Industrias de Deshidratación Agrícola SA v Administración del Estado.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 62002CC0118
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2003:440
• Docket Number: C-118/02
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Date: 10 September 2003

OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL
STIX-HACKL
delivered on 10 September 2003(1)


Case C-118/02

Industrias de Deshidratación Agrícola, SA
v
Administración del Estado


(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Supremo (Spain))

(Agriculture – Common organisation of the market in dried fodder – Council Regulation (EC) No 603/95 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 785/95 – Admissibility of national conditions with respect to green or fresh fodder for processing)

I – Introductory remark 1. The subject of the present proceedings is the division of powers between the Community and the Member States: to what extent may Member States lay down conditions for the grant of aid in the context of a common organisation of the agricultural market? II – Legal framework A – Community law 2. Council Regulation (EC) No 603/95 (2) (hereinafter: ‘the basic regulation’) established a common organisation of the market in dried fodder. The purpose of this organisation of the market is to introduce price regulations and rules on trade with non‑member countries with a view to stabilising prices. 3. This common organisation of the market consists essentially of rules on the payment of simple flat rate aids for dried fodder. (3) In this connection, the rate for fodder which is artificially heat-dried is higher than that for sun-dried fodder in order to take into account the additional costs involved. (4) 4. In order to limit dried fodder production within the Community, the amount for which aid may be granted is subject to maximum limits, depending on the method of drying. If these limits are exceeded in the course of the marketing year, the aid is reduced. The reduction applies uniformly in all the Member States for the first 5% by which the maximum guaranteed quantity is exceeded. (5) For any excess beyond 5% additional reductions are made in any Member State that has exceeded the national guaranteed amount. (6) 5. Article 8 of the basic regulation lays down conditions with respect to the minimum quality of dried fodder for which aid may be granted. 6. The aid is granted to processing undertakings supplied by producers, producers’ associations, or buyers. Approval of processing undertakings by the competent authorities of the Member States is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, in particular the requirement to keep stock accounts. (7) 7. In order to encourage regular supplies of fodder to processing undertakings and to enable producers to benefit from the aid scheme, the granting of aid is in certain cases conditional on the conclusion of contracts between producers and processing undertakings. Under Article 11(1) of the basic regulation, such contracts must state inter alia the area from which the crop is to be delivered to the processing undertaking, and the terms of supply and payment. 8. Article 12 of the basic regulation imposes supervisory duties on the Member States. They are required to introduce a supervisory system to check, in particular, that the conditions laid down are met and that the quantities covered by aid applications correspond to the quantities of dried fodder of the minimum quality which leave the undertakings. 9. A procedure which establishes close cooperation between Member States and the Commission within a Management Committee is laid down in Article 17 of the basic regulation. Article 18 of the basic regulation provides for the adoption of detailed rules for the application of the basic regulation, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17. These rules relate to:

‘–

the granting of the aid referred to in Article 3 ...,

–

the checking and establishment of entitlement to the aid, including any necessary controls, ...,

–

the criteria for determining the minimum quality,

–

the conditions to be fulfilled by the undertakings referred to in the second indent of Article 9(c), as well as the conditions referred to in Article 10,

–

the control measure to be carried out referred to in Article 12(2),

–

the criteria to be fulfilled for the conclusion of contracts referred to in Article 9 and the information which they must contain, in addition to the criteria laid down in Article 11,

–

the application of the maximum guaranteed quantity (MGQ)’.

10. Commission Regulation (EC) No 785/95 (8) (hereinafter: ‘the implementing regulation’) contains the detailed rules for the application of the basic regulation. (9) According to the first recital in the preamble to the implementing regulation, certain concepts should be defined ‘in order to ensure efficient application of the system of aid for dried fodder’. The implementing regulation lays down the detailed minimum quality criteria in respect of moisture and protein content for dried fodder products referred to in Article 8 of the basic regulation. Essentially, aid is to be granted for products of sound and fair merchantable quality which have left the processing undertaking and have the following characteristics: moisture content between 11% and 14%, and minimum crude protein content of 45% in the case of protein concentrates and dried products and of 15% in the case of other products. 11. In this connection, Article 9 of the implementing regulation requires processing undertakings to determine, for fodder to be dehydrated and, where applicable, for sun-dried fodder delivered to them for processing, the quantities delivered, measured by systematic weighing. They are also required to notify the competent authority of the average moisture content, determined in accordance with the provision, within the specified time. 12. Article 8 of the implementing regulation concerns the contracts provided for in Article 9 of the basic regulation. For verification purposes, each contract must include the type or types of crop to be processed and the foreseeable quantity involved, and identification of the parcel or parcels on which the fodder to be processed was grown, in accordance with the integrated management and verification system. 13. Article 11 of the implementing regulation contains rules on the sampling and determination of the weight of dried fodder. In connection with these verification measures, Article 12 of the implementing regulation adds to the details to be included in stock records, referred to in Article 9(a) of the basic regulation. Article 12(1) provides that the stock accounts must include at least details of ‘the species referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 603/95 of fodder to be dehydrated and, where applicable, sun-dried fodder entering the undertaking [and] the moisture content of fodder to be dehydrated’. 14. Other provisions of the implementing regulation concern the cross-checks to be carried out by the competent national authorities (Article 14) and the information to be supplied by Member States to the Commission (Article 15). It is perhaps significant that Article 14(3) of the implementing regulation requires the competent authorities, in the event of any doubt as to the accuracy of the information contained in the application for aid, to undertake additional checks on suppliers of raw materials and others. Article 15(e) of the implementing regulation requires Member States to inform the Commission of the average moisture content of fodder to be dehydrated. B – National law 15. Real Decreto (Royal Decree) 283/1999 of 22 February 1999 (hereinafter: ‘Decree 283/1999’) lays down the basic rules applicable to the system of aid for dried fodder in Spain. 16. The preamble to that decree states: ‘The Community provisions on aid for dried fodder are contained in Council Regulation (EC) No 603/95 of 21 February 1995 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder and in Commission Regulation (EC) No 785/95 of 6 April 1995 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation No 603/95. Without prejudice to the direct applicability of those regulations,...