Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1996:419
Date: 1996-11-05
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Oils and fats
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgmen t 
1. Agriculture — Common organization of the markets — Oils and fats — Olive oil — Produc­
tion aid — Determination on the basis of the yield of olive trees — Yields fixed according to 
aflat rate — Commission's discretion — Respective roles of the Member States and the Com­
mission — Substitution of Commission data for data supplied by Member States — Permis­
sible — Conditions — Substitution under ReguUtion No 1840/94 — Conditions fulfilled 
(EC Treaty, Art. 155; Council ReguUtion No 136/66, Art. 5(2), and Council Regulation No 
2261/84, Art. 18; Commission Regulation No 3061/84, Art. 12, and Commission ReguLtion 
No 1840/94) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-285/94 
2. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope 
(EC Treaty, Art. 190) 
3. Actions for annulment — Pleas in law — Misuse of powers — Meaning 
(EC Treaty, Art. 173) 
1. With regard to the exercise of the powers 
which the Council confers on the Com­
mission for the implementation of the 
rules which it lays down, it is apparent 
from the Treaty context in which the 
fourth indent of Article 155 must be 
placed and also from practical require­
ments that the concept of implementation 
must be given a wide interpretation. More 
particularly, only the Commission is in a 
position to keep track of agricultural mar­
ket trends and to act quickly where nec­
essary and therefore the Council may 
find it necessary to confer on it wide 
powers in that sphere; those powers may 
also apply to some extent to the finding 
of the basic facts, and the limits to which 
they are subject must be determined by 
reference among other things to the 
essential general aims of the market orga­
nization. 
In the light of those principles, the Com­
mission and the Member States are 
required to play complementary roles in 
relation to the aid scheme for producers 
of olives and olive oil established by 
Article 5(2) of Regulation N o 136/66 and, 
more particularly, the aid granted to olive 
growers whose average production is less 
than 500 kg of oil per marketing year, 
which is determined, in accordance with 
the procedure laid down in Article 18 of 
Regulation N o 2261/84 and Article 12 of 
Regulation N o 3061/84, on the basis of 
the yields, fixed according to a flat rate, 
of the olive trees in production: the pro­
ducer States are required to supply cer­
tain data to the Commission, which the 
latter is entitled to verify in order to 
establish definitively the yields in ques­
tion. Where the data compiled by the 
competent national authorities and trans­
mitted by the producer Member States 
give a picture which differs significantly 
from the true market position, the Com­
mission is not required to confine itself to 
minor adjustments to those data but may, 
where necessary, replace them with data 
which it has obtained directly from the 
various economic agents, using its own 
parameters, provided however that such 
data faithfully reflect the real situation 
and developments in the olive and olive 
oil market. 
As regards the replacement by the Com­
mission, in Commission Regulation No 
1840/94, of the basic data provided by the 
Italian authorities, the last-mentioned 
condition was satisfied because the data 
used by the Commission corresponded 
more closely to the economic reality of 
the Italian market than the figures sub­
mitted by the Italian administration. 
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ITALY v COMMISSION 
2. The statement of reasons required by 
Article 190 of the Treaty must show 
clearly and unequivocally the reasoning 
of the institution which enacted the meas­
ure so as to inform the persons concerned 
of the justification for the measure 
adopted and to enable the Court of Jus­
tice to exercise its powers of review. It is 
not necessary, however, for details of all 
relevant factual and legal aspects to be 
given, in so far as the question whether 
the statement of the grounds for a 
decision meets the requirements of 
Article 190 of the Treaty must be assessed 
with regard not only to its wording but 
also to its context and to all the legal rules 
governing the matter in question. 
3. An act of a Community institution is viti­
ated by misuse of powers if it was 
adopted with the exclusive or main pur­
pose of achieving an end other than that 
stated or evading a procedure specifically 
prescribed by the Treaty for dealing with 
the circumstances of the case. 
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