Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2017:230
Date: 2017-03-29
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Netherlands

Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 29 March 2017 — Netherlands v Commission (Case T‑501/15) (EAGF and EAFRD — Expenditure excluded from financing — Integrated administration and control system — Reductions and exclusions where rules on cross-compliance not observed — Minor non-compliance — Article 24(2) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 — Article 71(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009 — Burden of proof — Interpretation of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 73/2009) 1. Agriculture — EAGF and EAFRD financing — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenses arising from irregularities in applying EU rules — Challenge by the Member State concerned — Burden of proof — Shared by the Commission and the Member State (Council Regulation No 73/2009; Commission Regulation No 1122/2009) (see paras 43-47) 2. Agriculture — EAGF and EAFRD financing — Integrated administration and control system for certain aid schemes — Reductions and exclusions where rules on cross-compliance not observed — Non-application in cases of minor non-compliance — Criteria for assessment — National penalty system systematically regarding lack of documents required under the regulation’s rules on management as cases of minor non-compliance — Not permissible (Council Regulation No 73/2009, Art. 24(2); Commission Regulation No 1122/2009, Art. 71(3)) (see paras 48-51, 59, 60) 3. EU law — Interpretation — Methods — Literal, systematic and teleological interpretation (see para. 67) 4. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — Direct support schemes — Common rules — Requirements on the identification and registration of animals — Non-compliance — Irrelevant to the drawing of direct payments by the farmer concerned (Council Regulations No 21/2004, Arts 3 and 6 to 8, and No 73/2009, Art. 4(1), and Annex II) (see para. 68) 5. Actions for annulment — Subject-matter — Decision based on several pillars of reasoning, each sufficient to justify the operative part — Annulment of such a decision — Conditions (Arts 263 TFEU and 296 TFEU) (see para. 70) Re: APPLICATION based on Article 263 TFEU seeking the annulment of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1119 of 22 June 2015 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 2015 L 182, p. 39) to the extent that it concerns expenditure made by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders the Kingdom of the Netherlands to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission; 3. Orders the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to bear its own costs.