The European Commission has decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union on the grounds that it failed to amend registration tax rules for vehicles leased or rented to Greek residents by non-Greek lessors.
Greek law says that if a customer resident in Greece leases or rents a vehicle from a lessor whose business is established in another Member State, registration tax needs to be paid in Greece in full. So far, Greece has failed to address the issue of cross-border leasing or renting of cars in its legislation. Thereby, Greece has disregarded European Court of Justice case-law on this matter that requires Member States, in the case of cross-border leasing or rent, to levy a tax proportionate to the duration of the use of the vehicle. This may act as a deterrent to cross-border activity, going against the principles of free movement of services set down in the EU Treaties.
On November 21, 2012, the Commission sent a request taking the form of a reasoned opinion to Greece on this subject, officially asking the Greek authorities to amend the relevant legislation. Greece has not changed the relevant legislation since, forcing the Commission to decide to bring the matter before the European Court of Justice.
Recently, the European Court of Justice had fined Greece 54,450 euros per day for the 293 illegal landfills that remained open until last June in Greece. After that, the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change is preparing a plan to stop the operation of the maximum amount of landfills by moving them to appropriate areas, in accordance with EU laws.
Source: EU Press
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