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4.12.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 328/24

Action brought on 5 October 2010 — European Commission v Kingdom of Sweden

(Case C-480/10)

()

2010/C 328/41

Language of the case: Swedish

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: R. Lyal and K. Simonsson, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Kingdom of Sweden

Form of order sought

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Declare that, by in practice limiting the regime for value added tax (VAT) groups to providers of financial services and insurance services, the Kingdom of Sweden has failed to fulfil its obligations under Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, and

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order the Kingdom of Sweden to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Swedish rules on VAT groups are contrary to Article 11 of the VAT Directive, since the application of the rules is limited to undertakings which are active within the financial sector. In the view of the Commission, national regimes for VAT groups must apply to all undertakings which are established in the Member State applying the arrangements, irrespective of the type of activity carried out by the undertaking.

The common system of VAT is a uniform system. Introduction of a special regime into that system must consequently, in principle, be done in such a way that the regime is generally applicable.

There is nothing in the wording of Article 11 of the VAT Directive to indicate that a Member State can limit the application of a regime for VAT groups to certain undertakings which are active within a certain sector.

The aim of Article 11 of the VAT Directive also tends to suggest that the provision is to be understood as applying to all undertakings in all sectors.

Furthermore, the Swedish rules on VAT groups are incompatible with the European Union law principle of equal treatment.