The committee adopted the own-initiative report by
Michael CASHMAN (PES, UK) on the confiscation of
automobiles by the Greek authorities, which has been the subject of numerous
petitions to the European Parliament. The petitions describe a number of
irregularities which have occurred in Greece
when the customs authorities, suspecting that the petitioner's
foreign-registered vehicles were being illegally imported and used in Greece,
confiscated the vehicles. Although the petitioners fulfilled the conditions
for the tax exemptions laid down in Directive 83/182/EEC for temporary
imports of vehicles from one Member State into another, since they all had
their "normal residence" in a Member State other than Greece, they
were fined heavily and also required to pay an increased duty consisting of
up to ten times the normal customs duty.
Despite their repeated representations to the various legal
authorities in Greece, the
judgement the European Court of Justice in case C-262/99 (Paraskevas
Louloudakis v. Elliniko Dimosio) and the legal action by the European Commission
against the HellenicRepublic (Case
C-156/04), the problem of the confiscation of the automobiles has not yet
been resolved.
MEPs expressed "great concern" that the Greek
authorities did not apply the relevant exemption to these specific cases, and
said that the seizure, confiscation and sale of a very substantial number of
vehicles was incompatible with the principles of the EU's Charter of
Fundamental Rights. They added that the confiscation of the vehicles, and the
fact that the petitioners were deprived of the use of them for many years,
was "contrary to the right of property and freedom of movement",
and said that the petitioners had a right to be "properly
compensated". The report concluded by urging the Greek authorities to
comply with the rules laid down in Directive 83/182/EEC, failing which the
Commission should "proceed without delay" with its legal action
against the HellenicRepublic.