C-420/85
ECLI:EU:C:1987:170
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OPINION OF MR DARMON —CASE «0/85
OPINION OF M R ADVOCATE GENERAL D A R M O N delivered on 31 M a r c h 1 9 8 7 *
Mr President, defendant cannot be accused of any Members of the Court, infringement in that respect.
IV — 4. As for the tax relief provided for in Article 8 of the directive, the Italian I — 1. In this application, the Commission Republic contends that such relief is already claims primarily that the Italian Republic available in respect of trailers and semi- failed to adopt within the period prescribed trailers, which, by virtue of Italian Law No the measures needed to comply with 53 of 28 February 1983, qualify for a Directive 82/603/EEC of 28 July 1982 ' reduction of the tax applicable to road amending Directive 75/130/EEC 2 on the vehicles proportionate to the number of establishment of common rules for certain trailers belonging to a single undertaking. types ' of combined road/rail carriage of goods between Member States.
5. However, Article 8 (1) of the directive also refers to 'tractors' as 'road vehicles' in respect of which a reduction or reimbur- sement of the applicable taxes may be II — 2 . Directive 82/603/EEC extends the granted. As the Italian Government pointed preferential system to combined road and out at the hearing, there is no tax remission rail transport by inland waterway (Article 1 at present in respect of tractors. (2)) and provides for the adoption by the Member States of measures reducing or reimbursing the taxes applicable to road vehicles used in combined transport (Article 6. It was also pointed out at the hearing 8). that, as the structure of the Italian railway network permits the 'rollende Landstraße' — that is to say the loading of the tractor together with the trailers on to the train — to be used only to a limited extent, that mode of transport was very rarely III — 3. With regard to transport by inland employed by Italian transporters. waterway, the Italian Government pointed out, without being contradicted by the Commission, that there was no network of inland waterways linking Italy and the other 7. The restricted use of that transport Member States of the Community. system cannot preclude the application of Accordingly, as Article 1 (2) of Directive the Community directive, particularly since 82/603/EEC is not applicable in Italy, the the tax reductions provided for by that directive have as their purpose to promote * Translated from the French. 1 — Official Journal 1982, L 247, p. 6. and give precedence to the use of railways 2 — Official Journal 1975, L 48, p. 31. in combined transport.
COMMISSION v ITALY
V— 8. Accordingly, I propose that the Court:
Declare that, by failing to adopt, by 1 April 1983 at the latest, the provisions required for the implementation of Article 8 of Directive 82/603/EEC, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 5 and 189 of the EEC Treaty;
Order the defendant to pay the costs.