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1. Tax provisions ° Internal taxation ° Tax such as the Italian national consumption tax on audiovisual and photo-optical products ° Designation as an internal tax and not as a charge having an effect equivalent to a customs duty ° Tax levied on products imported directly from non-member countries ° Article 95 of the Treaty not applicable
(EEC Treaty, Arts 9, 12 and 95)
2. Common commercial policy ° Levying by a Member State of an internal tax on products imported directly from non-member countries ° Permissible in the light of the Treaty rules, subject to the application of international agreements between the Community and non-member countries
(EEC Treaty, Art. 113)
1. A tax such as the national consumption tax on audiovisual and photo-optical products introduced into Italian law by Article 13 of Decree-Law No 953 of 30 December 1982, subsequently Article 4 of Law No 53 of 28 February 1983, must be regarded as being an integral part of a general system of internal taxation within the meaning of Article 95 of the Treaty and its compatibility with Community law must be assessed on the basis of that article rather than Articles 9 and 12 of the Treaty if
° it forms part of a body of consumption taxes governed by common tax rules and charged on categories of products irrespective of their origin in accordance with an objective criterion, namely the fact that the products fall into a specific category of goods;
° whether those goods are produced at home or abroad does not seem to have a bearing on the rate, the basis of assessment or the manner in which the tax is levied;
° the revenue from those taxes is not earmarked for a specific purpose and constitutes tax revenue identical to other such revenue and, like it, helps to finance State expenditure generally in all sectors.
Such a tax does not therefore constitute a charge having an effect equivalent to a customs duty on imports within the meaning of Article 12 of the Treaty.
Since Article 95 of the Treaty applies only to products from the Member States and, where appropriate, to goods originating in non-member countries which are in free circulation in the Member States, a tax such as that here in question does not come within the scope of that provision in so far as it is applicable to goods imported directly from non-member countries.
2. In so far as it is applicable to goods imported directly from non-member countries, a tax such as the national consumption tax on audiovisual and photo-optical products introduced into Italian law by Article 13 of Decree-Law No 953 of 30 December 1982, subsequently Article 4 of Law No 53 of 28 February 1983, is not incompatible with the Treaty provisions relating to the implementation of the common commercial policy, particularly Article 113, subject, however, to the application of any treaty provisions which may be in force between the European Economic Community and the non-member countries in which the goods in question originate.