Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1. Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Milk and milk products - Additional levy on milk - Allocation of reference quantities exempt from the levy - Producers who suspended deliveries under the system of non-marketing or conversion premiums - Grant of a special reference quantity - Calculated on the basis of the volume of deliveries in the year before a non-marketing or conversion premium was applied for - Applicable rate of reduction - Choice of a rate which penalizes the producers concerned - Principle of the protection of legitimate expectations - Infringed

(Council Regulations Nos 1078/77 and 857/84, Art. 3a(2); Commission Regulation No 1546/88)

2. Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Milk and milk products - Additional levy on milk - Allocation of reference quantities exempt from the levy - Producers who suspended deliveries under the system of non-marketing or conversion premiums - Grant of a special reference quantity - Quantity not transferable in the event of sale or lease of the holding - Principle of the protection of legitimate expectations - Principle of non-discrimination - Right to property - Not infringed

(Council Regulations Nos 1078/77 and 857/84, Art. 3a(4) )

3. Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Milk and milk products - Additional levy on milk - Allocation of reference quantities exempt from the levy - Producers who suspended deliveries under the system of non-marketing or conversion premiums - Grant of a special reference quantity - Quantity not transferable in the event of sale or lease of the holding - Meaning of "sale" and "lease" - Exception - Transfer by inheritance or by any similar transaction - Scope

(Council Regulation No 857/84, Art. 3a(4); Commission Regulation No 1546/88, Art. 7a(1) )

Summary

1. Article 3a(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 857/84, as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 764/89 and supplemented by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1546/88 of 3 June 1988, as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1033/89, is invalid in so far as it limits the specific reference quantity laid down by that provision for milk producers who were unable to deliver milk during the reference year by virtue of an undertaking given under Regulation No 1078/77, to 60% of the quantity of milk delivered or the quantity of milk equivalent sold by the producer during the 12 calendar months preceding the making of the application for the non-marketing or conversion premium.

2. The second subparagraph of Article 3a(4) of Regulation No 857/84, as amended by Regulation No 764/89, which provides that the special reference quantities granted to milk producers who were unable to deliver milk during the reference year by virtue of an undertaking given under Regulation No 1078/77 are to be returned to the Community reserve in the event of sale or lease of the holding before the end of the eighth period of application of the additional levy scheme, does not infringe the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations or the principle of non-discrimination or the right to property.

As far as the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations is concerned, whilst it is true that the producers concerned were legitimately entitled to expect to be able to resume the marketing of milk at the end of their non-marketing or conversion period, they could not legitimately expect to be able to be in a position to dispose, for profit, of an advantage, such as the allocation of a reference quantity under the additional levy scheme, which had been conferred on them specifically in order to enable them to resume their occupational activity.

The different treatment of the producers concerned is not discriminatory, since the refusal to afford them the possibility of transferring their special reference quantities is justified by the need to preclude the grant of such quantities to farmers who do not intend to resume the marketing of milk on an enduring basis but seek only to obtain a financial advantage by realizing the marketable value which the reference quantities have acquired in the meantime.

As regards the right to property guaranteed by the Community legal order, which in any event does not comprehend the right to dispose, for profit, of an advantage, such as the reference quantities at issue, the concern to impede speculative transactions is an objective of general interest which justifies the restriction imposed on that right and the substance of that right is not thereby affected since the producer may both turn his holding to account and transfer it, with his reference quantities, to his heirs.

3. The concepts of "sale" and "lease" within the meaning of the second subparagraph of Article 3a(4) of Regulation No 857/84, as amended by Regulation No 764/89, must be interpreted as referring to every transfer, for consideration, of the ownership of, or the right to use, the holding, with the exception, however, of cases in which such a transfer arises from a transaction "similar" to inheritance within the meaning of the first paragraph of Article 7a of Regulation No 1546/88, as amended by Regulation No 1033/89. The last-mentioned concept must be interpreted as referring to every transaction which entails effects similar to those of inheritance, regardless of the form in which such transaction is effected. It embraces, in particular, transactions concluded in respect of the holding concerned between a producer and the potential beneficiary of his estate, provided that the terms of the transaction in question are such that, according to its purpose and subject-matter, the main intention is that the holding should continue to be exploited by the potential beneficiary and not that the marketable value of the holding should be realized by the person from whom he stands to inherit.