Opinion of Advocate General Van Gerven delivered on 24 April 1991

1 Original language: Dutch.

2 Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC (of 17 May 1977) on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1)

3 See, for example, the Court's judgment of 14 February 1985 in Case 266/83 Rompelman v Minister van Financiën [1985] ECR 655, paragraphs 16 to 19.

4 See, for instance, the fifth recital in the preamble to the Sixth Directive

5 See, most recently, the judgment in Case C-186/89 Van Tiem v Staatssecretaris van Financien [1990] ECR I-4363. with reference to the judgment in Case 235/85 Commission v Netherlands [1987] ECR 1485, at paragraph 7, and the judgment in Case 348/87 Stichting Uitvoering Financíele Acties v Staatssecretaris van Financien [1989] ECR 1737, at paragraph 10

6 Cited in footnote 2

7 Cited in footnote 4

8 The consultations provided for in Article 29 means consultation of the Advisory Committee on value added tax According to the observations of the Netherlands Government and the Commission, such consultation took place in the case of the Netherlands

9 It is apparent from the facts as set out in the order for reference that, apart from Polysar, the Polysar group has another two subsidiaries in the Netherlands If the Court takes the view that a company like Polysar independently carries out any economic activity within the meaning of Article 4 of lhe Sixth Directive, it is for the competent national authorities to establish whether Polysar is closely bound by financial, economic and organizational links to those companies, so as to constitute a single unit for tax purposes

10 See in that connection the judgment, given on the basis of the system established by the Second Directive, in Case 89/81 Staatssecretaris van Financiën v Hong Kong Trade [1982] ECR 1277, in which it was inferred from the fact that a person carries out transactions free of charge only (and does not therefore acquire any right to deduct tax) that that person is not a taxable person.

11 That is also borne out by the French and Iulian versions of the directive, which refer to operations ... portant sur ies actions and operazioni relative ad azioni.

12 For the same view, see D. Wachweger and Others Die 6. EG-Richtlinie zur Harmonisierung der Umsatzsteuer, 3. Teil: Artikel 13 bis 16, Umsatzsteuer-Rundschau 1977, No 8, p. 141, at pp. 146-147.