Official Journal of the European Union

C series

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C/2025/4182

4.8.2025

(Case T-361/25, Brenntag)

(C/2025/4182)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Brenntag GmbH

Defendant: Hauptzollamt Duisburg

Questions referred

Are Article 7(1) and (2)(a), Article 20(2) and Article 30 of Council Directive 2008/118/EC of 16 December 2008 concerning the general arrangements for excise duty and repealing Directive 92/12/EEC (1) to be interpreted as precluding the application of a national provision according to which, during movements of excise goods under suspension of excise duty into a tax warehouse in a Member State that are transferred by the keeper of the tax warehouse under suspension of excise duty to another tax warehouse in the Member State concerned or to the premises of a commercial user in the Member State concerned, the goods are deemed to have been received into the tax warehouse of the tax warehouse keeper and simultaneously to have departed from it as soon as the latter acquired possession of the goods in the Member State concerned, and the tax warehouse keeper must therefore establish a new duty suspension arrangement?

Is Article 27(1) and (2) of Council Directive 92/83/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the harmonisation of the structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages (2) to be interpreted as meaning that the principle of proportionality under EU law precludes the refusal of a tax exemption provided for under those provisions because – under the national provision mentioned in question 1 – in the case of a fictitious onward transfer of excise goods under a duty suspension arrangement, no additional draft of an electronic administrative document was transmitted or, in the case of a movement in a Member State into the premises of commercial users, no accompanying document or commercial document was used that contained a statement specifying that the alcohol had been denatured and that elimination of the denaturing, or use for drinking purposes or for the production of alcoholic beverages, as well as unauthorised trade, would entail consequences under criminal and tax law, notwithstanding the fact that the alcohol was used tax-free for commercial purposes, or was received into the tax warehouse of an authorised person?

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(1) OJ 2009 L 9, p. 12.

(2) OJ 1992 L 316, p. 21.

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/4182/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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