Five new cases referred to European Court

Two of the cases involve infraction proceedings brought by the Commission against Italy and Portugal. The remaining three include two French cases and one German case. One French case is a VAT case concerning the legality of the repeal of the one-month delay rule (Cedilac), while the second is an excise duty case looking at the meaning of 'force majeure' giving rise to losses of products under duty suspension arrangements (Société Pipeline Méditerranée et Rhône). The German case (Velvet & Steel Immobilien) concerns the finance exemption under Article 13B(d)(2) EC Sixth VAT Directive.