Europa 1. Policy of the EEC – common rules – tax provisions – internal taxation imposed by one member state on products from other member states – absence of similar domestic products or other products capable of being protected – permissibility (EEC treaty, article 95) 2. Quantitative restrictions and taxes – different nature – joint application of provisions thereon to the same case – not permissible (EEC treaty, articles 30, 95) 3. Policy of the EEC – common rules – tax provisions – internal taxation imposed by one member state on products from other member states – similarity between such products – concept (EEC treaty, first paragraph of article 95) 4. Policy of the EEC – common rules – tax provisions – internal taxation imposed by one member state on products from other member states – taxation of such a nature as to afford indirect protection to products other than similar products – prohibition – individual rights – protection of such rights by national courts (EEC treaty, first paragraph of article 95) 5. Policy of the EEC – common rules – tax provisions – internal taxation imposed by one member state on products from other member states – taxation of such a nature as to afford indirect protection to products other than similar products – prohibition – nature of the prohibition – conditions of application – powers of national courts (EEC treaty, second paragraph of article 95). 1. The provisions of article 95 of the EEC treaty do not prohibit member states from imposing internal taxation on products imported from other member states when there are no similar domestic products or other domestic products capable of being protected. 2. Internal taxation imposed under the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 above on products imported from other member states does not come within the prohibition on quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect, within the meaning of article 30 of the EEC treaty. One and the same tax cannot be both a measure having an effect equivalent to a quantitative restriction and internal taxation. 3. Similarity between products within the meaning of the first paragraph of article 95 exists when the products in question are normally to be considered as coming within the same fiscal, customs or statistical classification, as the case may be. 4. The second paragraph of article 95 of the treaty is capable of producing direct effects and creating individual rights which national courts must protect. 5. The second paragraph of article 95 is complementary to the first. It prohibits the imposition of any internal taxation which imposes a higher charge on an imported than on a domestic product which competes with the imported product, although it is not similar to it within the meaning of the first paragraph of article 95. The prohibition also applies in the absence of direct competition where the internal taxation subjects the imported product to a specific fiscal charge in such a way as to protect certain activities distinct from those used in the manufacture of the imported product. However, the said second paragraph is only applicable when the various economic relationships envisaged by it are not merely fortuitous, but lasting and characteristic. The effects of a tax on the economic relationships referred to in the second paragraph of article 95 must be assessed in the light of the objectives of article 95, which are to ensure normal conditions of competition and to remove all restrictions of the fiscal nature capable of hindering the free movement of goods within the common market. The treaty does not prevent national courts from deciding, where necessary, the level below which the tax in question would cease to have the protective effects prohibited by the treaty and from drawing all appropriate conclusions therefrom.
Citations:
C-27/67
European
Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.131856