Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1.Agriculture - Common organization of the market - Milk and milk products - Special aid for skimmed milk for use as feed for animals other than calves - Undertakings given by farmers - Introduction of a system of monitoring and proof - Imposition of obligations on dairies - Power of the Commission

( Regulation No 804/68 of the Council, Art . 10(3 ); Commission Regulation No 2793/77, Art . 5(3)(b ) )

2.Agriculture - Common organization of the market - Milk and milk products - Special aid for skimmed milk for use as feed for animals other than calves - Retroactive mitigation of penalties attaching to the late submission of statements - Scope

( Commission Regulation No 2793/77, Art . 4(3 ), as amended by Regulation No 188/83 )

3.Agriculture - Common organization of the market - Milk and milk products - Special aid for skimmed milk for use as feed for animals other than calves - Loss of all entitlement to aid where a statement is submitted more than 10 days late - Principle of proportionality - Breach - None

( Commission Regulation No 2793/77, Art . 4(3 ), as amended by Regulation No 188/83 )

4.Agriculture - Common organization of the market - Milk and milk products - Special aid for skimmed milk for use as feed for animals other than calves - Undertakings given by farmers who have specialized holdings - Statement of herd size - Replacement of a single method of submitting a statement by various methods available at the option of the Member States - No choice made - Farmers' obligations maintained without change

( Commission Regulation No 2793/77, Art . 4(1)(b ), as amended by Regulation No 1438/79 )

Summary

1 . The undertakings to be given by dairies pursuant to Article 5(3 ) of Commission Regulation No 2793/77 on detailed rules of application for granting special aid for skimmed milk for use as feed for animals other than young calves form part of the system of monitoring and proof which had to be set up so as to ensure the smooth operation of the aid scheme . Since those requirements form part of the detailed rules for the application of the system of aid for skimmed milk and skimmed-milk powder produced in the Community and used as animal feed, the Commission was empowered to impose them under Article 10(3 ) of Regulation No 804/68 on the common organization of the market in milk and milk products .

2.The amendment made by Regulation No 188/83 to Article 4 of Regulation No 2793/77, which mitigates the penalty attaching to failure by farmers to comply with the time-limit for submission of the statement of herd size on which entitlement to the aid for skimmed milk intended for use as feed for animals other than young calves depends, where the statement is not more than 10 days late, applies retroactively not only to applications for aid on which no decision has yet been given but also to claims for repayment of the aid which have not yet been settled, since the issue of lack of proportionality which that amendment is designed to remedy arises in the same manner in both cases .

3.Loss of the entire amount of special aid for skimmed milk for use as feed for animals other than young calves where the period prescribed by Article 4 of Regulation No 2793/77 for the submission of the statement of herd size is exceeded by more than 10 days is not contrary to the requirements imposed by observance of the principle of proportionality .

4.Article 4(1)(b ) of Regulation No 2793/77 and Article 1(3 ) of Regulation No 1438/79 amending Regulation No 2793/77 for the fourth time must be interpreted as meaning that the undertaking to be given by a farmer who has a specialized holding in order to qualify for aid for skimmed milk for use as feed for animals other than young calves entails the obligation to forward a statement of the size of his herd to the dairy every quarter until such time as the Member State concerned has chosen, in accordance with the option available to it after 1 January 1980, whether to require a quarterly statement or an annual statement of the average size of the herd .