Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) 14 July 1994

In Case C-351/92, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Finanzgericht Düsseldorf (Federal Republic of Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (Fifth Chamber), composed of: J. C. Moitinho de Almeida, President of the Chamber, D. A. O. Edward, R. Joliét, G. C. Rodríguez Iglesias, and M. Zuleeg (Rapporteur), Judges, Advocate General: W. Van Gerven, Registrar: H. A. Rühi, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: Manfred Graff, by Ernst Handschumacher, Gerda Blume, Johannes Handschumacher and Regina Möhring, of the Düsseldorf Bar, the Council of the European Union, by Arthur Bräutigam, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent, the Commission of the European Communities, by Dirk Booß, Legal Adviser, acting as Agent,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of the Council and the Commission at the hearing on 18 November 1993,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 16 December 1993,

gives the following

Judgment

Costs

1 Language of the case: German.