Action brought on 20 February 2020 — Società agricola Vivai Maiorana and Others v Commission

(Case T-116/20)

(2020/C 129/24)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicants: Società agricola Vivai Maiorana Ss (Curinga, Italy), Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori — CIA (Rome, Italy), MIVA — Moltiplicatori Italiani Viticoli Associati (Faenza, Italy) (represented by: E. Scoccini and G. Scoccini, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicants claim that the Court should:

— annul the following parts of Annex IV to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 of 28 November 2019: Part A (fodder plant seed), Part B (cereal seed), Part C (vine), Part F (vegetable seed), Part I (vegetable planting) and Part J (fruit plants);

— declare Articles 36 and 37(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, and point (3) of Section 4 of Annex I thereto, invalid.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The present action has been brought against Parts A (fodder plant seed), B (cereal seed), C (vine), F (vegetable seed), I (vegetable planting) and J (fruit plants) of Annex IV to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 of 28 November 2019 establishing uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and the Council, as regards protective measures against pests of plants, and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 690/2008 and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 (OJ 2019 L 319, p. 1).

In support of the action, the applicants rely on four pleas in law.

1. First plea in law, alleging infringement of Article 36(e) and (f) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, failure to comply with the principle of proportionality and a failure to state adequate reasons — The applicants claim in this regard that the 0 % threshold for the presence of Union regulated non-quarantine pests (‘RNQPs’) on native plants for planting established by the Commission in Annex IV to Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 was set without appropriate verification that the presence of the RNQPs has an unacceptable economic impact and that feasible and effective measures are available to prevent their presence, as required by Article 36(e) and (f) of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031.

2. Second plea in law, alleging infringement of the FAO International Treaty on Plant Generic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) — The applicants claim in this regard that the introduction of the 0 % threshold for RNQPs present on native plant resources infringes Article 9 of the FAO International Treaty on Plant Generic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), to which the European Union and the individual countries of the European Union are signatories.

3. Third plea in law, alleging infringement of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ 2018 L 150, p. 1) — The applicants claim in this regard that the procedure for selecting and standardising plant varieties resulting from the application of the thresholds for the RNQPs expressly infringes the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/848.