Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2002:443
Date: 2002-07-11
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Agricultural structures
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

SUMMARY — CASE C-417/00 
Summary of the Judgment 
Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — Integrated administration and control 
system for certain aid schemes — Area-linked aid for arable crops and set-aside — 
Applicability of the penalties prescribed by Article 9(2) of Regulation No 3887/92 when 
the farmer fails to give notice of changes subsequent to the submission of the aid 
application 
(Commission Regulation No 3887/92, Arts 4(1) and (2), and 9(2)) 
Article 9(2) of Regulation No 3887/92 lay­
ing down detailed rules for applying the 
integrated administration and control sys­
tem for certain Community aid schemes 
must be interpreted as meaning that the 
penalties prescribed by that provision are 
not limited to cases in which the farmer has 
made erroneous or false declarations at the 
time when the aid application was sub­
mitted but that they also apply where the 
farmer has failed to notify the competent 
authority of changes affecting the con­
ditions governing grant of the aid. In 
relation to the penalties prescribed by the 
first and second subparagraphs of that 
provision, the finding of a difference 
between the area declared and the area 
actually determined in the course of checks 
carried out by the competent authorities 
entails, by itself, the application of a 
penalty and knowledge of the reasons for 
the discrepancy is not necessary. With 
regard to the penalties prescribed by the 
third subparagraph, which provides for the 
exclusion of farmers who have made a false 
declaration deliberately or as a result of 
serious negligence from benefiting from aid 
schemes, it is necessary, in order to attain 
the objective sought by Article 9(2), 
namely to prevent and penalise irregular­
ities and fraud effectively, to apply them 
not only in the event of false statements 
made at the time of submission of the aid 
application, but also where the information 
given in that application no longer accords 
with the actual situation established after 
the submission thereof owing to a change 
in the initial situation. 
(see paras 40-41, 49-50, 56, 
operative part) 
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