larimo/cjeu-paragraph-retrieval huggingface dataset:
Raymond Beaulande v Directeur des services fiscaux de Nantes.
Date: 1992-12-16
12 Furthermore, the Court has consistently held (see, most recently, its judgment in Case C-347/90 Bozzi [1992] ECR I-2947, paragraph 9) that the purpose of Article 33 is to prevent the introduction of taxes, duties and charges which, through being levied on the movement of goods and services in a way comparable to VAT, would jeopardize the functioning of the common system of VAT. Taxes, duties and charges must in any event be regarded as being imposed on the movement of goods and services in a way comparable to VAT if they exhibit the essential characteristics of VAT.
14 With regard to those characteristics, the first point to bear in mind is that, as the Court has repeatedly held (see, in particular, the judgments in Case 252/86 Bergandi v Directeur-Général des Impôts [1988] ECR 1343, paragraph 15, Joined Cases 93 and 94/88 Wisselink and Others v Staatssecretaris van Financiën [1989] ECR 2671, paragraph 18, Case C-109/90 Giant v Gemeente Overijse [1991] ECR I-1385, paragraphs 11 and 12, Case C-200/90 Dansk Denkavit and Poulsen v Skatteministeriet [1992] ECR I-2217, paragraph 11, and Case C-347/90 Bozzi [1992] ECR I-2947, paragraph 12), VAT applies generally to transactions relating to goods or services, it is proportional to the price of those goods or services, it is charged at each stage of the production and distribution process and finally it is imposed on the added value of goods and services, since the tax payable on a transaction is calculated after deduction of the tax paid on the previous transaction.
15 The next point to note is that a charge of the kind referred to by the national court does not have the essential features of VAT, mentioned above.
16 First, stamp duty of the kind described by the national court is not a general tax since it relates only to real estate sold for valuable consideration, the conveyance of which gives rise to certain formalities. Such duty is not therefore intended to apply to all economic transactions in the Member State concerned.
Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic.
Date: 1992-12-16
10 In this respect, it should first be noted that, as the Court has consistently held (see, inter alia, Case C-347/88 Commission v Greece [1990] ECR I-4747, paragraph 16), an application brought under Article 169 of the EEC Treaty may be based only on the arguments and pleas in law already set out in the reasoned opinion.
19 It should be noted firstly that in the absence of harmonization of Community legislation in the field of customs offences, the Member States are competent to adopt such penalties as appear to them to be appropriate (see, inter alia, Case 50/76 Amsterdam Bulb v Produktschap voor Siergewassen [1977] ECR 137, paragraph 33, and Case 240/81 Einberger v Hauptzollamt Freiburg [1982] ECR 3699, paragraph 17). When making use of that competence they are, however, required to comply with Community law and its general principles, and consequently, with the principle of proportionality.
20 As the Court has repeatedly held, the administrative measures or penalties must not go beyond what is strictly necessary for the objectives pursued and the control procedures must not be accompanied by a penalty which is so disproportionate to the gravity of the infringement that it becomes an obstacle to the freedoms enshrined in the Treaty (see, inter alia, Case 203/80 Casati [1981] ECR 2595, paragraph 27; Joined Cases 286/82 and 26/83 Luisi and Carbone v Ministero del Tesoro [1984] ECR 377; and Case 68/88 Commission v Greece [1989] ECR 2965).
22 It should be recalled in that respect that when the Commission requests the Court to declare that a State has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty, it is for the Commission itself to adduce evidence of the alleged infringement (judgment in Case C-249/88 Commission v Belgium [1991] ECR I-1275, paragraph 6).
Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Belgium.
Date: 1992-12-16
5 It is important to note that the legislation in question constitutes a barrier to the freedom to provide services in that it prevents broadcasting stations established in other Member States from having programmes that are transmitted in a language other than that of the country in which they are established relayed by the cable networks of the Flemish Community.
11 As the Court has consistently held (see, in particular, the judgment in Case 288/89 Collectieve Antennevoorziening Gouda v Commissariaat voor de Media [1991] ECR I-4007, paragraph 11), those exemptions alone can effectively be relied upon to justify national rules which are not applicable to services without distinction as regards their origin.
12 The argument that the Belgian Government seeks to derive from the judgment in Case 33/74 Van Binsbergen v Bedrijfsvereniging Metaalnijverheid [1974] ECR 1299, according to which a person providing services cannot avoid the rules applicable to providers of services established in the Member State towards which his activity is directed, cannot be accepted. While it is true that, according to paragraph 13 of that judgment, the State in which the service is provided may take measures to prevent a provider of services whose activity is entirely or principally directed towards its territory from exercising the freedom guaranteed by Article 59 for the purpose of avoiding the professional rules which would be applicable to him if he were established within that State, it does not follow that it is permissible for a Member State to prohibit altogether the provision of certain services by operators established in other Member States, as that would be tantamount to abolishing the freedom to provide services.
Walter Knüfer and Direktor der Landwirtschaftskammer Rheinland v Walter Buchmann.
Date: 1992-12-17
10 As the Court stated in paragraph 15 of its judgment in Case 5/88 Wachauf v Germany [1989] ECR 2609, the surrender of a tenanted holding upon the expiry of a lease has comparable legal effects, within the meaning of Article 5(3) of Regulation No 1371/84, to those brought about by the transfer of the holding upon the grant of the lease, for both transactions entail a change in the possession of the production units in question within the contractual relations created by the lease.
12 It is apparent from the wording of the provisions under consideration that Member States are indeed free to lay down their own criteria for the distribution of reference quantities relating to holdings of which only a part has been transferred, provided they are objective criteria, and that they may disregard transferred parts the area of which used for milk production is less than a minimum size to be determined. However, where they have not availed themselves of that possibility the provisions in question must be applied in accordance with the principles already laid down by the Court in the judgment in Case 121/90 Posthumus v Oosterwoud [1991] ECR I-5833, paragraph 9, so that the reference quantities are distributed strictly in proportion to the size of the respective areas of the holding which are used for milk production, without its being possible to make any distinction according to the nature of the use to which those areas are put.
13 For the purpose of distributing the reference quantities, all the surface areas of the holding which contribute directly or indirectly to the milk production thereof must be taken into consideration, including the yard, the buildings and the road areas of the holding, provided that they contribute directly or indirectly to the milk production of the holding.
14 This interpretation, which is based on the wording of the legislation, is in conformity with its purpose. The aim of the provisions in question is, save in the case of express derogations by Member States, that there should be laid down, in order to ensure both legal certainty and the effectiveness of the system, clear and precise rules the application of which by the national authorities does not presuppose on their part the exercise of any power of discretion (see in that regard the Posthumus judgment, cited above, paragraph 10).
Italsolar SpA v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1993-01-14
21 In order to determine whether an action for annulment is admissible, the nature of the contested measure must be examined. The Court has consistently held that the only measures against which an action for annulment may be brought are those which are binding on, and are capable of affecting the interests of, the applicant (see, in particular, the judgment in Case 60/81 IBM v Commission [1981] ECR 2639, paragraph 9).
22 The contested measure is not such a measure. As the Court has held (see, in particular, the judgments in Case 126/83 STS v Commission [1984] ECR 2769, paragraphs 16 to 18, and Case 118/83 CMC v Commission [1985] ECR 2325, paragraph 28), public contracts financed by the EDF remain national contracts which only the representatives of the ACP States have the power to prepare, negotiate and conclude, the involvement of the Commission representatives in the procedure for the award of those contracts being confined to establishing whether or not the conditions for Community financing are met. Moreover, the undertakings which submit tenders for or are awarded the contract in question have legal relations only with the ACP State which is responsible for the contract and the measures adopted by representatives of the Commission cannot substitute, in relation to them, a Community decision for the decision of the ACP States.
33 The Court has consistently held (see, in particular, the judgment in Case C-55/90 Cato v Commission [1992] ECR I-2533, paragraph 18) that it is apparent from the second paragraph of Article 215 of the Treaty that the Community may incur non-contractual liability and the right to compensation for damage suffered may arise only if a series of conditions regarding the illegality of the alleged conduct of the Community institutions, the reality of the damage and the existence of a causal link between the conduct of the institution and the alleged damage have first been met.
Bioforce GmbH v Oberfinanzdirektion München.
Date: 1993-01-14
8 It should next be noted that, as the Court has consistently held (see, most recently, the judgment in Case C-338/90 Hamlin Electronics v Hauptzollamt Darmstadt [1992] ECR I-2333, paragraph 8), the decisive criterion for the classification of goods for customs purposes is to be sought, regard being had to the requirements of legal certainty, in their objective characteristics and properties, as defined in the wording of the headings of the Common Customs Tariff.
9 It should therefore be considered whether the product in question has the objective characteristics and properties defined in heading 30.04 of the Common Customs Tariff, which must be interpreted in the light of medical developments.
12 It follows from those considerations that the product at issue may not be regarded as a food supplement within the meaning of Note 1(a) of the introductory notes to Chapter 30 of the Common Customs Tariff or as a spirituous beverage designed to maintain general health or well-being within the meaning of Note 14 of the Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized System for designation and codification of goods relating to heading 22.08, but as a product having clearly defined therapeutic and, above all, prophylactic characteristics, the effect of which is concentrated on precise functions of the human organism, namely the cardiac, circulatory and neuro-vegetative functions.
Commission of the European Communities v Portuguese Republic.
Date: 1993-01-19
7 It should be noted, in that respect, that the elimination, at the end of the transitional period, of all discrimination constitutes a precise obligation the performance of which is to be made easier by, but is not to be conditional upon, the progressive character of the adjustment provided for. The Court had occasion to make that clear in its judgment in Case 45/75 Rewe v Hauptzollamt Landau [1976] ECR 181, paragraph 24, concerning Article 37(1) of the Treaty which contains obligations identical in scope to those referred to in Article 208(1) of the Act of Accession.
Caves Neto Costa SA v Ministro do Comércio e Turismo and Secretário de Estado do Comércio externo.
Date: 1993-01-19
9 As the Court has held with respect to Article 37 of the Treaty, in a judgment (Case 45/75 Rewe v Hauptzollamt Landau [1976] ECR 181, paragraph 24), it is not until the expiration of the transitional period that the elimination of all discrimination provided for at the end of that period becomes unconditional and cannot be made subject, as far as its execution or effect is concerned, to the intervention of any act, either of the Community or of the Member States.
The first and second questions
13 In that regard, it must be observed that the elimination of all discrimination by the end of the transitional period constitutes a precise obligation the performance of which is to be made easier by, but is not to be conditional upon, the progressive character of the adjustment provided for. The Court had occasion to hold that this was so in its judgment in Rewe, cited above, at paragraph 24, concerning Article 37(1) of the Treaty, which contains obligations having the same scope as those contained in Article 208(1) of the Act of Accession.
Commission of the European Communities v Italian Republic.
Date: 1993-01-19
20 It must furthermore be borne in mind that the Court has consistently held (see in particular the judgment in Case C-328/90 Commission v Greece [1992] ECR I-425, paragraph 6) that, even though Article 171 of the EEC Treaty does not specify the period within which a judgment finding a failure by a Member State to fulfil its obligations must be complied with, the interest attaching to the immediate and uniform application of Community law requires that the process of compliance with a judgment must be initiated immediately and must be completed as soon as possible.
24 Finally, it must be noted that, in any case, the finding that a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations under Community law entails, first, an automatic prohibition, on the application, by both the judicial and administrative authorities of that Member State, of the incompatible tax exemption scheme and, secondly, an obligation on the part of those authorities to take all appropriate measures to facilitate the full application of Community law (judgment in Case 48/71 Commission v Italy [1972] ECR 527, paragraph 7, and judgment in Case 103/88 Fratelli Costanzo v Comune di Milano [1989] ECR 1839, paragraph 33).
Emerald Meats Ltd v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1993-01-20
36 It follows from those provisions that, whilst the Community legislation introduced Community rules on the tariff quotas at issue, as far as the management of the quotas is concerned it divided the tasks and responsibilities as between the Member States and the Commission. Within that division of tasks and responsibilities, it is for the authorities designated by the Member States to receive applications and draw up a list of those eligible under the rules, together with the quantities to be taken into consideration, on the basis of documents presented to them by way of proof. The Commission' s task is confined to checking that a given applicant does not appear on more than one list and to determining, having regard to the quantities indicated in the various national lists and to the total quota to be allocated, in what proportion the national authorities can accept the applications admitted by them.
39 Contrary to Emerald Meats' assertion, that finding does not conflict with the Council' s intention, as stated in the preambles to the basic regulations, to introduce a Community method for the management of the tariff quotas at issue. Such a management method does not presuppose that all the decisions should be taken by the Commission, but may equally be achieved by decentralized management, involving the Member States' authorities, since economic operators are at liberty to submit their applications in the Member State of their choice and applications are processed in accordance with uniform rules applicable throughout the Community.
40 Nor do the requirements of Community management entail that the Commission ought necessarily to be able to correct wrong decisions taken in specific cases by the national authorities in connection with management of the quotas, since compliance with the common rules and their uniform application throughout the Member States of the Community can be secured either by proceedings under Article 169 of the Treaty for failure to fulfil obligations or in the course of judicial proceedings brought before national courts, which have available the procedure provided for in Article 177 of the Treaty.
55 As regards the applications for compensation, it follows, as the Court has consistently held, from the second paragraph of Article 215 of the Treaty that the Community may incur non-contractual liability and the right to compensation for damage suffered may arise only if a series of conditions regarding the illegality of the alleged conduct of the institutions, the reality of the damage and the existence of a causal link between the conduct of the institution and the alleged damage have first been met (see the judgment of 8 April 1992 in Case C-55/90 Cato v Commission [1992] ECR I-2533).
Deutsche Shell AG v Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Harburg.
Date: 1993-01-21
17 Since measures emanating from bodies which have been established by an international agreement of that type, and which have been entrusted with responsibility for its implementation, are directly linked to the agreement which they implement, they form part of the Community legal order (see Case C-192/89 S.Z. Sevince v Staatssecretaris van Justitie [1990] ECR I-3461, paragraph 10). Since the arrangements of the Joint Committee are to be regarded as a measure required for the application of the Convention under Article 15(2)(b), that recommendation is directly linked to the Convention. The arrangements of the Joint Committee therefore form part of Community law.
18 It is settled case-law that the fact that a measure of Community law has no binding effect does not preclude the Court from ruling on its interpretation in proceedings for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 (see Case 113/75 Giordano Frecassetti v Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato [1976] ECR 983, Case 90/76 Van Ameyde v UCI [1977] ECR 1091, and Case C-322/88 Grimaldi v Fonds des Maladies Professionnelles[1989] ECR 4407, paragraph 9). Although the recommendations of the Joint Committee cannot confer upon individuals rights which they may enforce before national courts, the latter are nevertheless obliged to take them into consideration in order to resolve disputes submitted to them, especially when, as in this case, they are of relevance in interpreting the provisions of the Convention.
27 With regard to Question 4, it should be noted that, in the context of proceedings brought under Article 177 of the Treaty, the Court does not have jurisdiction to rule on the compatibility of a national measure with Community law.
Telemarsicabruzzo SpA and Others v Circostel, Ministero delle Poste e Telecomunicazioni and Ministero della Difesa.
Date: 1993-01-26
6 Those requirements are of particular importance in the field of competition, which is characterized by complex factual and legal situations.
7 The orders for reference contain no such details.
Vereniging Veronica Omroep Organisatie v Commissariaat voor de Media.
Date: 1993-02-03
9 It must first be borne in mind that, as the Court held in its judgments in Case C-353/89 Commission v Netherlands [1991] ECR I-4069, paragraphs 3, 29 and 30, and Case C-288/89 Stichting Collectieve Antennevoorziening Gouda v Commissariaat voor de Media [1991] ECR I-4007, paragraphs 22 and 23, the Mediawet is designed to establish a pluralistic and non-commercial broadcasting system and thus forms part of a cultural policy intended to safeguard, in the audio-visual sector, the freedom of expression of the various (in particular social, cultural, religious and philosophical) components existing in the Netherlands.
10 It also follows from those two judgments (see respectively paragraphs 41 and 42 and 23 and 24) that those cultural-policy objectives are objectives relating to the public interest which a Member State may legitimately pursue by formulating the statutes of its own broadcasting organizations in an appropriate manner.
12 Finally, the Court has held in relation to Article 59 of the Treaty that a Member State cannot be denied the right to take measures to prevent the exercise by a person whose activity is entirely or principally directed towards its territory of the freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty for the purpose of avoiding the professional rules of conduct which would be applicable to him if he were established within that State (judgment in Case 33/74 Van Binsbergen v Bedrijfsvereniging Metaalnijverheid [1974] ECR 1299, paragraph 13).
13 By prohibiting national broadcasting organizations from helping to set up commercial radio and television companies abroad for the purpose of providing services there directed towards the Netherlands, the Netherlands legislation at issue has the specific effect, with a view to safeguarding the exercise of the freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty, of ensuring that those organizations cannot improperly evade the obligations deriving from the national legislation concerning the pluralistic and non-commercial content of programmes.
Alfredo Iacobelli v Institut National d'Assurance Maladie-Invalidité and Union Nationale des Fédérations Mutualistes Neutres.
Date: 1993-02-03
13 Without it being necessary to establish whether the rule in Article 44(2) in fine is applicable to invalidity, it must be observed that the abovementioned provisions are of a procedural nature and entail no changes in the conditions to which Member States make the grant of invalidity benefits subject. It is for the legislation of each Member State to determine whether the person concerned may waive an invalidity pension in order subsequently to receive an old-age pension which is more advantageous to him.
15 This interpretation is all the more compelling in that the argument put forward by the INAMI would have the consequence of depriving the person concerned of a right acquired under national legislation alone and this, according to the case-law of the Court, would be incompatible with Article 51 of the Treaty (see, inter alia, Case 24/75 Petroni v ONPTS [1975] ECR 1149, paragraph 21).