Action brought on 16 October 2013 – Hungary v European Commission
(Case T-554/13)
Language of the case: Hungarian
Parties
Applicant: Hungary (represented by: M.Z. Fehér and K. Szíjjártó, agents)
Defendant: European Commission
Form of order sought
Annul Commission Implementing Decision C(2013) 5029 of 6 August 2013 on the partial repayment of national financial assistance granted to producer organisations for operational programmes carried out in Hungary in 2010.
Order the Commission to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
In support of the action, the applicant argues that the Commission exceeded its powers and breached the relevant provisions of European Union law in establishing the amount of the partial repayment to Hungary of the national financial assistance granted in 2010 to producer organisations operating in the fruit and vegetable sector.
The applicant argues that European Union law does not allow the Commission, in its decision on the partial Community repayment of the national financial assistance granted pursuant to Article 103e of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 1 to producer organisations operating in the fruit and vegetable sector, to grant the repayment of only those amounts which were described as ‘estimated’ or ‘predicted’ by Hungary in its application for the grant of national assistance.
The applicant takes the view that, under Article 103e of Regulation No 1234/2007, the Commission’s authorisation for national assistance relates to the grant of aid and not to the establishment, by the Commission, of an upper limit on the assistance which can be granted. According to the applicant, such an upper limit is unequivocally laid down by Regulation No 1234/2007, which provides that national assistance may not exceed 80% of financial contributions to the operating funds of the members or of producer organisations. Nor do the rules on the partial Community repayment of national assistance allow the Commission, when authorising such partial repayment, to set as an upper limit for repayment the amount which the Member State indicated to the Commission in its application, either as the total amount of assistance or as the amount of assistance envisaged for certain producer organisations, particularly where the Hungarian Government stated that those amounts were merely projected or estimated amounts.
Moreover, the applicant states that the Commission is entitled to verify that the assistance actually paid did not exceed the above-mentioned upper limit of 80% and that the repayment requested does not exceed 60% of the assistance granted, but not to set as an upper limit for repayment the amounts given in the application for authorisation, especially when that application stresses the provisional or estimated character of the data. Where – for certain reasons – the amount of the national assistance granted to a given producer organisation changes during the year, partial Community repayment will be granted on the basis of the amount actually paid, provided that the requirements of European Union law in that regard are fulfilled.
________________________1 Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products.