Judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) of 16 September 2013 —
Netherlands v Commission
(Case T‑343/11)
EAGGF — Guarantee Section — Expenditure excluded from financing — Fruits and vegetables — Exclusion of financing of costs of printing on packaging — Non-compliance with criteria for recognising a producers’ organisation — Exclusion of expenses of all members of the producers’ organisation in question — Proportionality
1. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Definitive refusal to accept responsibility for certain expenses — Need for prior inter partes procedure (see para. 76)
2. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Decision relating to the clearance of accounts in respect of expenditure financed by the EAGGF (Art. 296 TFEU) (see para. 77)
3. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — EAGGF financing — Principles — Equal treatment of economic operators — Varying interpretations of EU law by Member States — Distortions of competition — Not permissible (Council Regulations No 729/70 and No 1258/1999) (see paras 82-84)
4. Actions for annulment — Contested act — Assessment of legality in the light of the information available at the time of adoption of the measure (Art. 263 TFEU) (see para. 92)
5. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenses arising from irregularities in applying EU rules — Challenge by the Member State concerned — Burden of proof — Allocation between the Commission and the Member State (Council Regulation No 1258/1999) (see paras 109, 110)
6. Agriculture — Clearance of accounts — Procedure — Purpose — Financial correction not constituting a penalty (see para. 111)
7. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Fruit and vegetables — Producers’ organisations — EAGGF financing — Recognition of those organisations by national authorities — Conditions — Statutory requirement to sell production through the intermediary of the said organisation — Scope of the obligation — Organisation determining the conditions of sale (Council Regulation No 2200/96, Art. 11(1)(c), para. 3; Commission Regulation No 1432/2003, Art. 6) (see paras 121-124, 151)
8. EU law — Principles — Proportionality — Scope — Expenses of all the members of the producers’ organisation in question excluded — No Infringement (see paras 166-168)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of Commission Implementing Decision 2011/244/EU of 15 April 2011 excluding from European Union financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (OJ 2011 L 102, p. 33) in so far as it concerns certain expenditure incurred by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders the Kingdom of the Netherlands to pay the costs. |