Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato/Italy lodged on 26 July 2013 — Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS) v Yesmoke Tobacco SpA

(Case C-428/13)

2013/C 313/16

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Consiglio di Stato

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicants: Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS)

Defendant: Yesmoke Tobacco SpA

Question referred

Do Article 8(2) of Directive 95/59/EC (1) of 27 December 1995 and Article 7(2) of Directive 2011/64/EU (2) of 21 June 2011, by providing, respectively, that the proportional rate and ad valorem rate, and the amount of the specific excise duty, ‘must be the same for all cigarettes’, preclude a provision of national law such as Article 39g(4) of Legislative Decree No 504 of 26 October 1995 (as amended by Article 55(2a)[(c)] of Decree-Law No 78 of 31 May 2010, converted, with amendments, in Law No 122 of 30 July 2010), which provides that the excise duty payable on cigarettes with a retail selling price less than that of cigarettes in the most popular price category is to be 115 % of the basic amount, thereby establishing an excise duty at a fixed minimum rate specific to cigarettes with a lower selling price and not a minimum amount of excise duty for all price categories of cigarettes, as permitted by Article 16(7) of Directive 95/59/EC and Article 14(2) of Directive 2011/64/EU?

(1)  Council Directive 95/59/EC of 27 November 1995 on taxes other than turnover taxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco (OJ 1995 L 291, p. 40).

(2)  Council Directive 2011/64/EU of 21 June 2011 on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco (OJ 2011 L 176, p. 24).