Brussels, 20/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Greek law no. 1708/198 whereby only permanent residents and, in some cases, non-resident Greeks who have worked overseas for at least six years, are exempt from tax on the purchase of a first residential property is discriminatory and has a dissuasive effect on Community citizens of other nationalities who are not resident in Greece but wish to move to the country. It therefore constitutes an obstacle to the freedom of movement, which is against EU law.
In this ruling in case C-155/09, which was returned on Thursday 20 January, the Court vindicates the Commission, which asked it to recognise the discriminatory and dissuasive nature of this law. According to the Commission, while the Greek law applies to all residents irrespective of their nationality, the fact remains that the vast majority of permanent residents in the country are Greek. Secondly, this law is believed to dissuade citizens from the other member states from leaving their country of origin to move to Greece, thus hindering their right to free movement.
In line with this argument, the Court pointed out that EU legislation forbids not only explicit discrimination based on nationality, but also - in line with the established case-law of the court - all hidden forms of discrimination, which, when certain criteria are applied, have the same result. “This is the case with a measure which provides for a distinction based on the criterion of domicile or residence, in that it could mainly work against nationals from other member states, as people who are not domiciled in the country, and non-residents, are non-nationals in the overwhelming majority of cases.”
The Court rejected the arguments in favour of this law, which, according to Greece, is designed to make it easier to buy a first residential property and to prevent property speculation and tax evasion. With regard to this, the provisions of the law are not specific and targeted enough to meet these objectives, in the view of the Court.
Additionally, the Court argues that the exoneration available to Greek nationals only who have worked overseas for at least six years constitutes direct discrimination based on nationality. Greece's argument that it aims to make it easier for Greek emigrants to buy a property and to encourage them to return is not a sufficient argument to support discrimination of this kind. (F.G./transl.fl)