Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2017:730
Date: 2017-10-19
Language of the case: Spanish
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Spain

summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(1)(d)) (see para. 28) 2. Agriculture — EAGF and EAFRD financing — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenses arising from irregularities in applying EU rules — Challenge by the Member State concerned — Burden of proof — Shared by the Commission and the Member State (Council Regulations No 485/2008 and No 1290/2005) (see paras 45, 46, 114) 3. Agriculture — EAGF and EAFRD financing — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenses arising from irregularities in applying EU rules — Flat-rate correction issued by the Commission in accordance with internal guidelines — Application lacking information for a precise evaluation of the financial harm caused to the Union — Presentation by the Member State concerned of a calculation based on a comparison with the results of the inspections made outside of the period at issue — Inadequate nature — Application of flat-rate correction (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1306/2013, Art. 52(1) and (2); Council Regulations No 1782/2003, Annex III, and No 73/2009, Annex II; Council Directive 92/43, Art. 15(a)) (see paras 55, 60, 67, 68, 70, 73) 4. Agriculture — EAGF and EAFRD financing — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenses arising from irregularities in applying EU rules — Assessment of losses suffered by the funds — Irregular expenses not capable of being determined with sufficient precision — Assessment based on flat-rate corrections — Lawfulness — Breach of principle of proportionality — None (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1306/2013, Art. 52; Council Regulation No 1290/2005, Art. 31) (see paras 75, 76) 5. EU law — Principles — Rights of defence — Scope (see para. 77) 6. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Account-clearing decision for expenses financed by EAGGF and EAFRD — Financial corrections — Addressee State having been closely associated with the process of drawing up the decision — Infringement of the duty to state reasons — None (Art. 296 TFEU) (see para. 80) 7. Agriculture — EAGF and EAFRD financing — Grant of aid and premiums — Obligation on the Member States to organise an effective system of administrative and on-site inspections — Time-limit — Carrying out of inspections beyond the scrutiny period — Lawfulness — Condition — Not achieved during the prescribed period due to a material impossibility not attributable to the Member State concerned (Council Regulations No 4045/89, Art. 2(4), and No 485/2008, Art. 2(7)) (see paras 105, 106) 8. Actions for annulment — Contested act — Assessment of legality in the light of the information available at the time of adoption of the measure (Art. 263 TFEU) (see para. 107) 9. Agriculture — EAGF and EAFRD financing — Clearance of accounts — Procedure — Subject-matter — Financial correction not constituting a penalty (see para. 115) Re: Application based on Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1119 of 22 June 2015 excluding from European Union financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (OJ 2015 L 182, p. 39) as regards certain corrections made in respect of Catalonia, on the one hand, and the Canaries, on the other hand. Operative part The Court: 1. Dismisses the application; 2. Orders the Kingdom of Spain to bear its own costs and to pay the costs of the European Commission.