CJEU – Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2019

S. 3021. Comments on the existing Case Law

Before answering this question, I would like to make some remarks about the very interesting report of Mrs. Ine Lejeune and Mrs Liesbeth Vermiere about the statistics of cases before the CJEU in the field of VAT.

First of all, I think that the number of VAT cases will still increase in the coming years, all the more because the Court of Justice remains obliged to answer the questions coming from the United Kingdom and the UK Courts are still allowed to send preliminary references to the Court until the end of the transitional period.

Second, taking as an example the cases analysed during sessions 5 and 6 (about tax base, tax rate and exemptions), I note that 13 cases out of 23 were decided by three judges. When the Court decides to give a case to a chamber with three judges, it is because it considers that the case is simple and requires only a mere application of the existing case law. That is not the impression we had during the sessions. Moreover, in only 9 out of these 23 cases, do we have an opinion from an Advocate General. According to the statute of the Court of Justice, an Advocate General should be asked to provide an opinion when there i...