Action brought on 20 January 2023 – Greece v Commission

(Case T-18/23)

Language of the case: Greek

Parties

Applicant: Hellenic Republic (represented by: E. Leftheriotou, A.-E. Vasilopoulou and O. Pastellas, acting as Agents)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the General Court should:

annul, in its entirety, Commission Implementing Decision C(2002)8047 final of 15 November 2022 on the financial treatment to be applied to expenditure financed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guidance Section (‘EAGGF-G’), in certain cases of irregularity in Greece;

in the alternative, annul the contested decision in so far as concerns the amount corresponding to the part of the recovery that was annulled by the national court in Case 2014/10019, that is to say, limit the amount to be recovered in that case to EUR 48 619.63 rather than EUR 145 854.46; and

order the defendant to pay the costs incurred by the Hellenic Republic.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on two pleas in law.

First plea in law, alleging that there is no legal basis for the adoption of the contested Commission decision in so far as concerns charging the amount at issue to the Hellenic Republic, since Regulation (EC) No 1681/94 ¹ has been repealed and no longer applies to cases which fall under the 1994-1999 programme period, and Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 ² applies only to cases of irregularity in the context of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

Second plea in law, alleging error of fact, in that the Commission found that the Greek authorities had failed to show diligence in the management of Case 2014/10019. It is also claimed that charging the amount of EUR 145 854.46 to the Hellenic Republic is disproportionate.

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¹ Commission Regulation (EC) No 1681/94 of 11 July 1994 concerning irregularities and the recovery of sums wrongly paid in connection with the financing of the structural policies and the organization of an information system in this field (OJ 1994 L 178, p. 43).

¹ Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 352/78, (EC) No 165/94, (EC) No 2799/98, (EC) No 814/2000, (EC) No 1290/2005 and (EC) No 485/2008 (OJ 2013 L 34, p. 549).