Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1 . Accession of new Member States to the Communities - Spain - Provisions of secondary legislation amended by the Act of Accession - Later amendment - Procedure

( Act of Accession of 1985, Art . 8 )

2 . Agriculture - Common agricultural policy - Objectives - Reconciliation - Power of assessment of the institutions - Stabilization of the market in milk products - Reduction of the quantities of milk exempt from the additional levy

( EEC Treaty, Art . 39 ( 1 ) ( b ); Council Regulations Nos 1335/86 and 1343/86 )

3 . Community law - Principles - Protection of legitimate expectations - Limits - Application of new rules to the future effects of situations arising during the period of application of previous rules - Amendment of agricultural rules previously amended by the Act of Accession of a State

4 . Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Discrimination between producers or consumers - Prohibition - Scope - Measures to reduce milk production - Concerted effort required of all producers - Application to Spain

( EEC Treaty, Art . 40 ( 3 ), second subparagraph )

5 . Agriculture - Common agricultural policy - Regulations - Procedure for drawing them up - Distinction between basic regulations and implementing regulations - Implementing regulation adopted in accordance with the criteria and the procedure laid down by the basic regulation - Lawfulness

( EEC Treaty, Art . 40 ( 2 ), third subparagraph )

Summary

1 . By Article 8 of the Act of Accession of Spain the institutions of the Community are empowered to amend in the future, under the procedure normally applicable to amendments of provisions of secondary legislation, the measures adopted by them which were amended under the Act of Accession .

2 . In pursuing the objective of the common agricultural policy the Community institutions must secure the permanent harmonization made necessary by any conflicts between those objectives taken individually and, where necessary, allow any one of them temporary priority in order to satisfy the demands of the economic factors or conditions in view of which their decisions are made .

Thus, with a view to achieving the objective of the additional milk levy scheme, namely the stabilization of the market in milk products, in which structural surpluses resulting from an imbalance between supply and demand are endemic, the Council was entitled, in spite of the effects of such a measure on farmers' incomes, to decide in Regulations Nos 1335/86 and 1343/86 to reduce by 3% the total guaranteed quantities exempt from that levy without acting in breach of Article 39 of the Treaty .

3 . The field of application of the principle of legitimate expectations cannot be extended to the point of generally preventing new rules from applying to the future effects of situations which arose under the earlier rules, especially in a field such as the common organization of the markets, the purpose of which necessarily involves constant adjustment to the variations of the economic situations in the various agricultural sectors .

That rule cannot be set aside where the most recent version of the previous rules is the result of an amendment made by the Act of Accession of a Member State to pre-existing rules .

4 . The principle of non-discrimination between producers or consumers in the Community, laid down in the second subparagraph of Article 40 ( 3 ) of the Treaty, means that comparable situations are not to be treated differently and that different situations are not to be treated alike unless such treatment is objectively justified . It follows that the measures taken under the common organization of the market, and in particular its intervention mechanisms, must not be differentiated according to regions and other conditions relating to production or consumption, except on the basis of objective criteria which ensure that the advantages and disadvantages are distributed proportionately among those concerned, without any distinction being made between the territories of the Member States .

As regards the application of a measure for reducing milk production, Spain, although having a milk production deficit and not having contributed to the creation of surpluses, is not in such a different situation from the other Member States that the principle of non-discrimination requires that its producers should be exempt from the concerted effort required from all the Community producers in equal measure .

5 . The Council cannot be required to draw up all the details of the regulations concerning the common agricultural policy according to the procedure laid down in Article 43 of the Treaty . It is sufficient for the purposes of that provision that the basic elements of the matter to be dealt with have been adopted in accordance with that procedure; the provisions implementing the basic regulations may, however, be adopted on the basis of those regulations either by the Commission or by the Council according to a procedure different from that laid down in Article 43 .

Accordingly, the adoption by the Council of an implementing regulation without consulting the European Parliament but in accordance with the criteria and the procedure laid down in the basic regulation does not constitute a breach of Article 43 .