X v Staatssecretaris van Financiën.
Date: 2016-04-27
22


As Regulation No 1186/2009 does not provide a definition of the term ‘normal residence’ as used in Article 3 thereof, it is necessary, for the purpose of determining the scope of that provision, to take account of its wording, context and objectives (judgment in Angerer, C‑477/13, EU:C:2015:239, paragraph 26 and the case-law cited).
27


It is apparent from the case-law relating to the second recital of Regulation No 918/83, the content of which is identical to that of recital 3 of Regulation No1186/2009, that the objectives pursued by the EU legislature when Regulation No 918/83 was adopted were to make it easier to establish a natural person’s new residence in the Member State concerned and to facilitate the work of the customs authorities of the Member States (judgment in Treimanis, C‑487/11, EU:C:2012:556, paragraph 24). Those considerations are applicable to Regulation No 1186/2009 since, by that regulation, the EU legislature codified the various provisions of the rules governing relief from customs duty, including the provisions of Regulation No 918/83.
31


As a preliminary point, it should be noted that, according to established case-law developed in a number of areas of EU law, normal residence must be regarded as the place where the person concerned has established his permanent centre of interests (see, by analogy, judgments in Schäflein v Commission, 284/87, EU:C:1988:414, paragraph 9; Ryborg, C‑297/89, EU:C:1991:160, paragraph 19; Louloudakis, C‑262/99, EU:C:2001:407, paragraph 51; Alevizos, C‑392/05, EU:C:2007:251, paragraph 55; I, C‑255/13, EU:C:2014:1291, paragraph 44, and B., C‑394/13, EU:C:2014:2199, paragraph 26).
32


It has also been held that all the relevant facts must be taken into consideration in determining normal residence as the permanent centre of interests of the person concerned (see, by analogy, judgments in Schäflein v Commission, 284/87, EU:C:1988:414, paragraph 10; Ryborg, C‑297/89, EU:C:1991:160, paragraph 20; Louloudakis, C‑262/99, EU:C:2001:407, paragraph 55; Alevizos, C‑392/05, EU:C:2007:251, paragraph 57, and I, C‑255/13, EU:C:2014:1291, paragraphs 45 and 46).
33


In the judgments in Louloudakis (C‑262/99, EU:C:2001:407) and Alevizos (C‑392/05, EU:C:2007:251), the relevance of which is questioned by the referring court in relation to its second question, for the purpose of determining the normal place of residence within the meaning of Article 3 of Regulation No 1186/2009, the Court stated, with regard to Article 7(1) of Directive 83/182 and Article 6(1) of Directive 83/183, that the relevant facts to be taken into consideration in determining normal residence as the permanent centre of interests of the person concerned include, in particular, the actual presence of the person concerned and of the members of his family, availability of accommodation, the place where the children actually attend school, the place where business is conducted, the place where property interests are situated and that of administrative links to public authorities and social services, inasmuch as those factors express the intention of that person to confer a certain stability on the place of connection, by reason of the continuity arising from a way of life and the development of normal social and occupational relationships (judgments in Louloudakis, C‑262/99, EU:C:2001:407, paragraph 55, and Alevizos, C‑392/05, EU:C:2007:251, paragraph 57).
34


The Court also stated in those judgments that where it is not possible on the basis of an overall assessment of all the relevant facts to locate the permanent centre of interests of the person concerned, primacy must be given, for the purposes of locating it, to personal ties (judgments in Louloudakis, C‑262/99, EU:C:2001:407, paragraph 53, and Alevizos, C‑392/05, EU:C:2007:251, paragraph 61).
36


It should be noted in that regard that it is clear from the judgments in Louloudakis (C‑262/99, EU:C:2001:407, paragraph 53) and Alevizos (C‑392/05, EU:C:2007:251, paragraph 61) that the primacy given to personal ties is based on an interpretation of Article 7(1) of Directive 83/182 and Article 6(1) of Directive 83/183. However, Regulation No 1186/2009 does not contain any equivalent provision.