 This book is the result of a conference hosted by Lund University in June 2006, where experts from different Member States of the EU and EEA reported on their State’s reactions to ECJ’s rulings in the field of direct taxation. The purpose of the book is twofold: (i) to present an empirical study of the effects of the ECJ’s case law and (ii) to determine whether the Member States’ responses contribute to the uniform application of EC tax law.
The book aims to improve the understanding of the effects of the ECJ’s case law by providing a comparative review of the practices of the respective courts and tribunals when a case raises an issue of EC tax law. Each contributor presents the way the domestic judges and tax authorities have applied and are applying ECJ case law in their country. The reports describe how domestic case law is following (or not) the path taken by the ECJ’s direct tax case law.
Two major questions are raised in this empirical study: Do taxpayers in the EU have access to the fundamental freedoms provided for in Arts.18, 39, 42, 48 and 56 EC? Has Community law been applied homogeneously within the EU in twenty years of ECJ case law on direct taxation?
The answer to the first question varies dramatically from Member State to Member State, as revealed in the individual reports. Consequently, the diversity of access to Community rights shows that there is still no uniformity of Community law in direct taxation, as the ECJ rulings are applied quite differently from Member State to Member State.
Nevertheless, the trip from Scandinavia to the southern part of the European Union made in this book illustrates that despite an obvious diversity of reactions to the ECJ’s case law, Member States’ direct taxation is evolving towards a more homogeneous approach, which more and more often covers core issues common to all tax systems.
Ultimately, the research carried out in this book demonstrates that domestic courts cannot be expected to be aware of all pending issues in 27 Member States that might have an impact on their own cases. A new way of thinking is necessary in order to achieve a homogeneous application of non-harmonized Community law dealing with direct taxation.
Contributors:
Cécile Brokelind [Editor] (Sweden, France)
Andreas Bullen (Norway)
Axel Cordewener (Germany)
Ana-Paula Dourado (Portugal)
Denis Edwards (United Kingdom)
Sřren Friis Hansen (Denmark)
Georg W. Kofler (Austria)
Kristiina Äimä (Finland)
Kerstin Malmer (European Commission, Brussels)
Otto Marres (the Netherlands)
Georgios Matsos (Greece)
Leif Mutén (Introductory speech)
Pasquale Pistone (Italy)
Maria-Elena Scoppio (European Commission, Brussels)
Adam Zalasinski (Poland) |
