Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 14 February 2012 — Italy v Commission

(Case T-267/06)

‛EAGGF — Guarantee Section — Expenditure excluded from Community financing — Financial corrections — Fruit and vegetables — Public storage of beef and veal’

1. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenditure arising from irregularities in the application of the Community rules — Challenge by the Member State concerned — Burden of proof — Allocation between the Commission and the Member State (Council Regulations No 729/70 and No 1258/1999) (see paras 31, 72, 94-97)

2. Procedure — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Identification of the subject matter of the dispute — Summary statement of pleas (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see paras 35-38, 78)

3. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenditure arising from irregularities in the application of Community rules — Introduction of an adjustment of the disallowance by reference to the risk created for the EAGGF by the seriousness of the failure to act attributable to the national control authorities — Challenge by the Member State concerned — Burden of proof (see para. 42)

4. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — EAGGF financing — Accounts clearance procedure — Conciliation procedure — Opinion of the conciliation body — No binding effect (see para. 45)

5. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Limitation of refusal of financing — Twenty-four month period — Point from which time starts to run — Communication by the Commission of the results of verifications — Content (Council Regulations No 729/70, Art. 5(2)(c), and No 1258/1999, Art. 7(4), fifth para.; Commission Regulation No 1663/95, Art. 8(1)) (see paras 50-52)

Re:

Partial annulment of Commission Decision 2006/554/EC of 27 July 2006 excluding from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ 2006 L 218, p. 12), in so far as it excludes certain expenditure incurred by the Italian Republic in the fruit and vegetable sector and in the public storage of beef and veal sector.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;

2. Orders the Italian Republic to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission.

Judgment of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 14 February 2012 — Italy v Commission

(Case T-267/06)

‛EAGGF — Guarantee Section — Expenditure excluded from Community financing — Financial corrections — Fruit and vegetables — Public storage of beef and veal’

1. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenditure arising from irregularities in the application of the Community rules — Challenge by the Member State concerned — Burden of proof — Allocation between the Commission and the Member State (Council Regulations No 729/70 and No 1258/1999) (see paras 31, 72, 94-97)

2. Procedure — Application initiating proceedings — Formal requirements — Identification of the subject matter of the dispute — Summary statement of pleas (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 44(1)(c)) (see paras 35-38, 78)

3. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Disallowance of expenditure arising from irregularities in the application of Community rules — Introduction of an adjustment of the disallowance by reference to the risk created for the EAGGF by the seriousness of the failure to act attributable to the national control authorities — Challenge by the Member State concerned — Burden of proof (see para. 42)

4. Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — EAGGF financing — Accounts clearance procedure — Conciliation procedure — Opinion of the conciliation body — No binding effect (see para. 45)

5. Agriculture — EAGGF — Clearance of accounts — Limitation of refusal of financing — Twenty-four month period — Point from which time starts to run — Communication by the Commission of the results of verifications — Content (Council Regulations No 729/70, Art. 5(2)(c), and No 1258/1999, Art. 7(4), fifth para.; Commission Regulation No 1663/95, Art. 8(1)) (see paras 50-52)

Re:

Partial annulment of Commission Decision 2006/554/EC of 27 July 2006 excluding from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ 2006 L 218, p. 12), in so far as it excludes certain expenditure incurred by the Italian Republic in the fruit and vegetable sector and in the public storage of beef and veal sector.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;