Case C-648/15 Austria v. Germany : Jurisdiction and Powers of the CJ to Settle Tax Treaty Disputes Under Article 273 TFEU Article

On 12 September 2017, the Court of Justice ruled in Case C-648/15 Austria v. Germany on the interpretation and application of the double taxation convention between Austria and Germany on the basis of Article 273 TFEU; a provision which allows the Member States to submit to the Court of Justice (CJ) a dispute between them concerning a matter related to the EU Treaties. In this contribution, the authors focus on some selected (EU law) aspects of the judgment of the CJ under Article 273 TFEU, i.e. (1) the scope of the CJ’s jurisdiction under Article 273 TFEU, (2) the effects of a CJ ruling under such provision as regards the Member States and within the EU as a whole, (3) the application of the rules of interpretation proper to international law (i.e. the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties) by the CJ in the context of an Article 273 TFEU-based procedure and (4) issues of overlap with the recently adopted Directive on Tax Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the European Union.