Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) 24 March 1994

In Case C-148/93, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Finance Court) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (Third Chamber), composed of: J. C. Moitinho de Almeida (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, F. Grévisse and M. Zuleeg, Judges, Advocate General: M. Darmon, Registrar: R. Grass,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of the Commission of the European Communities by Francisco de Sousa Fialho, a member of the Legal Service, acting as Agent, assisted by Hans-Jürgen Rabe, of the Brussels Bar,

having regard to the report of the Judge-Rapporteur,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 20 January 1994,

gives the following

Judgment

The first question

The second question

Costs

1 Language of the case: German.