Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) 22 October 1991

In Case C-44/89, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Finanzgericht (Finance Court) Hamburg for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (Fifth Chamber), composed of: Sir Gordon Slynn, acting as President of the Chamber, F. Grévisse, J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, G. C. Rodriguez Iglesias and M. Zuleeg, Judges, Advocate General: F. G. Jacobs, Registrar: J. A. Pompe, Deputy Registrar,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of the Council of the European Communities, by Arthur Bräutigam, a member of the Council's Legal Service, acting as Agent, the Commission of the European Communities, by D. Booß, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing oral argument from Mr von Deetzen, represented by E. H. Pijnacker Hordijk, of the Amsterdam Bar, and the Council at the hearing on 30 April 1991,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 4 June 1991,

gives the following

Judgment

The first question

The second question

The third question

Costs

1 Language of the case: German.