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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions) >> Gourmet Classic (Taxation) [2008] EUECJ C-458/06 (12 June 2008) URL: https://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2008/C45806.html Cite as: [2008] 3 CMLR 13, [2008] EUECJ C-458/06, [2008] EUECJ C-458/6 |
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(Jurisdiction of the Court Directive 92/83/EEC Harmonisation of the structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages Article 20, first indent Alcohol contained in cooking wine Exemption from the harmonised duty)
In Case C-458/06,
REFERENCE for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the Regeringsrätten (Sweden), made by decision of 9 November 2006, received at the Court on 16 November 2006, in the proceedings
Skatteverket
Gourmet Classic Ltd,
composed of K. Lenaerts, President of Chamber, R. Silva de Lapuerta (Rapporteur), E. Juhász, J. Malenovský and T. von Danwitz, Judges,
Advocate General: Y. Bot,
Registrar: R. Grass,
having regard to the written procedure,
after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:
the Belgian Government, by A. Hubert, acting as Agent,
the Portuguese Government, by L. I. Fernandes and Â. Seiça Neves, acting as Agents,
the Commission of the European Communities, by W. Mölls and K. Simonsson, acting as Agents,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 3 April 2008,
gives the following
Legal framework
Community legislation
'For the purposes of this Directive the term 'ethyl alcohol' covers:
all products with an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 1.2% volume which fall within CN [headings] 2207 and 2208, even when those products form part of a product which falls within another chapter of the CN,
...'
'Member States shall exempt the products covered by this Directive from the harmonised excise duty under conditions which they shall lay down for the purpose of ensuring the correct and straightforward application of such exemptions and of preventing any evasion, avoidance or abuse:
...
(f) when used directly or as a constituent of semi-finished products for the production of foodstuffs, filled or otherwise, provided that in each case the alcoholic content does not exceed 8.5 litres of pure alcohol per 100 kg of the product for chocolates, and 5 litres of pure alcohol per 100 kg of the product for other products.'
National legislation
The main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling
'Is the alcohol contained in cooking wine to be classified as ethyl alcohol as referred to in the first indent of Article 20 of Directive [92/83] ...?'
Jurisdiction of the Court
The question referred for a preliminary ruling
Costs
On those grounds, the Court (Fourth Chamber) hereby rules:
The alcohol contained in cooking wine is, if it has an alcoholic strength exceeding 1.2% by volume, to be classified as ethyl alcohol as referred to in the first indent of Article 20 of Council Directive 92/83/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the harmonisation of the structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages.
[Signatures]
* Language of the case: Swedish.