Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:265
Date: 1998-05-28
Language of the case: German
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Beef and veal
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment
Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — Support for producers of certain arable crops —
Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Payments aimed at compensating the
loss of income caused by the reform of the common agricultural policy — Obligation to pay the
sums at issue in full to the beneficiaries — Levying of administrative fees — Prohibition —
Infringement of Article 5 of the Treaty and breach of the principle of proportionality — Absence
(EC Treaty, Art. 5; Council Regulations No 805/68, Art. 30a, and No 1765/92, Art. 15(3))
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SUMMARY —JOINED CASES C-36/97 AND C-37/97
Article 15(3) of Regulation No 1765/92 estab­
lishing a support system for producers of cer­
tain arable crops, and Article 30a of Regula­
tion No 805/68 on the common organisation
of the market in beef and veal, as inserted by
Regulation No 2066/92, which provide that
the compensatory payments and premiums
laid down in the regulations at issue, whose
object is to grant compensation to the farmers
affected by the consequences of the reform of
the common agricultural policy, are paid in
full to the beneficiaries, prohibit the authori­
ties in the Member States from charging appli­
cants administrative fees for processing their
applications for aid even if the administrative
fees fixed by those authorities correspond to
the rates which are otherwise usual in national
law and those fees are so low that they are
not capable of deterring applicants from
applying for aid.
In fact, to allow Member States the freedom
to reduce the levels of compensatory aid by
making a deduction of or charging fees for
administrative expenses would lead to dif­
ferent compensation for the loss of income of
the farmers in one Member State and between
the farmers of different Member States, which
could interfere with the uniform application
of Community law, which is necessary in
order to avoid unequal treatment of pro­
ducers and traders.
In adopting the said regulations, the Council
did not, moreover, infringe Article 5 of the
Treaty or breach the principle of proportion­
ality, since the objective pursued can be
achieved only by the obligation to pay the
compensatory aid in full to the farmers con­
cerned.
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