Request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Sigmaringen (Germany) lodged on 17 April 2023 – Karl und Georg Anwander GbR Güterverwaltung v Land Baden-Württemberg
(Case C-239/23, Karl und Georg Anwander Güterverwaltung)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Verwaltungsgericht Sigmaringen
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicants: Karl und Georg Anwander GbR Güterverwaltung
Defendant: Land Baden-Württemberg
Interested party: Freistaat Bayern
Questions referred
Is a national administrative regulation and support practice whereby the payment of a compensatory allowance for land in mountain areas and certain areas facing constraints is precluded solely because the land to be supported by the compensatory allowance is outside the region of the Member State, within the meaning of point (b) of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, 1 that grants the compensatory allowance compatible with the first subparagraph of Article 31(1), Article 31(2), Article 32(1)(a), the first subparagraph of Article 32(2) and the second and third subparagraphs of Article 32(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013? Is the place of business of the farmer managing the land a permissible criterion for differentiation in that regard?
Is the first subparagraph of Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to be interpreted as meaning that the rules of a Member State or a region of the Member State which has decided to grant payments to farmers in mountain areas and other areas facing constraints, within the meaning of Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, must be defined in such a way that the payment must also be granted in respect of land that has been classified as a mountain area or other area facing constraints, within the meaning of Article 32(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, by another Member State or another region of the same Member State which has also decided to grant payments to farmers in mountain areas and other areas facing constraints within the meaning of Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013?
Are the first subparagraph of Article 31(1) and Article 31(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to be interpreted as meaning that, in principle, a farmer derives directly from those provisions an entitlement under EU law to the grant of the payment (compensatory allowance) by the Member State or the region of the Member State if the farmer is an active farmer and manages land which has been classified as a mountain area or other area facing constraints, within the meaning of Article 32(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, by the Member State or the region of the Member State and the Member State concerned or the region thereof has decided to grant payments (compensatory allowances) within the meaning of the first subparagraph of Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013?
If that question is answered in the affirmative:
(a) Against whom is the entitlement under EU law derived from Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 directed? Is it always directed against the Member State itself or, in any event, against the region (point (b) of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013) of the Member State if the region has decided, independently of the Member State, to grant compensatory allowances to farmers pursuant to Article 31 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013?
(b) Does the entitlement under EU law require, in principle, that the farmer meets further requirements in excess of those laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 31(1) and Article 31(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, which are stipulated by the Member State granting the compensatory allowance or the region thereof in its national implementing measures?
If Question 3 is answered in the negative:
Is the first subparagraph of Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to be interpreted as meaning that the rules of a Member State or one of its regions laying down the conditions for the grant of the payment (compensatory allowance) within the meaning of the first subparagraph of Article 31(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 must have such legal status that farmers are entitled to the grant of the payment (compensatory allowance) if they meet the conditions for payment laid down by the Member State in question or the regions thereof, irrespective of the actual support practice of the Member State or the region thereof?
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1 Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (OJ 2013 L 347, p. 487).