Official Journal of the European Union

C 225/19

(Case C-663/11) (<span class="super">1</span>)

(Request for a preliminary ruling - Directive 92/12/EEC - Excise duties - Products released for consumption in a Member State where the excise duty was paid - Same products transported to another Member State where the excise duty has also been paid - Request for reimbursement of the excise duty paid in the first Member State - Refusal for not introducing the request before the goods were dispatched - Compatibility with European Union law)

2013/C 225/32

Language of the case: Romanian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Scandic Distilleries SA

Defendant: Direcția Generală de Administrare a Marilor Contribuabili

Re:

Request for a preliminary ruling — Curtea de Apel Oradea — Interpretation of Articles 7 and 22(2)(a) of Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products (OJ 1992 L 76, p. 1) — Refusal of the national authorities to reimburse excise duty levied on products released for consumption in another Member State — Non-compliance by the consignor with its obligation to submit the request for reimbursement to the competent authorities of its Member State before the goods are dispatched — National legislation requiring the production of a series of documents which can be supplied only after the goods have been delivered — Correctness criteria which are more restrictive than the general five-year period applicable for any request for reimbursement — Forfeiture of the trader’s right to obtain reimbursement — Whether compliant with the principles of fiscal neutrality, equivalence and effectiveness

Operative part of the judgment

Article 22(1) to (3) of Council Directive 92/12/EEC of 25 February 1992 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products, as amended by Council Directive 92/108/EEC of 14 December 1992, must be interpreted as meaning that, when products, which are subject to excise duty that has been paid and which have been released for consumption in one Member State, are transported to another Member State where those products are subject to excise duty, which has also been paid, a request for reimbursement of the excise duty paid in the Member State of departure may not be refused on the sole ground that that request was not made before those goods were dispatched, but must be assessed on the basis of Article 22(3) of Directive 92/12/EEC. By contrast, if the excise duty has not been paid in the Member State of destination such a request may be refused on the basis of Article 22(1) and (2) of the directive.

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(<span class="super">1</span>) OJ C 89, 24.3.2012.