Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2005:291
Date: 2005-05-12
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Monetary measures in the field of agriculture;Non-Annex II EEC Treaty products
Concepts: Export refunds
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 1. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Export refunds — Inaccurate declaration — Sanction — Principle of proportionality — Breach — None (Commission Regulations No 3665/87, Art. 11(1), first subpara.,(a)) 2. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Export refunds — Products for further processing not covered by Annex II to the Treaty — Inaccurate declaration — Goods exported incorporating a product other than that declared — Product capable of being assimilated to one of those listed in Annex A to Regulation No 1222/94 — Entitlement to the grant of an export refund (Commission Regulations No 1222/94, Art. 7(1), first subpara., (2), first subpara., and (5), and No 3665/87, Art. 11(1)) 1. The sanction provided for in Article 11(1), first subparagraph, (a), of Regulation No 3665/87 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products, as amended by Regulation No 2945/94, applied to an exporter who, through no fault of his own, has requested a refund in excess of that applicable, does not breach the principle of proportionality since it cannot be considered to be inappropriate for attaining the objective pursued by Community law, namely to combat irregularities and fraud, and does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective. (see para. 26) 2. The second sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 7(1), the first subparagraph of Article 7(2) and Article 7(5) of Regulation No 1222/94 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of granting export refunds on certain agricultural products exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex II to the Treaty, and the criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds, as amended by Regulation No 229/96, are to be interpreted as meaning that where an exporter has declared in a request for an export refund that, in the production of the exported goods, a product was used which, by virtue of Article 1(2) of that regulation, is assimilated to the skimmed milk powder described in Annex A (PG 2), whereas in fact another product was used which, by virtue of the same provision, is also assimilated to the same skimmed milk powder, he is entitled to the grant of an export refund, corrected if appropriate in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation No 3665/87 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products, as amended by Regulation No 2945/94. (see para. 27, operative part)