47

In those circumstances the Vilniaus apygardos administracinis teismas (Regional Administrative Court of Vilnius) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling: ‘(1) Regarding appraisal of the level of direct payments in the new Member States and in the Member States other than the new Member States under Article 10(1) of Regulation No 73/2009, applied in conjunction with Articles 7 and 121 of that regulation: (a) Must Article 7(1) of Regulation No 73/2009, applied in conjunction with Article 10(1) and Article 121 of that regulation, be interpreted as meaning that in 2012 the level of direct payments in the Member States other than the new Member States that are in excess of EUR 5000 is 90%? (b) If part (a) of the first question is answered in the affirmative, does that mean that in respect of 2012 the level of direct payments in the new Member States and Member States other than the new Member States has not equalised, on the basis of the content and objectives of Article 10(1) and Article 121 of Regulation No 73/2009? (c) Are the end of Article 10(1) of Regulation No 73/2009 (“… taking into account any reductions applied under Article 7(1)”) and working document DS/2011/14/REV2, in which for the purposes of comparison a different basis for direct payments is laid down — in the new Member States the level of direct payments is appraised without modulation having been applied (90% in accordance with Article 121), whilst in the Member States other than the new Member States modulation has been applied (100% minus 10% in accordance with Article 7(1)(d) of that regulation) — contrary to the 2003 Act of Accession and to principles of EU law, inter alia the principles of the protection of legitimate expectations, of sound administration, of fair competition and of non-discrimination, as well as to the objectives of the CAP, which are laid down in Article 39 TFEU? (2) Regarding the incompatibility of Article 10(1) and the end of the final subparagraph of Article 132(2) of Regulation No 73/2009, and the measures of EU law adopted on their basis, with the 2003 Act of Accession and certain principles of EU law: (a) Are the end of Article 10(1) of Regulation No 73/2009 (“… taking into account any reductions applied under Article 7(1)”), the end of the final subparagraph of Article 132(2) (“… taking into account, from 2012, the application of Article 7 in conjunction with Article 10”), as well as working document DS/2011/14/REV2 and Implementing Decision C(2012) 4391 final, which were adopted on their basis, contrary to the 2003 Act of Accession, which does not prescribe the modulation of direct payments and the reduction of [CNDPs] in the new Member States and/or the year in which equalisation of direct payments in the new Member States and Member States other than the new Member States is presumed? (b) Are Article 10(1) and the final subparagraph of Article 132(2) of Regulation No 73/2009, as well as working document DS/2011/14/REV2 and Implementing Decision C(2012) 4391 final, in so far as, in accordance with their content and objectives, the modulation of direct payments and the reduction of [CNDPs] are applied in 2012 in the new EU Member States, which receive considerably less support than the Member States other than the new Member States, contrary to principles of EU law, inter alia the principles of the protection of legitimate expectations, of fair competition and of non-discrimination, and to the objectives of the CAP, which are laid down in Article 39 TFEU, in particular the objective of increasing agricultural productivity? (c) Does the amendment of the final subparagraph of Article 132(2) of Regulation No 73/2009 (“taking into account, from 2012, the application of Article 7 in conjunction with Article 10”), which was carried out under the corrigendum procedure (an amendment by which an alteration of a non-technical nature was made, and the content of the provision was fundamentally amended as it was laid down that equalisation of direct payments in the new Member States and Member States other than the new Member States was presumed in 2012), infringe principles of EU law, inter alia the principles of the protection of legitimate expectations, of legal certainty, of sound administration and of non-discrimination? (d) Does the word “dydis” used in Article 1c of Regulation No 1259/1999 have the same meaning as the word “lygis” [“level”] in the final subparagraph of Article 132(2) of Regulation No 73/2009? (3) Are Implementing Decision C(2012) 4391 final and working document DS/2011/14/REV2, which were not published in the Official Journal of the European Union and do not state adequate reasons (they were adopted in reliance solely upon the presumption that in 2012 the level of direct payments in the new Member States and Member States other than the new Member States equalised), contrary to the 2003 Act of Accession and in breach of principles of EU law, inter alia the principles of legal certainty, of the protection of legitimate expectations and of sound administration? If so, must Article 1(4) of Implementing Decision C(2012) 4391 final be annulled as contrary to Regulation No 73/2009 and the 2003 Act of Accession?’