Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2011:180
Date: 2011-03-24
Language of the case: Hungarian
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Hungary

Summary of the Judgment 1. Agriculture – Common agricultural policy – EAGGF financing – Support for rural development – Support for agri-environmental production methods (Council Regulation No 1257/1999, as amended by Regulation No 1783/2003, Arts 22 and 37(4)) 2. Agriculture – Common agricultural policy – EAGGF financing – Support for rural development – Support for agri-environmental production methods (Council Regulation No 1257/1999, as amended by Regulation No 1783/2003, Art. 22; Commission Regulation No 817/2004, Art. 68) 3. Agriculture – Common agricultural policy – EAGGF financing – Support for rural development – Support for agri-environmental production methods (Council Regulation No 1257/1999, as amended by Regulation No 1783/2003, Art. 22; Commission Regulation No 817/2004, Art. 68) 4. Agriculture – Common agricultural policy – EAGGF financing – Support for rural development – Support for agri-environmental production methods (Council Regulation No 1257/1999, as amended by Regulation No 1783/2003, Art. 22; Commission Regulations No 796/2004, Art. 16, and No 817/2004, Art. 68) 1. Article 37(4) of Regulation No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), as amended by Regulation No 1783/2003, permits Member States to lay down further or more restrictive conditions for the grant of Community support for rural development, provided that those conditions are consistent with the objectives and requirements laid down in that regulation. In that regard, Article 22 of that regulation provides, inter alia, that support is to be given for agricultural methods which are designed to protect the environment, and that that support is to promote an environmentally-favourable extensification of farming and management of low-intensity pasture systems. A condition relating to density of livestock, which is imposed by national legislation in relation to the use as grassland of land in sensitive environments, with the aim of conserving the pastures’ abundance in flora and fauna, and which applies to the grant of aid on the basis of Article 22 of that regulation, is consistent with the objectives and requirements laid down in the regulation and constitutes, in conformity with Article 37(4) of that regulation, a condition governing eligibility for the aid. (see paras 31-32) 2. As regards the aid based on Article 22 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), as amended by Regulation No 1783/2003, which is subject to a condition relating to the density of livestock, it is permissible under that provision and Article 68 of Regulation No 817/2004 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation No 1257/1999 for the competent authorities to carry out cross-checks with the data from the integrated administration and control system and, in particular, to rely on the data held in the database of a national system for the individual identification and registration of bovine animals. (see para. 37, operative part 1) 3. It is permissible under Article 22 of Regulation No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), as amended by Regulation No 1783/2003, and Article 68 of Regulation No 817/2004 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation No 1257/1999 for the competent authorities, when verifying compliance with the conditions governing eligibility for agri-environmental aid under the former provision, to check only the data held in the database of a national system for the individual identification and registration of bovine animals in order to refuse that aid, without necessarily having to carry out other checks. The computerised database of the system for the identification and registration of animals is designed to ensure efficient tracing in real time of those animals, which is essential for public health reasons. Accordingly, the database is required to be fully reliable. As a consequence, that database alone is able to confirm the fact that the conditions governing eligibility for the aid in question are met, such as those relating to the density of livestock. (see paras 42-43, operative part 2) 4. Article 22 of Regulation No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), as amended by Regulation No 1783/2003, and Article 68 of Regulation No 817/2004 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation No 1257/1999, interpreted in the light of Article 16 of Regulation No 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in Regulation No 1782/2003, place the national authorities – to the extent that, for the purposes of verifying compliance with the conditions governing eligibility for agri-environmental aid under the former provision, which is subject to a condition relating to density of livestock, those authorities check only the data in a national system for the individual identification and registration of bovine animals – under an obligation to provide information concerning those eligibility conditions which consists in informing the farmer concerned that any animals found not to be correctly identified or registered in that national system are to count as animals found with irregularities liable to have legal consequences, such as a reduction in or exclusion from the aid concerned. (see para. 51, operative part 3)