Judgment of the Court of First Instance (Eighth Chamber) of 30 April 2009 – Spain v Commission

(Case T-281/06)

EAGGF – Guarantee Section – Expenditure excluded from Community financing – Compensatory aid for banana producers – Irregularities in quality controls – Type of financial correction applied – Proportionality

1.                     Agriculture – EAGGF – Clearance of accounts (Council Regulation No 729/70, Art. 5(2)(c), and No 1258/1999, Art. 7(4)) (see paras 42-43, 65-66, 71)

2.                     Acts of the institutions – Regulations –Regulation laying down specific control measures (see para. 48)

3.                     Agriculture – Common agricultural policy – EAGGF financing (Council Regulation No 404/93, Art. 12(1), and No 1258/1999, Art. 8(1); Commission Regulation No 2257/94 and No 2898/95, Art. 7(3)) (see para. 53)

Re:

PARTIAL ANNULMENT of Commission Decision 2006/554/EC of 27 July 2006 excluding from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ 2006 L 218, p. 12) in so far as it provides for a financial correction applicable to expenses declared by the Kingdom of Spain pursuant to compensatory aid for banana producers for the financial years 2002 and 2003.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.