Luxembourg, 05/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Court of Justice has indicated that Greece can tax its national drink ouzo at a lower level than for other alcoholic drinks (gin, whisky, vodka etc.) sold in the country. Greece obtained this decision thanks to a derogation contained in Article 23 of the 1992 directive (No. 92/83) on excise, in the same way France obtained lower taxation on rum. Generally, Member States cannot treat similar drinks differently. In cases previously held on alcoholic drinks, beer and wine for example, the question was always that of establishing whether the two products were similar, in if they were, then the same tax rate would apply.
In the ouzo case, the Attorney General Tizzano indicated that the Commission had not irrefutably shown that ouzo was similar to a product like whisky, for example (EUROPE 3 February 2004) and rejected the Commission's case against Greece. The court did not follow the Attorney General in similar cases. It first pointed out that Greece's decision, by setting a lower tax for ouzo, was based on Article 23, point 2 of the 92/83 directive and respected the terms of this provision. Given that Greece would not be attacked on this, the Commission contested the legality of Article 23 of the EC directive. However, it said that only acts concerning serious irregularities would be legally considered in-existent. Moreover, not provision in the "excise" directive, nor in Article 23, would be considered as non-existent, it concluded.