CJEU – Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2015

I. S. 52Introduction

One of the most fundamental, and yet complex, questions in any legal system relates to the jurisdiction of the courts. The European Union, (EU) where judicial authority is shared between the EU courts (Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and General Court) and those of the Member States (domestic courts), who are enforcers of EU law in their own right, is no exception. The distribution of jurisdictional competences between these courts is ambiguous, and VAT matters provide a perfect illustration of this parisology. The EU is based on the principle of conferral, however, the question ‘What does the CJEU leave the domestic courts to decidein the area of VAT’ implies that the principle of conferral does not exist and that the CJEU has the power to decide what competences it may take and what competences it may concede to domestic courts. Addressing the question raised in this circumstance requires dwelling on the ambiguity afferent to the distribution of jurisdiction. In this context, the analysis begins with a broad general overview of the tasks conferred to the CJEU.

It is the responsibility of the CJEU to ensure that EU law is observed in the interpretation ...