Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Agriculture EAGGF Clearance of accounts Disallowance of expenditure arising from irregularities in the application of the Community rules Disputed by the Member State concerned Burden of proof

(Council Regulation No 729/70)

2. Agriculture EAGGF Clearance of accounts Power of Commission to review validity of expenditure Where reasonable doubt arises Burden of proof on the Member State

3. Agriculture Common agricultural policy EAGGF financing Principles Conformity of expenditure with the Community rules Obligation to supervise incumbent on the Member States

(Council Regulation No 729/70, Art. 8(1))

4. Acts of the institutions Statement of reasons Obligation Scope Decision relating to the clearance of accounts in respect of expenditure financed by the EAGGF

(EC Treaty, Art. 190 (now Art. 253 EC))

Summary

1. In the context of EAGGF financing of the common agricultural policy, it is for the Commission, when intending to disallow expenditure declared by a Member State, to prove that an infringement of the rules on the common organisation of the agricultural markets has occurred. The Commission is therefore obliged to give reasons for its decision finding an absence of, or defects in, inspection procedures operated by the Member State in question.

( see paras 38-39 )

2. When the Commission refuses to charge certain expenditure to the EAGGF on the ground that it arose from infringements of the Community rules attributable to a Member State, it is not required to demonstrate exhaustively that the checks carried out by the national authorities are inadequate, or that there are irregularities in the figures submitted by them, but to adduce evidence of serious and reasonable doubt on its part regarding those checks or figures. The reason for this mitigation of the burden of proof on the Commission is that it is the Member State which is best placed to collect and verify the data required for the clearance of EAGGF accounts; consequently, it is for the State to adduce the most detailed and comprehensive evidence that it has made checks or that its figures are accurate and, if appropriate, that the Commission's assertions are incorrect.

( see paras 40-41 )

3. Article 8(1) of Regulation No 729/70, which lays down the obligations imposed on the Member States in the area of agriculture by Article 5 of the EC Treaty (now Article 10 EC), defines the principles according to which the Community and the Member States are to ensure the implementation of Community decisions on agricultural intervention financed by the EAGGF and combat fraud and irregularities in relation to those operations. That provision imposes on the Member States the obligation to take the measures necessary to satisfy themselves that the transactions financed by the EAGGF are actually carried out and are executed correctly.

( see para. 92 )

4. In the particular context of the preparation of decisions relating to the clearance of EAGGF accounts, the statement of reasons for a decision refusing to charge to the EAGGF a proportion of the expenditure declared must be regarded as sufficient if the Member State to which the decision was addressed was closely involved in the process by which it came about and was aware of the reasons for which the Commission took the view that it must not charge the sum in dispute to the EAGGF.

( see para. 119 )