Judgment of the General Court of 6 December 2023 – Czech Republic v European Commission
(Case T-48/22) 1
(EAGF and EAFRD – Expenditure excluded from financing – Conformity clearance procedure – Active farmer – Permanent grassland – Control sample – Undue payments – Late submission of application – Financial discipline – Obligation to state reasons – Legitimate expectations – Proportionality)
Language of the case: Czech
Parties
Applicant: Czech Republic (represented by: M. Smolek, J. Vláčil, O. Serdula and J. Očková, acting as Agents)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: J. Aquilina, A. Becker, K. Walkerová and J. Hradil, acting as Agents)
Re:
By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the Czech Republic seeks the partial annulment of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/2020 of 17 November 2021 excluding from European Union financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (OJ 2021 L 413, p. 10; ‘the contested decision’), in so far as it relates to expenditure it incurred in the years 2015 to 2017, in the amount of EUR 43 470 836.30.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/2020 of 17 November 2021 excluding from European Union financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in so far as it imposes a financial correction on the Czech Republic by reason of, first, infringement of provisions of EU law concerning the selection of the sample of beneficiaries of aid subject to a standard check, in the amount of EUR 18 833.24, and, second, deficiencies in the check aimed at ascertaining whether an area that was ineligible for aid for one year was also ineligible for the preceding years and ought to have triggered the opening of a procedure to recover the undue payments under the single area payment scheme, in an amount of EUR 17 855 884.41;
Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
Orders each party, the Czech Republic and the European Commission, to bear its own costs.
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1 OJ C 128, 21.3.2022.