Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2008:646
Date: 2008-11-20
Language of the case: Dutch
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Veterinary legislation
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Judgment 1. Agriculture – Approximation of laws on animal health – Veterinary and zootechnical checks in intra-Community trade in live animals and animal products – Protection measures against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Commission Regulation No 2777/2000, as amended by Regulation No 111/2001, Arts 2(1) and 3(4); Commission Decision No 2000/764, Art. 1(3)) 2. Agriculture – Approximation of laws on animal health – Veterinary and zootechnical checks in intra-Community trade in live animals and animal products – Protection measures against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Council Regulation No 1258/1999, Arts 1(2)(d) and 3(2); Commission Regulation No 2777/2000, as amended by Regulation No 111/2001, Art. 2(1)) 3. Agriculture – Approximation of laws on animal health – Financing of health inspections and controls of fresh meat – Directive 85/73 (Commission Regulation No 2777/2000, as amended by Regulation No 111/2001, Art. 2(2); Council Directive 85/73, as amended and consolidated by Directive 96/43, Arts 4 and 5(4), second para.) 1. Article 2(1) of Regulation No 2777/2000 adopting exceptional support measures for the beef market, as amended by Regulation No 111/2001, must be interpreted as covering the obligatory tests for bovine spongiform encephalopathy carried out in a Member State in May and June 2001 on all meat from bovine animals aged more than 30 months slaughtered for human consumption. In order to determine whether such tests are tests within the meaning of Article 2(1) of Regulation No 2777/2000, it does not matter whether the obligation to carry out those tests was imposed by a national legislature which decided to bring forward the application of Article 1(3) of Decision 2000/764 on the testing of bovine animals for the presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and updating Annex IV of Decision 98/272, the Member State concerned having been authorised to stop the application of the special purchase scheme under Article 3(4) of Regulation No 2777/2000, or whether the source of that obligation was Article 2(1) of that regulation, applied in a Member State which, not having sufficient capacity to subject all the animals to a test, also applied that purchase scheme, since only meat which produced a negative result in one of the three tests could be authorised for consumption and since all three tests were technically identical. (see paras 42-43, operative part 1) 2. Article 2(1) of Regulation No 2777/2000 adopting exceptional support measures for the beef market, as amended by Regulation No 111/2001, must be interpreted as meaning that the prohibition on marketing meat from bovine animals aged more than 30 months which did not produce a negative result in the bovine spongiform encephalopathy test which it imposed with effect from 1 January 2001, constitutes a veterinary measure, within the meaning of Article 1(2)(d) of Council Regulation No 1258/1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy, which forms part of the programmes of eradication and monitoring of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. With regard to a veterinary measure, Community financing is granted, pursuant to Article 3(2) of Regulation No 1258/1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy, on the basis of Article 1(2)(d) of that regulation. (see paras 60, 62, operative part 2) 3. Article 2(2) of Regulation No 2777/2000 adopting exceptional support measures for the beef market, as amended by Regulation No 111/2001, and Article 4 and Article 5(4), second subparagraph, of Directive 85/73 on the financing of veterinary inspections and controls covered by Directives 89/662, 90/425, 90/675 and 91/496, as amended and consolidated by Directive 96/43, must be interpreted as not precluding Member States from charging national fees intended to finance the cost of testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The total amount of the fees concerning the slaughter procedures for bovine animals intended for human consumption must be set in accordance with the principles adopted for Community fees, according to which that amount may not exceed the costs incurred, which cover salary and social-security costs and the administrative costs of carrying out those tests and any direct or indirect refund of such fees is prohibited. (see para. 81, operative part 3)