Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2018:906
Date: 2018-12-12
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: France

Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 12 December 2018 — France v Commission (Case T‑609/17) (EAGF — Expenditure excluded from financing — Expenditure incurred by France — Export refunds on poultry meat — Flat-rate financial correction — Regulations (EC) No 1290/2005 and (EU) No 1306/2013 — Sound, fair and marketable quality — Checks — Proportionality) 1. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Export refunds — Conditions for granting — Products of sound, fair and marketable quality — Criteria for assessment — Marketability of the product — Assessment on the basis of the requirements laid down in the applicable EU legislation (Commission Regulations No 543/2008, Arts 15(1) and 16(6), and No 612/2009, Art. 28(1)) (see paras 28-34) 2. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Export refunds — Conditions for granting — Products of sound, fair and marketable quality — Obligation for checks to be carried out by the Member States — Scope (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1306/2013, Art. 58(1); Council Regulation No 1290/2005, Art. 9(1); Commission Regulations No 1276/2008, Arts 5(2) and (4) and 6, and No 612/2009, Art. 28) (see paras 35, 36, 40, 41, 44) 3. Agriculture — Financing by the EAGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenses arising from irregularities in applying EU rules — Finding of defects in the control system established by a Member State — Application of flat-rate correction — Breach of principle of proportionality — None (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1306/2013, Art. 52(2)) (see paras 45-49) Re Action under Article 263 TFEU for annulment in part of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1144 of 26 June 2017 excluding from European Union financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (OJ 2017 L 165, p. 37), in so far as it excludes payments made by the French Republic under the EAGF in the amount of EUR 120 901 216.61. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders the French Republic to pay the costs.