Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2019:180
Date: 2019-03-07
Language of the case: Lithuanian
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Milk products
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Lithuania

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas (Lithuania) lodged on 2 January 2018 — A group of Members of the Seimas (Case C-2/18) Language of the case: Lithuanian Referring court Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas Parties to the main proceedings Applicant: A group of Members of the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) Other party: the Lithuanian Parliament Questions referred 1. Can Article 148(4) of Regulation No 1308/2013 1 be interpreted as meaning that, for the purpose of strengthening the negotiating powers of raw milk producers and preventing unfair commercial practices, and taking into account certain particular structural features of the milk and milk products sector of the Member State and changes in the market for milk, it does not prohibit the establishment of a national legal regulatory framework which restricts the freedom of contracting parties to negotiate the purchase price of raw milk in the sense that a raw milk buyer is prohibited from paying different raw milk prices to raw milk sellers from the same group, grouped according to the volume of milk sold, who do not belong to a recognised milk producers’ organisation, for raw milk of the same quality and composition as that delivered to the buyer via the same method, and, thus, the parties are unable to agree on a different raw milk purchase price by taking into account any other factors? 2. Can Article 148(4) of Regulation No 1308/2013 be interpreted as meaning that, for the purpose of strengthening the negotiating powers of raw milk producers and preventing unfair commercial practices, and taking into account certain particular structural features of the milk and milk products sector of the Member State and changes in the market for milk, it does not prohibit the establishment of a national legal regulatory framework which restricts the freedom of contracting parties to negotiate the purchase price of raw milk in the sense that a raw milk buyer is prohibited from unjustifiably reducing the purchase price of the raw milk, and a reduction of the price by more than 3% is possible only if a State-empowered institution recognises such a reduction as being justified? ____________ 1 Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ 2013 L 347, p. 671).