Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:54
Date: 1999-02-04
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Beef and veal
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Special 
premium for producers — Undertaking given by the applicant to keep cattle on his 
holding — Not honoured on account of the transfer of the holding during the currency 
of the undertaking — Whether this constitutes a case of force majeure justifying 
continued entitlement to the premium — Not force majeure 
(Commission Regulations No 1244/82, Art. 5, and No 714/89, Arts 2 and 9(3)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-376/97 
2. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Special 
premium for producers — Transfer of the holding during the currency of undertakings 
given by the transferor — Entitlement to the premium — Where the transferee has 
satisfied the required conditions — No entitlement 
(Council Regulations No 805/68, Art. 4a(1), as amended by Regulation No 571/89, 
and No 468/87; Commission Regulation No 714/89) 
1. A transfer of a holding during the 
currency of an undertaking — provi­
ded for in Article 2 of Regulation 
No 714/89 laying down detailed rules 
applying to the special premium for 
beef producers — on the part of the 
producer to keep the cattle on his 
holding cannot be assimilated to a case 
of force majeure, or, in particular, to 
non-compliance with the undertaking 
on account of the death of the bene­
ficiary or his inability over a long 
period to carry out his job, which 
number among the cases of force 
majeure in which the right to the 
premium would be retained (listed in 
Article 5 of Regulation No 1244/82 
laying down detailed rules implement­
ing the system of premiums for main­
taining suckler cows and to which 
Article 9(3) of Regulation No 714/89 
refers). Such a transfer does not con­
stitute an unusual and unforeseeable 
circumstance which was beyond the 
control of the party by whom it is 
pleaded and the consequences of which 
could not have been avoided even if all 
due care had been exercised. 
2. Article 4a(1) of Regulation No 805/68 
on the common organisation of the 
market in beef and veal, as amended by 
Regulation No 571/89, in conjunction 
with the provisions of Regulation 
No 468/87 laying down general rules 
applying to the special premium for 
beef producers and Regulation 
No 714/89 laying down detailed rules 
applying those arrangements, is to be 
interpreted as meaning that, where an 
agricultural holding is transferred by 
way of 'vorweggenommene Erbfolge' 
(anticipated succession inter vivos) dur­
ing the currency of undertakings given 
by the person applying for such a 
premium, entitlement to the premium 
does not pass to the new owner, even 
though the latter has satisfied the 
conditions laid down with regard to 
the keeping and fattening of the herd. 
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