56It must be recalled that the terms used to specify the exemptions covered by Article 13 of the Sixth Directive are to be interpreted strictly, since they constitute exceptions to the general principle that VAT is to be levied on all services supplied for consideration by a taxable person (Case C-44/11 Deutsche Bank [2012] ECR, paragraph 42 and the case-law cited). Furthermore, according to settled case-law, the exemptions provided for in that article constitute independent concepts of Community law whose purpose is to avoid divergences in the application of the VAT system from one Member State to another (see, to that effect, CPP, paragraph 15, and Case C-240/99 Skandia [2001] ECR I-1951, paragraph 23).
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