Staatssecretaris van Financiën v Argos Supply Trading BV.
Date: 2016-07-21
29


In so far as the Commission seeks to call into question the factual context of the case in the main proceedings, as it appears in the order for reference, it should be borne in mind that, in the context of proceedings under Article 267 TFEU, which is based on a clear separation of functions between the national courts and the Court of Justice, any assessment of the facts in the case is a matter for the national court. The Court of Justice is thus empowered to rule on the interpretation or validity of EU law provisions only on the basis of the facts which the national court puts before it (see, inter alia, judgment of 16 July 1998 in Dumon and Froment, C‑235/95, EU:C:1998:365, paragraph 25 and the case-law cited).
33


According to the referring court, it is necessary, in particular, to determine whether the answer given by the Court in its judgment of 11 May 2006 in Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods (C‑11/05, EU:C:2006:312, paragraph 52) as regards the procedure for processing under customs control is transposable to that of outward processing. In that judgment the Court held that, in the context of the assessment of the economic conditions laid down in Article 133(e) of the Customs Code for the use of processing under customs control, account must be taken not only of the market for the finished products but also of the economic situation on the market for the basic products used to produce those products.
37


Nevertheless, the wording of Article 148(c) of the Customs Code is not unambiguous. It does not specify either the markets concerned by the activities of those ‘processors’ or the specific factors to be taken into account in assessing whether their essential interests may be adversely affected. Consequently, it is necessary to interpret that provision in the light of the general scheme and purpose of the outward processing procedure (see, to that effect, judgments of 19 June 1980 in Roudolff, 803/79, EU:C:1980:166, paragraph 7, and of 11 May 2006 in Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods, C‑11/05, EU:C:2006:312, paragraph 47).
39


Such a procedure is justified by its purpose, namely to avoid the imposition of customs duties on goods exported for processing purposes at the time of their re-importation into the territory of the European Union (see, to that effect, judgments of 17 July 1997 in Wacker Werke, C‑142/96, EU:C:1997:386, paragraph 21, and of 2 October 2003 in GEFCO, C‑411/01, EU:C:2003:536, paragraph 51). In that regard, it follows from the first recital of Regulation No 2473/86 that, in establishing that procedure, the legislature intended to take note of the fact that EU undertakings often undertake, for economic or technical reasons, processing operations on the territory of a third country before re-importing the goods thus processed into the European Union.
41


In that context, the economic conditions governing the use of the outward processing procedure contained in Article 148(c) of the Customs Code serve to enable the customs authorities to assess whether the use of the outward processing procedure is essentially favourable to that industry, while ensuring that the benefits which a trader would derive from that procedure do not result, in return, in significant disadvantages for other EU producers. Those economic conditions must therefore be construed in a manner that allows the customs authorities to take full account of such conflicts of interest within the EU industry (see, by analogy, judgment of 11 May 2006 in Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods, C‑11/05, EU:C:2006:312, paragraphs 49 and 50).
48


Finally, the interpretation set out in paragraph 45 of the present judgment takes into account the needs of the common agricultural policy, as required by the third and fourth recitals of the Customs Code (see, by analogy, judgment of 11 May 2006 in Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods, C‑11/05, EU:C:2006:312, paragraph 51). It should be borne in mind that, as is clear from a reading of Article 38 TFEU, in conjunction with headings 22.08 and 22.09 of Annex I to that Treaty, the production of bioethanol in the European Union is an agricultural activity covered by that common policy and benefiting, in principle, from the protection offered by the particularly high customs duties applicable to imports of that product into the European Union. The interpretation adopted accordingly ensures that protection by precluding the outward processing procedure from assisting a trader seeking to evade those customs duties.