Judgment_paragraph 105 · N Luxembourg 1 and Others v Skatteministeriet (C-115/16, C-118/16, C-119/16, C-299/16)

105Furthermore, whilst Article 5(2) of Directive 2003/49 provides that Member States may, in the event of evasion, avoidance or abuse, withdraw the benefits of the directive or refuse to apply it, that provision likewise cannot be interpreted as excluding the application of the principle of EU law that abusive practices are prohibited, since the application of that principle is not — as the provisions of the directive are — subject to a requirement of transposition (see, to that effect, judgment of 22 November 2017, Cussens and Others, C‑251/16, EU:C:2017:881, paragraphs 28 and 31).