Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1. Agriculture ° Common agricultural policy ° Agricultural income aid ° Common organization of the markets ° Sheepmeat and goatmeat ° Imposition of penalties in cases of fraud ° Exclusion of traders from subsidies scheme ° Competence of the Community

(EEC Treaty, Arts 40(3) and 43(2), third subpara.; Commission Regulations No 3007/84, Art. 6(6) and 3813/89, Art. 13(3)(c))

2. Agriculture ° Common agricultural policy ° Agricultural income aid ° Common organization of the markets ° Sheepmeat and goatmeat ° Regulations ° Drafting procedure ° Distinction between basic regulations and implementing regulations ° Imposition by way of an implementing regulation of penalties in cases of fraud ° Legality

(EEC Treaty, Arts 145 and 155; Commission Regulations Nos 3007/84, Art. 6(6) and 3813/89, Art. 13(3)(b) and (c))

3. Acts of the institutions ° Regulations ° Basic and implementing regulations ° General delegation of authority conferred on Commission ° Legality

(EEC Treaty, Arts 145, 155 and 189; Council Decision 87/373)

Summary

1. In the context of the common agricultural policy the Community has power under Article 40(3) of the Treaty to provide for penalties such as exclusions from the scheme of subsidies established by Article 6(6) of Regulation No 3007/84 and by Article 13(3)(c) of Regulation No 3813/89. In fact, exclusions which do not differ in kind from other penalties such as surcharges on amounts wrongly received and having to be repaid, provided for in the agricultural legislation, are necessary in order to combat irregularities committed in the context of agricultural aid which, because they weigh heavily on the Community budget, are likely to compromise Community action in the agricultural sector.

2. In the context of the common agricultural policy the Commission has power to provide for penalties such as exclusions from the scheme of subsidies and surcharges on amounts wrongly received and having to be repaid, provided for by Article 6(6) of Regulation No 3007/84 and Article 13(3)(b) and (c) of Regulation No 3813/89. Those penalties in fact come within the implementing powers which the Council may delegate to the Commission under Articles 145 and 155 of the Treaty.

Articles 145 and 155 establish a distinction between rules which, since they are essential to the subject-matter envisaged, must be reserved to the Council' s power, and those which, being merely of an implementing nature, may be delegated to the Commission. In the agricultural sector only provisions intended to give concrete shape to the fundamental guidelines of Community policy may be classified as essential. That is not true of penalties, such as a surcharge on the reimbursement, with interest of a subsidy paid, or exclusion for a certain period of a trader from the subsidies scheme, which are intended to underpin the policy options chosen by ensuring the proper financial management of the Community funds designated for their attainment.

3. In order to delegate to the Commission the power to provide for penalties in the sector of the common agricultural policy a delegation of power couched in general terms is sufficient. In fact once the Council has laid down in a basic regulation the essential rules governing the matter in question, it may delegate to the Commission a general implementing power without having to specify the essential components of the delegated powers. That principle is not affected by Council Decision 87/373 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission. As a measure of secondary law it cannot add to the rules of the Treaty, which do not require the Council to specify the essential components of the implementing powers delegated to the Commission.