larimo/cjeu-paragraph-retrieval huggingface dataset:
Luc Van Landschoot v NV Mera.
Date: 1988-06-29
9 According to the second subparagraph of Article 40 ( 3 ) of the EEC Treaty, the common organization of the market must exclude any discrimination between producers or consumers in the Community . The Court has consistently held that this provision which is a specific expression of the general principle of equal treatment prohibits comparable situations from being treated differently, unless such difference of treatment is objectively justified . In the light of the observations made by the parties at the hearing, it must first be examined whether the second subparagraph of Article 1 ( 2 ) of Regulation No 2040/86, as amended, discriminates between processors of cereals .
The discrimination between processors of cereals
11 In this respect, it should be borne in mind that the objective of the Community regulations governing the co-responsibility levy is to limit the structural surpluses on the cereals market . This objective provides justification for imposing the levy only on the processing of cereals placed on the market, since it is only in such a case that market surpluses are increased, whilst quantities of cereals remaining in a closed circuit do not contribute to the creation of surpluses .
22 It results from all the foregoing considerations that the second subparagraph of Article 1 ( 2 ) of Regulation No 2040/86 leads in part to discrimination between cereal processors and between cereal producers who operate in the way described above . That provision must therefore be declared invalid to that extent . It is for the Community legislature to act upon this judgment by adopting such measures as may be appropriate in order to establish equal treatment for operators as regards the contested exemption rules .
Josef Rebmann v Bundesversicherungsanstalt für Angestellte.
Date: 1988-06-29
13 As regards the particular case of frontier workers, Regulation No 1408/71 sought to realize those objectives by providing in Article 13 ( 2 ) ( a ) that their situation should be governed in principle by the legislation of the State of employment . To that general rule of attachment exceptions are provided in Article 25 ( 2 ) for sickness or maternity benefits, in Article 39 for invalidity benefit, and in Article 71 for unemployment benefit .
14 Those specific attachments to the social security system of the State of residence are based on considerations of social policy and practical efficacy . More particularly, the provision contained in Article 71, which makes the State of residence liable to pay unemployment benefit, is concerned to avoid the practical drawbacks which a frontier worker would suffer by being attached to the State of employment . His obligation to make and keep himself available to the employment services may in fact be performed more easily in the State of residence . Moreover, the authorities of that State are in a better position to pay unemployment benefit, by ensuring that the person concerned satisfies the conditions for the receipt of the benefit, at the same time facilitating his return to employment .
15 It thus appears that Regulation No 1408/71 derogates from the general rule of attachment to the State of employment only in specific situations and on grounds of practicality and efficacy which render attachment to the State of residence more appropriate and more in conformity with the interests of frontier workers .
C. Deville v Administration des impôts.
Date: 1988-06-29
12 The Court has consistently held that in the absence of Community rules concerning the refunding of national taxes which have been wrongly levied, it is for the domestic legal system of each Member State to designate the courts having jurisdiction and to determine the procedural conditions governing actions at law intended to ensure the protection of the rights which citizens derive from the direct effect of Community law, it being understood that such conditions cannot be less favourable than those relating to similar actions of a domestic nature, and may not make it impossible in practice to exercise rights which the national courts have a duty to protect ( judgments of 16 December 1976 in Case 33/76 REWE v Landwirtschaftskammer Saarland (( 1976 )) ECR 1989 and Case 45/76 Comet v Produktschap voor Siergewassen (( 1976 )) ECR 2043; judgment of 27 March 1980 in Case 61/79 Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato v Denkavit (( 1980 )) ECR 1205; judgment of 9 November 1983 in Case 199/82 Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato v San Giorgio (( 1983 )) ECR 3595 ).
13 It follows from the foregoing that a national legislature may not, subsequent to a judgment of the Court from which it follows that certain legislation is incompatible with the Treaty, adopt a procedural rule which specifically reduces the possibilities of bringing proceedings for recovery of taxes which were wrongly levied under that legislation .
17 It must be borne in mind that the Court has no jurisdiction to interpret national law . It is for the national court to determine whether the second paragraph of Article 18-V of the Law of 11 July 1985 reduces the possibilities of bringing proceedings for recovery which would otherwise have been available .
Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic.
Date: 1988-06-30
14 The system of remedies set up by the Treaty distinguishes between the remedies provided for in Articles 169 and 170, which permit a declaration that a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations, and those contained in Articles 173 and 175, which permit judicial review of the lawfulness of measures adopted by the Community institutions, or the failure to adopt such measures . Those remedies have different objectives and are subject to different rules . In the absence of a provision of the Treaty expressly permitting it to do so, a Member State cannot therefore plead the unlawfulness of a decision addressed to it as a defence in an action for a declaration that it has failed to fulfil its obligations arising out of its failure to implement that decision .
16 That objection could be upheld only if the measure at issue contained such particularly serious and manifest defects that it could be deemed non-existent ( judgment of 26 February 1987 in Case 15/85 Consorzio Cooperative d' Abruzzo v Commission (( 1987 )) ECR 1005 ). However, the arguments put forward by the Hellenic Republic contain no precise factor of such a kind as to permit the Commission' s decision to be so described . Indeed, it itself considered that the decision of 24 April 1985 was not non-existent when it stated, throughout the pre-litigation stage, that it intended to comply with that decision .
W. J. R. Mol v Inspecteur der Invoerrechten en Accijnzen.
Date: 1988-07-05
15 Since the harmfulness of narcotic drugs is generally recognized, there is a prohibition in all the Member States on marketing them, with the exception of strictly controlled trade for use for medical and scientific purposes . As the Court has already held with regard to the illegal importation of narcotic drugs into the Community, in its judgment in Einberger, such drugs are, by definition, subject to a total prohibition on importation and marketing in the Community . The Court added that such goods, whose release into the economic and commercial channels of the Community is absolutely precluded and whose illegal importation can give rise only to penalties under the criminal law, are wholly alien to the provisions of the Sixth Directive on the definition of the basis of assessment and, in consequence, to the provisions on the origination of a turnover tax debt .
18 It must be acknowledged that the principle of fiscal neutrality does in fact preclude, as far as the levying of value-added tax is concerned, a generalized differentiation between lawful and unlawful transactions . However, that is not true in the case of the supply of products, such as narcotic drugs, which have special characteristics inasmuch as, because of their very nature, they are subject to a total prohibition on their being put into circulation in all the Member States, with the exception of strictly controlled economic channels for use for medical and scientific purposes . In a specific situation of that kind where all competition between a lawful economic sector and an unlawful sector is precluded, the fact that no liability to value-added tax arises cannot affect the principle of fiscal neutrality .
Central-Import Münster GmbH & Co. KG v Hauptzollamt Münster.
Date: 1988-07-05
13 It must first be borne in mind that the provisions implementing the basic regulations may be adopted either by the Council itself or by the Commission by virtue of an enabling provision complying with Article 155 ( see the judgment of 17 December 1970 in Case 25/70 Einfuhr - und Vorratsstelle fuer Getreide und Futtermittel v Koester (( 1970 )) ECR 1161 ). For such an enabling provision to be valid, it must be sufficiently specific - that is to say, the Council must clearly specify the bounds of the power conferred on the Commission . It is therefore necessary to consider in this case whether Articles 1 and 2 of Regulation No 521/77, read in conjunction with Article 14 of Regulation No 516/77, have defined the power conferred on the Commission to a sufficient extent .
39 With regard to Article 2 ( 1 ) of Regulation No 521/77, it must be observed that, as the Court held in its judgment of 11 February 1988 in Case 77/86 R . v HM Commissioners of Customs and Excise, ex parte The National Dried Fruit Trade Association (( 1988 )) ECR 757 ), although the imposition of a countervailing charge was not expressly provided for in that Regulation, that does not necessarily imply that such a measure was precluded . On the contrary, it may be concluded from the fact that the Regulation authorized the total or partial suspension of imports that the Commission was empowered to introduce a less rigid scheme, namely a minimum price with a countervailing charge . In its judgment of 12 April 1984 in Case 345/82 Wuensche v Germany (( 1984 )) ECR 1995, the Court held that where the Commission is entitled to take protective measures leading to a complete suspension of imports from third countries, it is a fortiori entitled to adopt less restrictive measures .
Felix Borowitz v Bundesversicherungsanstalt für Angestellte.
Date: 1988-07-05
23 The problem raised having been defined in this way, it must be noted that, as the Court has stated on many occasions ( see for example judgment of 12 July 1979 in Case 266/78 Brunori v Landesversicherungsanstalt Rheinprovinz (( 1979 )) ECR 2705; judgment of 12 June 1980 in Case 733/79 Caisse de Compensation des allocations familiales des régions de Charleroi et de Namur v Laterza (( 1980 )) ECR 1915; and judgment of 9 July 1980 in Case 807/79 Gravina v Landesversicherungsanstalt Schwaben (( 1980 )) ECR 2205 ), Regulation No 1408/71 does not set up a common scheme of social security but allows different national schemes to exist and its sole objective is to coordinate those national schemes .
24 It should also be pointed out that the Court has consistently held ( see in particular the judgment of 10 January 1980, Case 69/79 Jordens-Vosters v Bedrijfsvereniging voor de Leder -en Lederwerkende Industrie (( 1980 )) ECR 75 ) that Regulation No 1408/71 may not be interpreted as prohibiting national legislation from granting social security benefits broader than those provided for by the application of that regulation .
Ministère public and Ministre des Finances du royaume de Belgique v Yves Ledoux.
Date: 1988-07-06
11 It should be pointed out in that regard, as the Court decided in its judgment of 3 October 1985 ( Case 249/84 Ministère public v Profant (( 1985 )) ECR 3237 ), that the authorities of the Member States do not enjoy a complete discretion in implementing the exemptions for imports under Article 14 of the Sixth Directive, for they must observe the fundamental objectives of the harmonization of value-added tax, such as, in particular, the encouragement of free movement of persons and goods and the prevention of double taxation . It follows that Article 14 of the Sixth Directive must be interpreted in the light of all of the fundamental rules of the Community .
18 It should be observed in that regard that private use, being ancillary to business use and provided for in the contract of employment, and thus forming from an economic point of view part of the worker' s remuneration, must be subject to the same conditions as business use . If it were not, frontier workers would be effectively prevented from benefiting from certain advantages granted to them by their employers merely because they resided in the Member State into which the vehicle was temporarily imported . Such workers would thereby be placed at a disadvantage in regard to working conditions compared to their colleagues residing in the country of their employer, which would have a direct effect on the exercise of their right to free movement within the Community .
Dillinger Hüttenwerke AG v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1988-07-06
14 It is clear from the Court' s case-law relating to the third paragraph of Article 173 of the EEC Treaty ( judgments of 5 March 1980 in Case 76/79 Koenecke (( 1980 )) ECR 665, and of 5 March 1986 in Case 59/84 Tezi Textiel (( 1986 )) ECR 887 ) that, failing publication or notification, it is for a party who has knowledge of a decision concerning it to request the whole text thereof within a reasonable period but, subject thereto, the period for bringing an action can begin to run only from the moment when the third party concerned acquires precise knowlege of the content of the decision in question and of the reasons on which it is based in such a way as to enable it to exercise its right of action .
Alexander Moksel Import und Export GmbH & Co. Handels-KG v Bundesanstalt für landwirtschaftliche Marktordnung.
Date: 1988-07-07
15 As the Court held in its judgment of 12 November 1969 in Case 26/69 Stauder v Ulm (( 1969 )) ECR 419, "the necessity for uniform application and accordingly for uniform interpretation makes it impossible to consider one version of the text in isolation but requires that it be interpreted on the basis of both the real intention of its author and the aim he seeks to achieve, in the light in particular of the versions in all ... languages ".
Christopher Stanton and SA belge d'assurances "L'Étoile 1905" v Institut national d'assurances sociales pour travailleurs indépendants (Inasti).
Date: 1988-07-07
7 A Community scheme for self-employed persons was introduced by Council Regulation No 1390/81 of 12 May 1981 extending to self-employed persons and members of their families Council Regulation No 1408/71 ( Official Journal 1981, L 143, p . 1 ). According to Article 2 of that regulation, no rights are acquired thereunder in respect of a period prior to the date of its entry into force . It appears from Article 4 that the regulation entered into force only on 1 July 1982, that is to say, after the period relevant to the main proceedings ( 1979 to 1980 ). The regulation is therefore not applicable to the dispute and the question put by the national court is correct in referring only to the relevant Treaty provisions .
10 The first paragraph of Article 52 of the Treaty requires the abolition of all restrictions on the freedom of establishment of nationals of a Member State in the territory of another Member State . It is settled law that that is a directly applicable rule of Community law . Member States were therefore under the obligation to observe that rule even though, in the absence of Community legislation on social security for self-employed persons, they retained legislative jurisdiction in this field .
11 As the Court has held ( in particular in the judgment of 12 July 1984 in Case 107/83 Ordre des avocats v Klopp (( 1984 )) ECR 2971, and the judgment of 28 January 1986 in Case 270/83 Commission v France (( 1986 )) ECR 273 ), freedom of establishment is not confined to the right to create a single establishment within the Community, but entails the right to set up and maintain, subject to observance of the relevant professional rules of conduct, more than one place of work within the Community .
13 The provisions of the Treaty relating to the free movement of persons are thus intended to facilitate the pursuit by Community citizens of occupational activities of all kinds throughout the Community, and preclude national legislation which might place Community citizens at a disadvantage when they wish to extend their activities beyond the territory of a single Member State .
15 Finally, it should be noted that the contested national provision affords no additional social protection to the persons concerned, who are affiliated to the social security and pension scheme of the Member State in which they pursue their principal employment . It follows that the impediment to the pursuits of occupational activities in more than one Member State may not in any event be justified on that basis .
Rijksinstituut voor de sociale verzekering des zelfstandigen (RSVZ) v Heinrich Wolf and NV Microtherm Europe and others.
Date: 1988-07-07
11 As the Court has held ( in particular in the judgment of 12 July 1984 in Case 107/83 Ordre des avocats v Klopp (( 1984 )) ECR 2971, and the judgment of 28 January 1986 in Case 270/83 Commission v France (( 1986 )) ECR 273 ) freedom of establishment is not confined to the right to create a single establishment within the Community, but entails the right to set up and maintain, subject to observance of the relevant professional rules of conduct, more than one place of work within the territory of the Community .
13 The provisions of the Treaty relating to the free movement of persons are thus intended to facilitate the pursuit by Community citizens of occupational activities of all kinds throughout the Community, and preclude national legislation which might place Community citizens at a disadvantage when they wish to extend their activities beyond the territory of a single Member State .
Direct Cosmetics Ltd and Laughtons Photographs Ltd v Commissioners of Customs and Excise.
Date: 1988-07-12
21 The wording of Article 27, in all the language versions, draws a distinction between the concept of avoidance, which represents a purely objective phenomenon, and that of evasion, which involves an element of intent .
24 The answer to the first question must therefore be that Article 27 ( 1 ) of the Sixth Directive permits the adoption of a measure derogating from the basic rule set out in Article 11.A.1 ( a ) of that directive even where the taxable person carries on business, not with any intention of obtaining a tax advantage but for commercial reasons .
Question ( b )
52 In that regard, it is of decisive significance that Article 27 states, at the end of paragraph ( 1 ), that "measures intended to simplify the procedure for charging the tax, except to a negligible extent, may not affect the amount of tax due at the final consumption stage ". That statement, which is in conformity with the fundamental principle of the Sixth Directive as described in connection with the first question, is also valid as regards measures which are intended to prevent certain types of tax evasion or avoidance and which, as the Court has emphasized, may not derogate from the basis for charging value-added tax set out in Article 11 except to the extent strictly necessary for preventing such evasion or avoidance ( judgment of 10 April 1984 in Case 324/82 Commission v Kingdom of Belgium (( 1984 )) ECR 1861, and judgment of 13 February 1985 in Case 5/84, cited above ).
European Parliament v Council of the European Communities.
Date: 1988-07-12
9 The remedy provided for in Article 175 is thus founded on the premiss that the unlawful inaction on the part of the Council or of the Commission enables the other institutions and the Member States and, in certain circumstances, private persons to bring the matter before the Court in order to obtain a declaration that the failure to act is contrary to the Treaty, in so far as it has not been repaired by the institution concerned . The effect of that declaration, under Article 176, is that the defendant institution is required to take the necessary measures to comply with the judgment of the Court, without prejudice to any actions to establish non-contractual liability to which the aforesaid declaration may give rise .
10 In circumstances such as those in this case, where the act whose absence constitutes the subject-matter of the proceedings was adopted after the action was brought but before judgment, a declaration by the Court to the effect that the initial failure to act is unlawful can no longer bring about the consequences prescribed by Article 176 . It follows that in such a case, as in cases where the defendant institution has responded within a period of two months after being called upon to act, the subject-matter of the action has ceased to exist .
Commission of the European Communities v Council of the European Communities.
Date: 1988-07-12
9 The remedy provided for in Article 175 is thus founded on the premiss that the unlawful inaction on the part of the Council or of the Commission enables the other institutions and the Member States and, in certain circumstances, private persons to bring the matter before the Court in order to obtain a declaration that the failure to act is contrary to the Treaty, in so far as it has not been repaired by the institution concerned . The effect of that declaration, under Article 176, is that the defendant institution is required to take the necessary measures to comply with the judgment of the Court, without prejudice to any actions to establish non-contractual liability to which the aforesaid declaration may give rise .
10 In circumstances such as those in this case, where the act whose absence constitutes the subject-matter of the proceedings was adopted after the action was brought but before judgment, a declaration by the Court to the effect that the initial failure to act is unlawful can no longer bring about the consequences prescribed by Article 176 . It follows that in such a case, as in cases where the defendant institution has responded within a period of two months after being called upon to act, the subject-matter of the action has ceased to exist .