WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2766/98 by Giacomo SANTINI to the Commission. Application of a surcharge ('sovrapprezzo') to imports of Community sugar
C 142/38 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 21. 5. 1999 (1999/C 142/045) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2758/98 by Richard Corbett (PSE) to the Commission (10 September 1998) Subject: Use of hired cars from third countries Can the Commission confirm or deny that it has recently become illegal for a hire car from a non EU state to be driven in an EU country by an EU citizen? Do EU tourists who have hired a car in Switzerland, but cross the border into Austria, France, Germany or Italy, face fines and prosecution? If this is so, what possible justification can there be in such a Directive? Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (7 December 1998) Under Article 719(11)(b) of Regulation (EEC) 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (1), persons established in a Member State may only place a hired vehicle registered in another country under the temporary admission procedure for the purpose of returning to the Member State in which they reside. This is not a new provision; it has been in force since 1993. The Istanbul Convention of 26 June 1990, approved by Council Decision No 93/329/EEC of 15 March 1993 concerning the conclusion of the Convention on Temporary Admission and accepting its annexes (2), contains similar provisions. Persons using a vehicle registered in a non-Community country (such as Switzerland) in breach of the provisions described above may face prosecution and a fine as a result. The reason for this restriction is to prevent evasion of Community vehicle tax. (1) OJ L 253, 11. 10. 1993. (2) OJ L 130, 27. 5. 1993. (1999/C 142/046) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2766/98 by Giacomo Santini (PPE) to the Commission (10 September 1998) Subject: Application of a surcharge (’sovrapprezzo’) to imports of Community sugar In its judgment of 21 May 1980, in Case 73/79, the Court of Justice of the European Communities ruled that Italy had infringed Article 95 of the EC Treaty by imposing a surcharge on imports of Community sugar, a provision introduced by the Interministerial Prices Committee (CIP No 3661 of 22 June 1968). The surcharge was deemed to discriminate between importers and domestic producers thereby entailing an unacceptable distortion of the principle of free competition. The surcharge was ruled illegal in that it constituted a charge which, ‘although levied at the same rate on sugar produced in Italy and sugar from other Member States, does not constitute a uniform imposition on those products’. Will the Commission say: 1. whether it still considers the surcharge levied by the Italian state under provision CIP 3661 of 22 June 1968 to be illegal? 2. whether the surcharge paid by Italian importers should be refunded since it was illegally levied and could not be reclaimed?