The year 2012 has also been marked by a number of important rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The Courts have recently confirmed several fundamental issues for competi- tion practice. For instance, the General Court has endorsed the key elements of the Commission’s fining policy introduced by the 2006 fining guidelines in three cases it has examined: sodium chlorate (54), international removers (55)
and chloroprene rubbers (56). These rulings strengthen the Commission’s po-
sition and consolidate legal certainty.
In the antitrust field, the judgment by the General Court in the MasterCard case is particularly important. The Court confirmed the Commission’s finding that MasterCard’s cross-border inter-bank fees for consumer debit and credit cards (MIFs) restrict competition as they inflate the cost of card acceptance by merchants without leading to benefits for consumers (57).
The General Court also largely upheld the Commission’s decision of 2009 to impose fines on the E.ON group and GDF Suez for having concluded and maintained a market-sharing agreement in the French and German natural gas markets. By confirming that the Commission was right in finding that the companies’ conduct violated European competition law, the General Court sent a strong message that the incumbent operators in the gas sector may not use anti-competitive practices to counter liberalisation efforts (58).
The General Court’s Microsoft ruling essentially upheld the Commission’s 2008 decision imposing a penalty payment on Microsoft for not complying with the Commission’s 2004 Microsoft decision. This was the first judgment in which the Court has ruled on a penalty payment imposed on a company for non-compliance with an antitrust prohibition decision (59).
taxation
In April, the Parliament strongly supported the 2011 proposal (60) for a common
consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB), which could save EU businesses billions of euros and help attract more foreign investors into Europe by eliminating the huge administrative burdens, heavy compliance costs and legal uncertainties that companies currently face when operating in more than one Member State. In May, following the broad public consultation launched by the European Com- mission in December 2010 (61), the Council adopted conclusions calling for an EU
VAT system which should be simpler, more efficient and neutral, robust and fraud proof in order to ensure the correct operation of the single market.
In October the Commission made a proposal for a Council decision on enhanced cooperation for a financial transaction tax, for the sake of fair taxation and a stronger single market. So far 11 countries have indicated they wish to take part, citing the Commission’s 2011 proposal for a financial transaction tax as the basis upon which they wish to proceed. In December the European Parliament gave its backing for enhanced cooperation.
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The new VAT rules will come into force on 1 January 2013. They will make life easier for businesses across Europe. First, electronic invoicing will have to be treated the same as paper invoicing, enabling companies to choose the VAT in- voicing solution that works best for them. This has the potential to save busi- nesses up to €18 billion a year in reduced administration costs. Second, Member States will be allowed to offer a cash accounting option to small businesses with a turnover of less than €2 million a year. This means that these SMEs will not have to pay the VAT until it has been received by the customer, thereby avoiding cash-flow problems.
Doing business in more than one Member State often means dealing with sev- eral tax administrations in different languages, while dealing with multiple VAT obligations can be very burdensome and costly for companies. The regulation (62)
proposed by the Commission at the beginning of 2012 is a first step towards a ‘one-stop shop’ for all electronically delivered services that will benefit busi- nesses as from 1 January 2015. In the future the Commission will seek to extend the ‘one-stop shop’ step by step to other goods and services.
Customs
In February the Commission proposed in the Union Customs Code (UCC) (re- cast) (63) to adjust some provisions of the customs code to the evolution of cus-
toms and other relevant legislation, to align it to procedural requirements result- ing from the Treaty of lisbon and to postpone its application. The main aim of this legislation is to address, but also to govern, the electronic environment for customs and trade. The customs union is an essential element in the functioning of the single market and it can only function properly when there is a common, consistent application of common, modern customs rules and systems.
On 20 March, Neri Spa of livorno (Italy) became the 10 000th authorised eco- nomic operator (AEO) by signing up to an EU-wide customs scheme that makes international trading faster and safer at customs checks on the EU borders. AEO status at EU level identifies safe and reliable businesses that are engaged in in- ternational trade and that benefit from trade facilitation as regards customs controls. Amongst the benefits is the mutual recognition of the EU reliable trader status with major trading partners. One major step was reached in 2012 with the mutual recognition of AEO status with the US.
Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud, at the 2012 Internal Audit Service (IAS) conference ‘Performance Audit by Public Sector Internal Auditors’.
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