Accordingly, as regards a rural development programme adopted by a Member State and approved by the Commission, which provides, for the purposes of admissibility to compensatory allowances for farmers located in areas of natural handicaps, a stocking criterion expressed in livestock units, with the aim of controlling the density of livestock present on forage areas in order to avoid under-grazing and overgrazing, the national authorities are required, during the on-the-spot checks, to determine the stocking criterion by counting the animals present on the holding at the time of the inspection visit, in order to verify meticulously whether that criterion was adhered to and thus to corroborate the data emerging from the administrative checks.

Even if the EU rules on the granting of aid and premiums do not expressly require Member States to introduce specific supervisory measures and inspection procedures, the fact remains that, under Article 14(2) of Regulation No 65/2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as regards the implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of rural development support measures, it falls to the Member States to carry out on-the-spot checks covering all the commitments and obligations of a beneficiary, including those arising under national law, which can be checked at the time of the visit.

Member States are permitted, in principle, to carry out on-the-spot checks under Article 12 et seq. of Regulation No 65/2011, together with the on-the-spot checks carried out in the context of the identification of bovine animals or beef premiums, provided that two conditions are satisfied, namely, first, that the latter checks constitute checks provided for in the EU rules regarding agricultural subsidies, within the meaning of Article 4 of Regulation No 65/2011 and, secondly, that they can be carried out at the same time as the checks provided for in Article 12 et seq. of that regulation.

As regards the second condition, none of the provisions of Regulation No 65/2011 can be interpreted as meaning that, if administrative checks are carried out using information derived from a reliable database, the on-the-spot checks under that regulation are no longer necessary. Indeed, such an interpretation disregards the objective of on-the-spot checks, which includes verifying the conformity of the information contained in the databases established by the Member States, in accordance with Article 15(3) of Regulation No 65/2011 and Article 42 of Regulation No 1122/2009 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 as regards cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system, under the direct support schemes for farmers provided for that Regulation, as well as for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards cross-compliance under the support scheme provided for the wine sector.

In that regard, as concerns the question whether on-the-spot checks carried out in the context of the identification of bovine animals or beef premiums may be used for the checking compliance with the condition of livestock stocking laid down under the compensatory allowances scheme for farmers located in areas of natural handicaps, it is apparent from Article 5(2) of Regulation No 1975/2006 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as regards the implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of rural development support measures, the wording of which corresponds to that of Article 4(4) of Regulation No 65/2011, that the on-the-spot checks in respect of those allowances are to be carried out at the same time as other checks provided for in the EU rules regarding agricultural subsidies ‘where appropriate’. It follows that, in principle, there may be cases in which it is not possible to carry out on-the-spot checks in respect of those allowances at the same time as other checks provided for in the EU rules regarding agricultural subsidies, since there is no absolute rule that joint checks must be carried out, but merely an option to do so, which is open to exceptions.

(see paras 59, 60, 68, 69, 71)