(September 10, 2014)

On September 10, 2014 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in case C-152/13 Holger Forstmann Transporte GmbH & Co. KG versus Hauptzollamt Münster. The following questions were referred to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling: 

• Is the term "manufacturer", within the meaning of the first indent of Article 24(2) of [Directive 2003/96], to be interpreted as also including coachbuilders or dealers, when they have fitted the fuel tank as part of a process of producing the vehicle, and the production process was, for technical and/or economic reasons, carried out through division of labour by various independent businesses?
• If the first question should be answered in the affirmative: What interpretation is to be given, in such cases, to the factual criterion, in the first indent of Article 24(2) of [Directive 2003/96], whereby the vehicles in question must be "of the same type"?

The ECJ ruled as follows:

The term "standard tanks", referred to in the first indent of Article 24(2) of Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity, must be interpreted as not excluding tanks fixed permanently to commercial motor vehicles intended for the direct supply of fuel to those vehicles when the tanks have been fitted by a person other than the manufacturer, in so far as the tanks enable fuel to be used directly, both for the purpose of propulsion of the vehicles and, where appropriate, for the operation, during transport, of refrigeration systems and other systems.

Click here for the text of the ruling. 

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