Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2007:368
Date: 2007-06-21
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Monetary measures in the field of agriculture
Concepts: Export refunds
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Export refunds (Commission Regulation No 3665/87, Arts 11(3), first para., 47(2) and 48(2)(a)) An export refund can not be regarded as ‘unduly paid’, within the meaning of the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 11(3) of Regulation No 3665/87 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products, as amended by Regulation No 604/98, if the beneficiary, in the context of a recovery procedure for the refund, produces the necessary evidence to justify its right to that refund. It is a matter for the competent national authorities to set a reasonable time-limit which allows the beneficiary to produce this evidence. As the time-limits referred to in Articles 47(2) and 48(2)(a) of Regulation No 3665/87 are not applicable to the recovery procedure and as there are no specific Community law rules prescribing the time-limits for the presentation of supplementary evidence in the context of a recovery procedure, it is a matter for the competent national authorities, in accordance with national law, and subject to the limits imposed by Community law, to grant a supplementary period on the basis of the specific circumstances of each case. The period allowed must be reasonable in order to allow the exporter to obtain and produce the required documentation and must take account of, in particular, any effect of the actions of the competent authority on the exporter. (see paras 27-28, operative part)