Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 12 September 2012 — Greece v Commission
(Case T‑356/08)
EAGGF — Guarantee Section — Expenditure excluded from financing — Arable crops — Proportionality — Increase in the correction due to recurrence of the infringement
1. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenditure arising from irregularities in the application of Community rules — Challenge by the Member State concerned — Burden of proof — Allocation between the Commission and the Member State (see paras 12-13, 67)
2. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Plea based on lack of insufficiency of statement of reasons — Plea based on inaccuracy of statement of reasons — Distinction (Art. 253 EC) (see para. 29)
3. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — Integrated administration and control system for certain aid schemes — Obligation of the Member States — Establishment of an alphanumerical system for identifying agricultural parcels and a system of geographical information — Requirement of reliability (Council Regulations No 3508/92, Arts 2 and 4 and No 1782/2003, Arts 18 and 20) (see paras 34-35, 38, 44)
4. Agriculture — EAGGF — Grant of aids and subsidies — Obligation on Member States to organise an efficient system of administrative controls and on-the-spot checks — Unreliable controls — Disallowance by the Fund (Commission Regulation No 2419/2001, Art. 15 and No 796/2004, Art. 23(1)) (see paras 52-54, 58, 66)
5. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenditure arising from irregularities in the application of Community rules — Financial correction — Assessment of the level of failure to act and the degree of risk for the Fund — Elements to be taken into consideration — Gravity of the infringement — Recurrent failure — Lawfulness (Council Regulations No 1258/1999, Art. 7(4) and No 1290/2005, Art. 31(2)) (see paras 79-86)
6. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — EAGGF financing — Accounts clearance procedure — Subject matter — Financial correction not constituting a penalty (see para. 80)
7. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenditure arising from irregularities in the application of Community rules — Finding of failures in the control system implemented by a Member State — Blanket correction of 10% of expenses — Lawfulness — Condition — Observance of the principle of proportionality (Art. 5(4) TEU) (see paras 94, 98, 101)
8. European Union law — Principles — Protection of legitimate expectations — Conditions — Specific assurances given by the authorities (see para. 108)
9. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope (Art. 253 EC) (see para. 113)
10. Actions for annulment — Jurisdiction of the EU judicature — Claim seeking that directions be issued to an institution — Inadmissibility (see para. 118)
Re:
| APPLICATION for annulment of Commission Decision 2008/582/EC of 8 July 2008 excluding from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) (OJ 2008 L 186, p. 39), in so far as it excludes certain expenditure incurred by the Hellenic Republic. |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders the Hellenic Republic to pay the costs. |