Judgment of the General Court of 30 May 2013 – Anicav and Others v Commission
(Joined Cases T-454/10 and T-482/11) 1
(Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Aid in the fruit and vegetable sector – Actions for annulment – Whether directly concerned – Admissibility – Processed fruit and vegetables – Operational funds and operational programmes – Funding of ‘[non-]genuine processing activities’)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicants: Associazione Nazionale degli Industriali delle Conserve Alimentari Vegetali (Anicav) (Naples, Italy) (Case T-454/10); Agrupación Española de Fabricantes de Conservas Vegetales (Agrucon) (Madrid, Spain); and the sixteen other applicants whose names appear in Annex I to the judgment (Case T-482/10) (represented initially by J.L. da Cruz Vilaça, S. Estima Martins and S. Carvalho de Sousa, and subsequently by S. Estima Martins, S. Carvalho de Sousa and R. Oliveira, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented, in Case T-454/10, initially by B. Schima and M. Vollkommer, and subsequently by B. Schima and N. Donnelly, and, in Case T-482/11, by K. Banks and M. Schima, Agents)
Interveners in support of the applicants in Case T-454/10: Associazione Italiana Industrie Prodotti Alimentari (AIIPA) (Milan, Italy) and the ten other interveners whose names appear in Annex II to the judgment (represented initially by J.L. da Cruz Vilaça, S. Estima Martins and S. Carvalho de Sousa, and subsequently by S. Estima Martins, S. Carvalho de Sousa and R. Oliveira, lawyers)
Interveners in support of the defendant: Confederazione Cooperative Italiane (Rome, Italy) and the eight other interveners whose names appear in Annex III to the judgment (represented by: M. Merola, C. Santacroce and L. Cappelletti, lawyers)
Re:
APPLICATION, in Case T-454/10, for annulment of Article 52(2)a of, and Annex VIII to, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 of 21 December 2007 laying down implementing rules of Council Regulations (EC) No 2200/96, (EC) No 2201/96 and (EC) No 1182/2007 in the fruit and vegetable sector (OJ 2007 L 350, p. 1), as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 687/2010 of 30 July 2010 (OJ 2010 L 199, p. 12), and, in Case T-482/11, for annulment of Article 50(3) and Article 60(7) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 of 7 June 2011 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in respect of the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors (OJ 2011 L 157, p. 1).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls the second subparagraph of Article 52(2)a of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 of 21 December 2007 laying down implementing rules of Council Regulations (EC) No 2200/96, (EC) No 2201/96 and (EC) No 1182/2007 in the fruit and vegetable sector, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 687/2010 of 30 July 2010 in so far as it provides that the value of ‘[non-]genuine processing activities’ is included in the value of marketed production of fruit and vegetables intended for processing;
Annuls Article 50(3) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 of 7 June 2011 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in respect of the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors in so far as it provides that the value of ‘[non-]genuine processing activities’ is included in the value of marketed production of fruit and vegetables intended for processing;
Annuls Article 60(7) of Implementing Regulation No 543/2011;
Declares that it is not necessary to adjudicate on the action in Case T-454/10 in so far as that action seeks annulment of Annex VIII to Regulation No 1580/2007;
Maintains the effects of the second subparagraph of Article 52(2)a of Regulation No 1580/2007 and of Article 50(3) of Implementing Regulation No 543/2011 to the extent only that payments to producer organisations executed pursuant to those provisions until delivery of this judgment are to be considered definitive;
Orders, in Case T-454/10, the European Commission to bear its own costs and to pay the costs of the Associazione Nazionale degli Industriali delle Conserve Alimentari Vegetali (Anicav) and of the interveners in support of the form of order sought by Anicav, whose names appear in Annex II;
Orders, in Case T-454/10, the interveners in support of the form of order sought by the Commission, whose names appear in Annex III, to bear their own costs;
Orders, in Case T-482/11, the Commission, in addition to bearing its own costs, to pay the costs of the Agrupación Española de Fabricantes de Conservas Vegetales (Agrucon) and of the other applicants whose names appear in Annex I;
Orders, in Case T-482/11, the interveners in support of the form of order sought by the Commission, whose names appear in Annex III, to bear their own costs;
____________1 OJ C 328, 4.12.2010.