Judgment_paragraph 3. · Commission of the European Communities v French Republic (90/79)

3.As a final argument the Commission seeks to show that, even without taking account of whether or not there is any domestic production, the levy in question cannot be defined as internal taxation.In this respect it cannot but conclude, especially in the light of the statements made during the parliamentary debates, that it is prima facie a special tax on imports and that there is no factor to prove that the levy is an internal tax. This case is moreover clearly distinguishable from that of the classical parafiscal charges with which the Court had to deal in Case 105/76 Interzuccheri [1977] ECR 1029 (judgment of 25 May 1977). In the present case examination of the use to which the revenue is put is relevant not to whether an internal tax recognized as such is, by way of exception, to be regarded as a charge having equivalent effect but, on the contrary, to whether there are grounds for accepting that a charge, borne mainly by imports and which for that reason should prima facie be regarded as a charge having an effect equivalent to a customs duty, may be regarded as an internal tax owing to the particular legislative system which introduced it.As to the examples quoted by the French Government, particularly concerning the taxation of motor cars in Member States which do not make them and the taxation of petroleum products, the Commission observes that they are classical systems of internal taxation which are recognized as such not only in all the Member States of the Community but also in the majority of industrialized countries with a market economy.Differences existing from one Member State to another in the method of charging and collecting taxes as well as in the allocation of the revenue from them do not alter their nature. The situation is exactly the same when taxes of that nature form an integral part of a general system which has been in force for a long time.The Commission is aware that such differences are likely to affect intra-Community trade and it has submitted proposals to the Council for directives founded on Article 99 of the EEC Treaty with a view to harmonizing that kind of tax but it observes that it is not possible to harmonize provisions which are contrary to the Treaty. They should be abolished.