BG Technik cs, a.s. v Generální ředitelství cel.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2024:995
• Docket Number: C-129/23
• Date: 28 November 2024

Provisional text

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Eighth Chamber)

28 November 2024 (*)

( Reference for a preliminary ruling – Customs union – Common Customs Tariff – Combined Nomenclature – Classification of goods – Tariff heading 8703 – Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons – Tariff heading 8713 – Carriages for disabled persons – Regulation (EC) No 718/2009 – Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1367 – SELVO 4800 vehicle – Concept of ‘disabled persons’ )

In Joined Cases C‑129/23 and C‑567/23,

TWO REQUESTS for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Nejvyšší správní soud (Supreme Administrative Court, Czech Republic) (C‑129/23) and the Krajský soud v Ostravě (Regional Court, Ostrava, Czech Republic) (C‑567/23), made by decisions of 19 January 2023 and 31 August 2023, received at the Court on 3 March 2023 and 13 September 2023 respectively, in the proceedings

BG Technik cs a.s.

v

Generální ředitelství cel,

THE COURT (Eighth Chamber),

composed of N. Jääskinen, President of the Ninth Chamber, acting as President of the Eighth Chamber, M. Gavalec and N. Piçarra (Rapporteur), Judges,

Advocate General: T. Ćapeta,

Registrar: A. Calot Escobar,

having regard to the written procedure,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– BG Technik cs a.s., by Z. Urban, daňový poradce (C‑129/23), and V. Vodičková, advokátka (C‑567/23),

– the Czech Government, by L. Langrová, M. Smolek and J. Vláčil, acting as Agents,

– the European Commission, by J. Hradil and M. Salyková, acting as Agents,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,

gives the following

Judgment

1 These requests for a preliminary ruling concern the interpretation of tariff headings 8703 and 8713 of the Combined Nomenclature (‘the CN’) set out in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ 1987 L 256, p. 1), in the version resulting from Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 927/2012 of 9 October 2012 (OJ 2012 L 304, p. 1), Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1001/2013 of 4 October 2013 (OJ 2013 L 290, p. 1), Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1101/2014 of 16 October 2014 (OJ 2014 L 312, p. 1), and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1577 of 21 September 2020 (OJ 2020 L 361, p. 1) (‘Regulation No 2658/87’). The request for a preliminary ruling in Case C‑129/23 also concerns the interpretation of Commission Regulation (EC) No 718/2009 of 4 August 2009 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature (OJ 2009 L 205, p. 7), and the request in Case C‑567/23 concerns the interpretation of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1367 of 6 August 2021 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature (OJ 2021 L 294, p. 1).

2 The requests have been made in proceedings between BG Technik cs a.s. (‘BG Technik’) and the Generální ředitelství cel (General Directorate of Customs, Czech Republic) concerning the tariff classification of SELVO 4800 vehicles, imported by BG Technik between 2013 and 2015 (C‑129/23) and in 2021 (C‑567/23).

Legal context

International law

3 Article 20 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, concluded in New York on 13 December 2006 and approved on behalf of the European Community by Council Decision 2010/48/EC of 26 November 2009 (OJ 2010 L 23, p. 35) (‘the UN Convention’), entitled ‘Personal mobility’, provides:

‘States Parties shall take effective measures to ensure personal mobility with the greatest possible independence for persons with disabilities, including by:

(a) Facilitating the personal mobility of persons with disabilities in the manner and at the time of their choice, and at affordable cost;

(b) Facilitating access by persons with disabilities to quality mobility aids, devices, assistive technologies and forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including by making them available at affordable cost;

(c) Providing training in mobility skills to persons with disabilities and to specialist staff working with persons with disabilities;

(d) Encouraging entities that produce mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies to take into account all aspects of mobility for persons with disabilities.’

European Union law

The CN

4 The customs classification of goods imported into the European Union is governed by the CN, which is based on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, which was established by the International Convention on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, concluded in Brussels on 14 June 1983, under the aegis of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), and approved, with its amending protocol of 24 June 1986, on behalf of the European Economic Community by Council Decision 87/369/EEC of 7 April 1987 (OJ 1987 L 198, p. 1; ‘the HS’). The CN reproduces the HS six-digit headings and subheadings, with only the seventh and eighth digits creating further subdivisions which are specific to it.

5 Under Article 10(1) of Regulation No 2658/87, the Commission is to be assisted by the Customs Code Committee established by Article 247 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1).

6 Under Article 12(1) of Regulation No 2658/87, the European Commission is to adopt, each year, a regulation reproducing the complete version of the CN, together with the rates of duty, as resulting from measures adopted by the Council of the European Union or the Commission. That regulation is to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union not later than 31 October and is to apply from 1 January of the following year.

7 Part One of the CN includes Section I on general rules, of which Subsection A, entitled ‘General rules for the interpretation of the [CN]’, provides:

‘Classification of goods in the [CN] shall be governed by the following principles:

1. The titles of sections, chapters and sub-chapters are provided for ease of reference only; for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes and, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to the following provisions.

…

6. For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes … For the purposes of the rule, the relative section and chapter notes also apply, unless the context requires otherwise.’

8 Part Two of the CN, entitled ‘Schedule of customs duties’, is divided into 21 sections. Section XVII of that part entitled ‘Vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment’, includes Chapter 87 relating to ‘Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof’.

9 That chapter includes, inter alia, the following headings and subheadings:

CN Code	Description	Conventional rate of duty (%)	Supplementary unit
1	2	3	4
…	…	…	…
8703	Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading No 8702), including station wagons and racing cars:
8703 10	– Vehicles specially designed for travelling on snow; golf cars and similar vehicles:
8703 10 11	– – Vehicles specially designed for travelling on snow, with compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine (diesel or semi-diesel), or with spark-ignition internal combustion piston engine	5	p/st
8703 10 18	– – Other	10	p/st
…	…	…	…
8713	Carriages for disabled persons, whether or not motorised or otherwise mechanically propelled:
8713 10 00	– Not mechanically propelled	Free	p/st
8713 90 00	– Other	Free	p/st
…	…	…	…

10 The Explanatory Notes to the CN, established by the Commission pursuant to Article 9(1) of Regulation No 2658/87 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 6 May 2011 (OJ 2011 C 137, p. 1), on 4 March 2015 (OJ 2015 C 76, p. 1) and on 29 March 2019 (OJ 2019 C 119, p. 1), state, as regards subheading 8713 90 00 of the CN:

‘Motorised vehicles specifically designed for disabled persons are distinguishable from vehicles under heading 8703, mainly because they have:

– a maximum speed of 10 km per hour, i.e., a fast-walking pace;

– a maximum width of 80 cm;

– two sets of wheels touching the ground;

– special features to alleviate the disability (for example, footrests for stabilising the legs).

Such vehicles may have:

– an additional set of wheels (anti-tips);

– steering and other controls (for example, a joystick) that are easy to manipulate; such controls are usually attached to one of the armrests; they are never in the form of a separate, adjustable steering column.

…’

Regulation No 718/2009

11 Under Article 1 of Regulation No 718/2009, the goods described in column 1 of the table in the annex to that regulation are to be classified within the CN under the corresponding CN codes indicated in column 2 of that table.

12 The table set out in the annex to that regulation is as follows:

Description of the goods	Classification (CN code)	Reasons
(1)	(2)	(3)
1. Four-wheeled vehicle with an electric motor powered by two rechargeable 12 V batteries. It is approximately 48 cm wide, 99 cm long and 58 cm high (with the backrest folded down), with a total weight without batteries of approximately 34.5 kg. The maximum load is approximately 115 kg. The vehicle has the following characteristics: – a horizontal platform connecting the front and rear sections, – small wheels (approximately 2.5 × 19.0 cm) with anti-leak tyres, – an adjustable seat without armrests and grips whose height can be set in one of two positions, and – a steering column that can...