Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:159
Date: 1999-03-18
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Fisheries policy
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - successful
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Fisheries — Common structural policy — Development of aquaculture and establish­
ment of protected marine areas — Community financial assistance — Decision 
reducing the assistance granted — Meaning — Commission decision finding that 
certain expenditure incurred by the recipient is ineligible — Covered — Commission 
required to engage in prior consultation 
(Council Regulation No 4028/86, Arts 44(1) and 47; Commission Regulation 
No 1116/88, Art. 7) 
2. Appeals — Appeal held to be well-founded — Final judgment on the substance by the 
Court of justice — Decision contested in the action dismissed by the Court of First 
Instance to be annulled 
(EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 54, first para.) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-10/98 Ρ 
1. A r t i c l e 4 4 ( 1 ) of R e g u l a t i o n 
No 4028/86 on Community measures 
to improve and adapt structures in the 
fisheries and aquaculture sector, which 
confers on the Commission the power 
to suspend, reduce or discontinue aid, 
in the event of one of the four condi­
tions laid down in that provision being 
met, clearly aims to cover all decisions 
by the Commission which reduce, 
entirely or in part, the amount of the 
aid initially granted when one of those 
conditions is met. Whilst the Commis­
sion is not bound to exercise that 
power, Article 44(1) explicitly requires 
that, should it do so, it must consult the 
Standing Committee for the Fishing 
Industry in accordance with Article 47 
of the Regulation. It is equally clear 
from Art ic le 7 of R e g u l a t i o n 
No 1116/88 laying down detailed rules 
for the application of decisions grant­
ing aid that in such cases the proce­
dures it mentions must also be fol­
lowed. 
2. Under the second sentence of the first 
paragraph of Article 54 of the EC 
Statute of the Court of Justice, if the 
decision of the Court of First Instance 
is set aside, the Court of Justice may 
give final judgment in the matter where 
the state of the proceedings so permits. 
That is the position where the setting 
aside of the decision under appeal 
entails that the decision contested at 
first instance must be annulled. 
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