21.9.2015

Official Journal of the European Union

C 311/32

(Case C-344/15)

(2015/C 311/37)

Language of the case: English

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: National Roads Authority

Defendant: The Revenue Commissioners

Questions referred

1.If a body governed by public law carries on an activity such as providing access to a road on payment of a toll and if in the Member State there are private bodies who collect tolls on different toll roads pursuant to an agreement with the public body concerned under national statutory provisions, is the second indent of Article 13 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC to be interpreted as meaning that the public body concerned must be deemed to be in competition with the private operators concerned such that to treat the public body as a non-taxable person is deemed to lead to a significant distortion of competition notwithstanding the facts that (a) there is not and cannot be any actual competition between the public body and the private operators concerned and (b) there is no evidence that there is any realistic possibility that any private operator could enter the market to build and operate a toll road which would compete with the toll road operated by the public body?

2.If there is no presumption, what exercise should be conducted to determine whether there is a significant distortion of competition within the meaning of the second indent of Article 13 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC?

Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax OJ L 347, p. 1.