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On June 1, 2017 during a plenary session the European Parliament adopted a European Parliament legislative resolution of 1 June 2017 on the proposal for a Council directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC, as regards rates of value added tax applied to books, newspapers and periodicals (COM(2016)0758 – C8-0529/2016 – 2016/0374(CNS)).
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On June 1, 2017 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judged in Case C-571/15, Wallenborn Transports SA versus Hauptzollamt Gießen (ECLI:EU:C:2017:417).
The request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of the first paragraph of Article 61 and Article 71(1) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, as amended by Council Directive 2007/75/EC of 20 December 2007 (‘the VAT Directive’), and of Articles 203(1) and 204(1)(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1791/2006 of 20 November 2006 (‘the Customs Code’).
The request has been made in proceedings between Wallenborn Transports SA (‘Wallenborn’) and Hauptzollamt Gießen (Giessen customs office, Germany) concerning Wallenborn’s obligation to pay the value added tax (VAT) arising as a consequence of the incurrence of a customs debt.
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On June 1, 2017 on the website of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the opinion of Advocate General Kokott in the joined Cases C-215/16 (Elecdey Carcelén SA), C-216/16 (Energías Eólicas de Cuenca SA), C-220/16 (Iberenova Promociones SAU) and C-221/16 (Iberdrola Renovables Castilla La Mancha SA) versus Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla-La Mancha (ECLI:EU:C:2017:422) was published.
From the introductory remarks made by the AG
Don Quixote has already fought windmills in the Spanish region of La Mancha. So it is no surprise that a new dispute over wind power has been brought before the Court from the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha. After a number of recent decisions have had to be taken regarding its negative environmental impact, but also regarding its promotion, the present case concerns the levy on wind power plants devised by that region, a ‘pole tax’ as it were.
In addition to Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of energy from renewable sources, the request for a preliminary ruling also relates to Directive 2008/118/EC concerning the general arrangements for excise duty and Directive 2003/96/EC on energy taxation. In particular, it must be examined whether the contested tax is compatible with the promotion objective of Directive 2009/28 or the provisions concerning administrative charges laid down in that directive. However, the Court should also consider the extent to which such a tax might be precluded by prejudice to the objectives of Directive 2009/28. With regard to the two taxation directives, it must be clarified, first and foremost, whether the tax falls within their scope, as in that case it would have to satisfy certain requirements.
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