Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Preliminary rulings ° Jurisdiction of the Court ° Limits ° Manifestly irrelevant question

(EEC Treaty, Art. 117)

2. Preliminary rulings ° Jurisdiction of the Court ° Limits ° Question of jurisdiction within the national judicial system ° Answer to that question depending on how a legal situation is dealt with in Community law ° Usefulness of a preliminary ruling

(EEC Treaty, Art. 177)

3. Own resources of the European Communities ° Repayment or remission of import or export duties ° National authority decision on an application for remission ° Subject-matter ° "Duties ... which have not yet been paid" within the meaning of Regulation No 1430/79 ° Meaning ° No mention made of the legal basis of an application for remission ° Not determinative

(Council Regulation No 1430/79, Arts 1(2)(d) and 13(1); Commission Regulation No 1574/80, Art. 7(1))

4. Own resources of the European Communities ° Repayment or remission of import or export duties ° General principle of fairness laid down in Council Regulation No 1430/79 ° No restriction beyond what is necessary contained in Commission implementing Regulation No 3799/86

(Council Regulation No 1430/79, Art. 13(1); Commission Regulation No 3799/86, Art. 4(2)(c))

Summary

1. Article 177 of the Treaty, which is based on a clear separation of functions between national courts and the Court of Justice, does not allow the Court of Justice to review the reasons for which a reference is made. Consequently, a request from a national court may be rejected only if it is quite obvious that the interpretation of Community law or review of the validity of a rule of Community law sought by that court bears no relation to the actual facts of the case or to the subject-matter of the action.

2. It is for the legal system of each Member State to determine which court has jurisdiction to hear disputes involving individual rights derived from Community law, but at the same time the Member States are responsible for ensuring that those rights are effectively protected in each case. Subject to that reservation, it is not for the Court to intervene in order to resolve questions of jurisdiction to which the classification of certain legal situations based on Community law may give rise in the national judicial system.

However, the Court has power, in proceedings for a preliminary ruling, to explain to the national court points of Community law which may help to solve the problem of jurisdiction with which that court is faced.

3. The decision of the national customs authority on an application for remission of import duties, adopted pursuant to Article 7(1) of Regulation No 1574/80 laying down provisions for the implementation of Articles 16 and 17 of Regulation No 1430/79 on the repayment or remission of import or export duties relates directly to the obligation of a natural or legal person to pay the amount of the import duties applicable under the current provisions to the goods subject to such duties. It is for the national court to draw the relevant conclusions from that finding when determining whether it has jurisdiction in the matter.

The words "duties ... which have not yet been paid" appearing in Article 1(2)(d) of Regulation No 1430/79 do not refer only to duties whose payment has been deferred, so that grant of remission is not subject to the condition that the person concerned must first have obtained a period of time in which to pay those duties.

Where, in an application actually seeking remission of import duties, the person concerned relies on facts capable of constituting a special situation within the meaning of Article 13(1) of Regulation No 1430/79, without, however, expressly mentioning that provision, that omission does not prevent the national customs authority from considering the application with reference to that provision.

4. Article 4(2)(c) of Commission Regulation No 3799/86, laying down provisions for the implementation of Articles 4a, 6a, 7a and 13 of Council Regulation No 1430/79 on the repayment or remission of import or export duties, under which the submission, even in good faith, for the grant of preferential tariff treatment of goods declared for entry into free circulation, of documents which later prove to be forged, falsified or not valid for the grant of such treatment is treated as a situation not constituting by itself a special situation within the meaning of the general fairness rule laid down in Article 13(1) of Regulation No 1430/79, cannot be regarded as restricting that general principle of fairness beyond what is necessary.

First, if the use of false certificates could in itself justify the grant of remission, post-clearance checks would be largely deprived of their usefulness, traders would be discouraged from adopting an inquiring attitude and the public purse would bear a risk which falls mainly on traders. Secondly, where an application based on the trader' s ignorance of the fact that documents submitted were forged, falsified or not valid is supported by evidence of a special situation resulting from circumstances in which no deception or obvious negligence may be attributed to him, that application is to be submitted to the Commission, in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation No 3799/86, in order for it to take a decision.