Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2001:653
Date: 2001-11-29
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 
Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — EAGGF financing — Principles — 
Expenditure associated with practices that are incompatible with Community law 
disalloived — Commission's measure of discretion — None 
(Council Regulation No 729/70, Arts 2 and 3) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-332/00 
Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation No 729/70 
on the financing of the common agricul­
tural policy authorise the Commission to 
charge to the EAGGF only sums paid in 
accordance with the rules laid down in the 
context of the common organisation of the 
agricultural markets, and leaving all other 
sums to be borne by the Member States, in 
particular sums which the national auth­
orities wrongly considered themselves auth­
orised to pay in the context of that 
common organisation. The Commission 
has no discretion in that regard even in 
cases where national practices incompat­
ible with Community law have a beneficial 
effect on the amounts recorded in other 
EAGGF items. The purpose of the EAGGF 
account clearing procedure, which is to 
check that refunds and interventions are 
made in accordance with the Community 
rules and thereby to guarantee that all 
traders are subject to the same conditions 
of competition, would be jeopardised if the 
Commission were able, when it finds a 
national practice to be irregular, to invoke 
a discretionary power to accept or reject it 
for Community financing according to the 
seriousness of its financial repercussions for 
the EAGGF. 
(see paras 44-46) 
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