The case concerns the right of importers to be heard by the Spanish authorities when they seek to recover customs duties from them. That procedural safeguard had the result of delaying payment of those duties over to the EC. That is why the Commission took Spain to the Court of Justice. Professor Bignami asked in the article, written before the judgment had been handed down, whether "Spain will come into line with Europe, or Europe with Spain...". Her prediction was that "past experience indicates that the latter outcome is more likely."
Well, the judgment is out now.
And of course, Professor Bignami's prediction was correct. At paragraph 33 of the judgment (only available in French and Spanish), the Court held that member States must grant importers the right to be heard when collecting customs duties from them.
The prediction was correct subject to one qualification. The Court still found in favor of the Commission. It held that Spain was nevertheless in breach of its obligations to enter the amount of the customs duties into the EC accounts under Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1854/89 of June 14th 1989 on the entry in the accounts and terms of payment of the amounts of the import duties or export duties resulting from a customs debt. Thus the Court held that what the Spanish authorities do with the importers and what they must do with the EC accounts are two separate matters.
See also a previous post on the House of Lords report on human rights proofing dealing with another aspect of that problem.
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