Commissie daagt België voor Hof van Justitie wegens weigering om de Europese instellingen te vrijwaarden van verplichtingen in het kader van bestemmingsplannen (en)

The European Commission decided today to take Belgium to the Court of Justice for its refusal to exempt the European institutions from charges made for planning permission granted for their buildings

By an order of 12 June 2003 of the Brussels-Capital Region authorities, all construction or extension of office buildings with a floor area exceeding 500m² is subject to planning permission charges.

The Commission considers that these charges contravene the tax exemption provided for in Article 3 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities, since they are clearly classifiable as direct taxes rather than proportional charges for public utility services provided directly to the Institutions.

In coordination with all the other Institutions based in Brussels, the Commission has contested the legality of these charges, both through applications for administrative review to the Brussels-Capital Region authorities and through an infringement proceeding launched in October 2007.

Despite numerous attempts to resolve this issue, for example at the regular meetings of the EU-Belgium Task Force chaired by the Cabinet of Vice-President Kallas i, it has unfortunately not been possible to reach an amicable solution. The Belgian authorities even contest the classification of planning permission charges as direct taxes.

The Commission has therefore decided to refer this matter to the Court of Justice.