Administration des Douanes v. Société Cafés Jacques Vabre
France Court of Cassation
2 C.M.L.R. 336 (1975)
- Written by Curtis Parvin, JD
Facts
The Société Cafés Jacques Vabre (Vabre) (plaintiff) imported a coffee product from the Netherlands to France. The imported coffee was subject to a higher tax than products manufactured and sold in France. France was a signatory to the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community of 1957 (the Treaty of Rome), which, among other things, required that member states could not impose taxes that discriminated between domestic products and products from other member states. Vabre sued French Customs, asserting that the Treaty of Rome barred the discriminatory coffee tax. French Customs officials argued that the tax statute came after the Treaty of Rome and, therefore, was enforceable. The French appellate court held that the statute violated the Treaty of Rome’s terms and was unenforceable. French Customs appealed to the France Court of Cassation, France’s highest court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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