Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2017:244
Date: 2017-03-30
Language of the case: Hungarian
Court formation: Tenth Chamber
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Environment
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Hungary

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber), 30 March 2017 1. Acts of the institutions — Regulations — Direct applicability — Competence for implementation conferred on a Member State — Limits — Observance of the principle of proportionality (Art. 288, second para., TFEU) 2. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — EAFRD financing — Support for rural development — Aid for the sustainable use of forest land — Eligibility limited to private owners — Forest area partially owned by the State — Calculation of the amount of support to be paid — Obligation to take account of the ratio of the size of the part owned by the State to the size of the part owned by the private owner (Council Regulation No 1698/2005, Art. 42(1)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 17, 18, 29) 2. The first sentence of Article 42(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) must be interpreted as meaning that, when a forest area eligible for Natura 2000 support is owned in part by the State and in part by a private owner, account must be taken of the ratio of the size of the part owned by the State to the size of the part owned by that private owner in calculating the amount of support to be paid to the latter. The fact that part of a plot of a Natura 2000 forest area does not fall within the scope of Natura 2000 support, on that ground that it is owned by the State, does not eliminate the need to compensate for the restrictions on the use of plots in that area belonging to a private owner as a result of the implementation of the requirements set out in those directives. Accordingly, the complete exclusion of a Natura 2000 forest area owned both by a private owner and by the State from the scope of the first sentence of Article 42(1) of Regulation No 1698/2005 would necessarily eliminate the compensatory aim of the Natura 2000 payments system. (see paras 27, 28, 36, operative part)