Opinion Statement ECJ-TF 1/2017 on the Decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in SECIL (Case C-464/14) Concerning the Free Movement of Capital and Third Countries

This is an Opinion Statement prepared by the CFE ECJ Task Force on SECIL (Case C-464/14), in which the 5th Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) delivered its decision on 24 November 2016,1 following the Opinion of Advocate General Wathelet of 27 January 2016.2 The case concerned the discriminatory Portuguese taxation of dividends received by corporate shareholders from their subsidiaries in third states, namely in Lebanon and Tunisia. In a clear and instructive decision, the Court not only clarified the scope and impact of the Treaty provisions on the free movement of capital, but also the legal ramifications of the Euro- Mediterranean Agreements with Lebanon and Tunisia.