SpA Alois Lageder y otros contra Amministrazione delle finanze dello Stato.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 61991CJ0031
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1993:132
• Date: 01 April 1993
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Docket Number: C-44/91,C-31/91

Avis juridique important

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61991J0031

Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 1 April 1993. - SpA Alois Lageder and others v Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato. - References for a preliminary ruling: Corte suprema di Cassazione - Italy. - Wine - Quality wines psr - "DOC and DOCG" designations - Provisional list - Monetary compensatory amounts - Mistake by the national authorities - Prescription - Protection of legitimate expectations. - Joined cases C-31/91 to C-44/91.

European Court reports 1993 Page I-01761

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

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1. Agriculture ° Common organization of the markets ° Wine ° Quality wines produced in specified regions ° Community provisional list referring to the designations awarded by the producing Member State ° Italian wines ° Regulation No 1311/73 ° Acceptance only of wines designated "denominazione di origine controllata" (DOC) and "denominazione di origine controllata e garantita" (DOCG)

(Regulation No 1311/73 of the Commission, Art. 1)

2. European Communities' own resources ° Post-clearance recovery of import duties or export duties ° Monetary compensatory amounts ° Absence of Community rules ° Application of national law ° Conditions

3. Community law ° Principles ° Protection of legitimate expectations ° Scope ° National authorities responsible for applying Community law ° Authorities acting in the absence of powers on the basis of a misinterpretation of the Community rules ° No legitimate expectation

(Regulations Nos 1769/72 and 1311/73 of the Commission)

Summary

1. Article 1 of Regulation No 1311/73 relating to the provisional list of quality wines produced in specified regions and the identification of those wines in the accompanying document must be interpreted as meaning that only wines designated "denominazione di origine controllata" (DOC) and "denominazione di origine controllata e garantita" (DOCG) were entitled in Italy, during the period of validity of that provision, that is between 22 May and 31 August 1973, to be classified as "quality wines produced in specified regions".

2. Where at the time of the events which gave rise to the dispute before the national court, there were no provisions of Community law applicable to the post-clearance recovery of monetary compensatory amounts by the national authorities following an initial misinterpretation of the Community rules by their departments, it is for the national court to apply the provisions of national law on the prescription of export duties wrongly not collected from the person liable owing to a mistake by the national authorities, provided that those provisions apply without discrimination to national claims and Community claims and do not affect the scope or effectiveness of Community law.

3. The national authority responsible for issuing the accompanying VA(2) forms for wines awarded the designation "quality wines produced in specified regions" is required to observe the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations. Nevertheless, where such a document was issued by a national authority which was not empowered to do so and which, owing to a mistaken interpretation of the applicable Community rules, did not demand payment of the monetary compensatory amounts, as provided for by those rules, no legitimate expectations can arise on the part of the parties concerned, notwithstanding their good faith.

Parties

In Joined Cases C-31/91 to C-44/91,

FOURTEEN REFERENCES to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Corte Suprema di Cassazione for a preliminary ruling in proceedings pending before that court between

Alois Lageder SpA

Divit Srl (formerly Vinexport SpA)

Ditta Josef Nidermayr

Schenk SpA

Ditta Josef Brigl

W. Walch Srl

Castello Rametz SpA

Cooperative Cavit Srl

Cantina Vini J. Hofstaetter Sas

Ditta Alton Lindner

H. Mumelter e C. Snc

Girelli SpA

Josef Stimpfl Snc

Azienda Vinicola Liberio Todesca

and

Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato,

on the interpretation of Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 1311/73 of the Commission of 16 May 1973 relating to a provisional list of quality wines produced in specified regions as well as the identification of these wines in the accompanying document (OJ 1973 L 132, p. 20),

THE COURT (First Chamber),

composed of: G.C. Rodríguez Iglesias, President of the Chamber, R. Joliet and D.A.O. Edward, Judges,

Advocate General: M. Darmon,

Registrar: H.A. Ruehl, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

° SpA Alois Lageder, Srl Divit, Ditta Josef Nidermayr, SpA Schenk, Ditta Josef Brigl, Srl W. Walch, SpA Castello Rametz, Srl Cooperative Cavit, Cantina Vini J. Hofstaetter Sas, Ditta Alton Lindner, Snc H. Mumelter e C., SpA Girelli, Snc Josef Stimpfl and Azienda Vinicola Liberio Todesca by S. Giammarco, of the Trento Bar, and G. Cavasola, of the Rome Bar,

° the Italian Government by Professor L. Ferrari Bravo, Head of Contentious Diplomatic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I. M. Braguglia, Avvocato dello Stato, acting as Agents,

° the Commission of the European Communities by its Legal Adviser, E. De March, acting as Agent, assisted by G. Marchesini, lawyer at the Corte Suprema di Cassazione,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of the Italian Government and the Commission at the hearing on 4 June 1992,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 15 September 1992,

gives the following

Judgment

Grounds

1 By orders of 26 February 1990 received at the Court on 28 January 1991 the Corte Suprema di Cassazione (Supreme Court of Cassation) referred three identical questions to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty for a preliminary ruling in 14 cases pending before that court on the interpretation of Regulation (EEC) No 1311/73 of the Commission of 16 May 1973 relating to a provisional list of quality wines produced in specified regions as well as the identification of these wines in the accompanying document (OJ 1973 L 132, p. 20).

2 Those questions were raised in proceedings between the companies Alois Lageder, Divit (formerly Vinexport SpA), Ditta Josef Nidermayr, Schenk, Ditta Josef Brigl, W. Walch, Castello Rametz, Cooperative Cavit, Cantina Vini J. Hofstaetter, Ditta Alton Lindner, H. Mumelter e C., Girelli, Josef Stimpfl and Azienda Vinicola Liberio Todesca (hereinafter "the applicants in the main proceedings") and the Amministrazione delle Finanze dello Stato (hereinafter "the Amministrazione") concerning the post-clearance recovery of monetary compensatory amounts (hereinafter "MCAs") on wines of Italian production exported by them to Germany between June and August 1973.

3 It is apparent from the documents before the Court that, when they were exported, the wines in question were accompanied by VA(2) forms issued by the Istituto Agrario Provinciale di S. Michele (Provincial Agricultural Institute of San Michele...