CJEU - Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2023

Charlène Herbain/Fabrice Pezet

1. Setting the Scene

Advocates general (AGs) are senior officials sitting at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The first Advocate General took office in 1952 when the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Communities was created. In the same way that there was significant reliance on the French experience for the Member States adopting a common system of value added tax in 1967, the role of the AGs at the CJEU was modelled after the French Commissaire du Gouvernement S. 28(who changed name in 2009 to become rapporteur public). These are a central feature of the French Conseil d’Etat and French Droit administratif (administrative law). Created in 1831, the Commissaire du Gouvernement fulfils an important function within French Administrative Courts. Their tasks are “to present issues at stake [...] and submit his own appreciation [...] on the circumstances pertaining to the case and the applicable legal rules and his view regarding the solutions to the litigation”.Rapporteurs publics provide insights into the legal framework in which the case is taking place. In particular, they elaborate on and underscore the evolutions and the con...