## Facts

- Carbonati Apuani Srl operated in the marble industry in Carrara, Italy.
- Italian legislation established a tax in favor of the Comune di Carrara on marble excavated within Carrara and collected when the marble left municipal territory.
- Carrara implemented the levy by municipal regulation as a charge proportionate to the weight of marble (and derivatives) when transported beyond municipal boundaries.
- The tax applied regardless of whether the marble’s final destination was elsewhere in Italy or in another EU Member State.
- The stated purpose was to fund municipal costs connected to the local marble industry (e.g., roads and infrastructure).
- Carbonati Apuani challenged the assessment before a provincial tax court, alleging incompatibility with EU rules on the customs union and free movement of goods.
- The national court referred questions to the Court of Justice under Article 234 EC (now Article 267 TFEU), focusing on Article 23 EC (customs duties and charges having equivalent effect).

## Issues

1. Whether a municipal tax, imposed only when marble crosses municipal boundaries, constitutes a charge having equivalent effect to a customs duty on exports under Article 23 EC, even if it also applies to marble remaining within the same Member State.
2. If Article 23 EC is violated, whether repayment claims for amounts paid before July 16, 1992 may be pursued, or whether the temporal effects of the ruling should be limited.

## Decision

- The Court held that a tax proportionate to weight, levied in a single municipality on a specific class of goods when those goods cross the municipality’s territorial boundary, is a charge having equivalent effect to a customs duty on exports prohibited by Article 23 EC.
- The tax’s application to goods destined for domestic locations did not prevent classification as a prohibited frontier-linked charge.
- The Court limited the temporal effects of the ruling: Article 23 EC could not be relied on to obtain repayment of amounts charged before July 16, 1992, except by operators who had initiated legal proceedings or made an equivalent claim before that date.
- The matter was left to the national court to resolve the dispute consistently with the Court’s interpretation and the temporal limitation.

## Legal Principles

- Article 23 EC’s prohibition extends to charges imposed within a Member State when they have the features of customs duties or equivalent charges and, by their nature, affect trade between Member States.
- A levy triggered by the crossing of a territorial frontier—even a sub-national boundary—on a defined category of goods is characteristic of a prohibited charge having equivalent effect.
- The size of the levy is irrelevant to classification; the decisive factors are its structure and the event triggering liability (frontier crossing).
- A charge is not treated as internal taxation (Article 90 EC, now Article 110 TFEU) where it is imposed specifically because goods are transported beyond a territorial boundary rather than as part of a general internal tax system.
- The Court may restrict retroactive repayment effects in exceptional circumstances to protect legitimate expectations and prevent serious financial disruption, while preserving claims already asserted before the cut-off date.

## Conclusion

The Court invalidated a municipal marble levy tied to goods leaving municipal territory as an export-equivalent charge barred by Article 23 EC, while restricting repayment for amounts collected before July 16, 1992 to claimants who had already commenced proceedings or made an equivalent pre-cutoff claim.


Carbonati Apuani Srl v. Comune di Carrara, Case C-72/03, 2004 E.C.R. I-8027 (Ct. J. Sept. 9, 2004)