Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Procedure – Introduction of new pleas during the proceedings – Conditions

(Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Arts 44(1)(c) and 48(2))

2. Non-contractual liability – Conditions – Sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law intended to confer rights on individuals

(EC Treaty, Art. 215, second para. (now Art. 288, second para., EC)

3. Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Milk and milk products – Additional levy on milk

(Council Regulation No 857/84, as amended by Regulation No 764/89, Art. 3a(1) and (3); Commission Regulation No 1546/88, as amended by Regulation No 1033/89, Art. 3a(1))

Summary

1. It follows from Article 44(1)(c), in conjunction with Article 48(2), of the Court’s Rules of Procedure that the original application must indicate the subject-matter of the proceedings and contain a summary of the pleas in law relied on, and that new pleas in law may not be introduced in the course of the proceedings unless they are based on matters of law or of fact which come to light in the course of the procedure. However, a submission or argument which may be regarded as amplifying a plea made previously, whether directly or by implication, in the original application, and which is closely connected therewith, will be declared admissible.

(see para. 38)

2. With regard to the non-contractual liability of the Community for damage caused by the institutions, a sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law intended to confer rights on individuals must be shown. The decisive criterion for finding that a breach of Community law is sufficiently serious is whether the Community institution concerned manifestly and gravely disregarded the limits on its discretion. Where the institution in question has only a considerably reduced, or even no, discretion, the mere infringement of Community law may be sufficient to establish the existence of a sufficiently serious breach.

(see para. 62)

3. It follows clearly from the provisions of Article 3a(1) of Regulation No 857/84 adopting general rules for the application of the levy in the milk and milk products sector, as amended by Regulation No 764/89, in conjunction with Article 3a(1) of Regulation No 1546/88 laying down detailed rules for the application of the additional levy, as amended by Regulation No 1033/89, that the provisional grant of a special reference quantity is subject to the condition that the producer concerned establishes that he still operates, in whole or in part, the same holding as that which he operated at the time of the approval of his premium application under Regulation No 1078/77, that is to say, the holding which was the subject of the non-marketing or conversion undertaking and that he demonstrates that he is able to produce a quantity equal to the reference quantity requested on that holding.

Moreover, it is apparent from Article 3a(3) of Regulation No 857/84 that, for the purposes of the definitive allocation of a special reference quantity, account could also be taken of sales or deliveries of milk from production units added to the holding in question between the date of expiry of the period of non-marketing or conversion and the date of the provisional allocation of the special reference quantity, on condition that the producer concerned was still operating, in whole or in part, the same holding as that which he had been operating at the time of the approval of his premium application.

Thus, Article 3a(1) of Regulation No 1546/88, in conjunction with Article 3a(1) of Regulation No 857/84, provides that milk production must be carried out from the holding which the producer concerned had been operating at the time of the approval of his premium application, which may include, in some cases, production units which the producers operated on their own account at the time at which the special reference quantity was allocated and which had to include, in whole or in part, the initial holding.

(see paras 83-85)