Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2007:760
Date: 2007-12-06
Language of the case: Dutch
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Beef and veal
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Judgment Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Beef and veal – Premium for the maintenance of the suckler cow herd (Council Regulation No 1254/1999, Art. 3(f)) Article 3(f) of Regulation No 1254/1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal, as amended by Regulation No 1512/2001, does not preclude national rules which make the right to a suckler cow premium subject to conditions consistent with usual animal husbandry practice that require, first, a certain frequency of calving and secondly, that the calf should have been suckled by its mother for a period of four months after its birth. In the absence of a precise definition of the concept of ‘suckler cow’ in Regulation No 2342/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation No 1254/1999, for the purpose of determining the conditions of eligibility for the premium and of checking that premium applications relate to eligible animals in compliance with the objectives of those regulations and of Regulation No 2419/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying the integrated administration and control system for certain Community aid schemes established by Regulation No 3508/92 it is open to the Member States to provide clarification of that concept by taking as a basis the usual animal husbandry practice within their territory. Moreover, the application of conditions at the level of individual cows rather than at the level of the herd as a whole strengthens legal certainty because it is clear and facilitates the monitoring of the regularity of premium applications by the competent national authorities. In principle, such application is not therefore incompatible with those regulations. (see paras 41, 45, 49, operative part)