Commissie verzoekt Ierland om tabaksaccijnzen in overeenstemming te brengen met EU-regels (en)

The European Commission has sent a formal request to Ireland to amend its legislation on the application of excise duties to tobacco. Ireland collects excise duties on manufactured tobacco using fiscal marks on the packaging and demands payment of the duties upon making these marks available. This runs counter to the principles of Directive 92/12/EEC, which states that excise duties cannot be charged until products are released for consumption. Since Ireland has up to now failed to reply to previous requests, the Commission has also sent Ireland a formal request to comply with its Treaty obligation to cooperate with the Commission to achieve the Community's tasks (Article 10 of the Treaty). These formal requests will take the form of so-called 'reasoned opinions' (second stage of the formal infringement procedure under Article 226 of the EC Treaty). In the absence of a satisfactory reaction within two months of receipt of the reasoned opinions, the Commission may refer the matters to the Court of Justice.

Tax stamps and the collection of excise duties

Directive 92/12/EEC created a Community system of excise duty for certain products, in particular manufactured tobacco. Under the Directive, the basic elements of the tax system, and in particular the time at which the duties can be charged, must be the same in all Member States, in the interests of the Internal Market. The Directive includes an exhaustive list of the situations in which duties are chargeable, i.e. at what time the Member States may demand payment of the duties.

Generally speaking, duties become chargeable when the products are no longer covered by the "suspension arrangements", which allow traders to manufacture, store and transport throughout the EU products subject to excise duties and to pay duties only when the products are released for consumption.

Under Irish legislation manufactured tobacco must bear fiscal marks. These are a way of collecting excise duties and under Irish law they are supplied to traders against payment of the excise duties which they represent. The Commission considers that, by treating the time at which traders are asked to obtain fiscal marks as equivalent to the time of release for consumption, Irish law is incompatible with Directive 92/12/EEC. This may deprive traders of the opportunity to hold and move products under suspension arrangements, and pay excise duties only when the products are released for consumption.

Failure to cooperate with the Commission

The second reasoned opinion concerns Ireland's failure to assist the Commission in the performance of the tasks assigned to it under the EC Treaty, as required by Article 10. Cooperation between the Member States and the European Institutions is crucial to the functioning of the Community. The Commission must be able to rely on the Treaty principle of "loyal cooperation" in order to perform its tasks efficiently. This principle requires the Member States to provide the Commission with the assistance it needs to ensure that Community rules are applied properly.

Ireland has failed to provide the Commission with information it needs to verify that Ireland is complying with certain aspects of the Community Directives on tobacco taxation, despite several reminders.

The latest information on infringement cases against all Member States can be found on the following site:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm