Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2018:328
Date: 2018-05-17
Language of the case: Danish
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;General provisions;Agricultural structures;Wine
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Denmark

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 25 July 2018 1. EU law — Interpretation — Texts in several languages — Uniform interpretation — Differences between the various language versions — Account to be taken of the overall scheme and purpose of the legislation in question (Council Regulation No 1782/2003, Art. 6(1)) 2. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — Direct support schemes — Common rules — Reduction in or withdrawal of payments — Non-compliance with the cross-compliance rules — Methods of calculation and imposition of a reduction (Council Regulations No 1782/2003, Art. 6(1), No 146/2008 and No 73/2009, Art. 23(1); Commission Regulation No 796/2004, Art. 66(1), and No 1122/2009, Art. 70(8)(a)) 3. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — Direct support schemes — Common rules — Reduction in or withdrawal of payments — Non-compliance with the cross-compliance rules — Divergence the year in which the non-compliance occurred and that in which it was found — Applicability ratione temporis of the rules concerning the calculation of the reduction (Council Regulations No 1782/2003, Art. 6(1) and No 146/2008) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 36-39) 2. Article 6(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September 2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers and amending Regulations (EEC) No 2019/93, (EC) No 1452/2001, (EC) No 1453/2001, (EC) No 1454/2001, (EC) No 1868/94, (EC) No 1251/1999, (EC) No 1254/1999, (EC) No 1673/2000, (EEC) No 2358/71 and (EC) No 2529/2001, Article 6(1) of Regulation No 1782/2003, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 146/2008, and Article 23(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 of 19 January 2009 establishing common rules for direct support schemes for farmers under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1290/2005, (EC) No 247/2006 and (EC) No 378/2007 and repealing Regulation No 1782/2003 must be interpreted as meaning that reductions in direct payments due to non-compliance with the cross-compliance rules must be calculated on the basis of payments granted or to be granted in the year during which that non-compliance occurred. Article 66(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 of 21 April 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 (OJ 2004 L 141, p. 18) and Article 70(8)(a) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009 of 30 November 2009 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation No 73/2009 as regards cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system, under the direct support schemes for farmers provided for in that Regulation, as well as for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards cross-compliance under the support scheme provided for the wine sector, must be interpreted as meaning that reductions in direct payments thus calculated are to be applied to payments received or to be received in the calendar year during which the non-compliance with the cross-compliance rules is found. (see para. 59, operative part 1) 3. The relevant EU rules applicable to the calculation of the reduction in direct payments when a farmer has not complied with the cross-compliance rules in 2007-2008, but that non-compliance was found only during 2011, are Article 6(1) of Regulation No 1782/2003 for 2007 and the first three months of 2008, and Article 6(1) of that regulation, as amended by Regulation No 146/2008, for the period from April to December 2008. (see para. 66, operative part 2)