to enable the courts to review the legality of those decisions (see, to that effect, judgment of 15 October 1987, Heylens and Others, 222/86, EU:C:1987:442, paragraph 15).
42


Moreover, in accordance with Article 221(1) of the Customs Code, notification of the amount of duties must ensure that the debtor receives adequate information and enable him, with full knowledge of the facts, to defend his rights (see, to that effect, judgment of 23 February 2006, Molenbergnatie, C‑201/04, EU:C:2006:136, paragraph 54).
43


It should be noted, lastly, that, in accordance with the settled case-law, the methods for determination of customs value set out in Articles 29 to 31 of the code are subordinately linked to each other. Thus, it is only when the customs value cannot be determined by applying a given method that it is appropriate to refer to the method which comes immediately after it in the order established by those provisions (see, to that effect, judgment of 12 December 2013, Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 43).
46


It should be added, as the Advocate General noted in point 85 of her Opinion, that it is for the Member States, exercising their procedural autonomy, to regulate the consequences of a failure by the customs authorities to fulfil their obligation to state reasons and to determine whether and to what extent such a failure may be remedied in the course of legal proceedings, subject to observance of the principles of equivalence and effectiveness (see, to that effect, judgment of 3 July 2008, Commission v Ireland, C‑215/06, EU:C:2008:380, paragraph 57).