Request for a preliminary ruling from the Corte suprema di cassazione (Italy) lodged on 12 October 2023 – Società agricola Circe di OL società semplice v ST, in his own name and as owner of the sole proprietorship Agricola Case Rosse di ST, Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura (AGEA)

(Case C-625/23, Società agricola Circe)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Corte suprema di cassazione

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Società agricola Circe di OL società semplice

Defendants: ST, in his own name and as owner of the sole proprietorship Agricola Case Rosse di ST, Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura (AGEA)

Questions referred

Must the term ‘scission’ contained in Article 33(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 be understood as referring to the legal construct in company law, thus entailing a change in the company resulting in the original property and areas under cultivation of one company being split into two separate properties belonging to different legal entities, or can it be interpreted broadly and thus apply to any contractual legal event that results in the original property and areas under cultivation of the original ‘agricultural’ company being allocated to two different entities, including through the transfer of quotas and the sale of land?

According to the correct interpretation to be given to the provisions of Regulation No 1782/2003 (Articles 2, 23, 24, 33, 34, 36, 38, 43 and 44) for the final allocation of CAP certificates, when the single payment is first applied, is it relevant that the area under cultivation and the eligible hectares were reduced in 2002, after the submission of the application by the ‘farmer’ and the provisional allocation of the certificates, if that reduction occurred as a result of the sale of a portion of the land in question in 2002, and the reduction can be applied automatically during the final allocation?

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