24.11.2007   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 283/20

1.

Can excise duty introduced in a Member State of the European Community such as that provided for in the Polish Law of 23 January 2004 on Excise Duty (Dz. U No 29, heading 257, as subsequently amended), which is charged on any sale of passenger cars before their initial registration in national territory, be characterised as a form of unlawful turnover tax for the purposes of Article 33(1) of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1) (now Article 401 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ 2006 L 347, p. 1), in force since 1 January 2007)?

If the above question is to be answered in the negative:

2.

Is excise duty such as that at issue in these proceedings pending before the Wojewódzki Sąd Administracyjny w Białymstoku, which is charged on any sale of passenger cars before their initial registration in national territory, contrary to Article 90 EC — which prohibits discrimination and the protectionist application of a domestic tax system in favour of similar domestic products — where such duty is not charged on the sale of second hand cars previously registered in the Republic of Poland?