Case C-175/04: Action brought on 13 April 2004 by the Kingdom of Spain against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2004-05-29
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EU financing, European Commission, Spain, action for annulment (EU), fruit vegetable, operational expenditure, production aid

C 146/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.5.2004

3. Again,

if the answer to question 1 is no and the term
is to be given an independent Community
‘management’
law meaning, does the exemption for the ‘management of
special investment funds’ in Article 13B(d)(6) of the Sixth
VAT Directive apply to services performed by a third party
manager in respect of the administrative management of the
funds?

(1) Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmo-
nization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes
- Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment
(OJ L 145, 13.06.1977, p. 1).

(2) of 20 December 1985 (OJ L 375, 31.12.1985, p. 3).

Pleas in law and main arguments

for

The Commission takes the view that the procedure which was
carried out
in relation to the quality checks for finished
products does not conform to Article 15 of Commission Regu-
lation (EC) No 504/97 of 19 March 1997, laying down detailed
the application of Council Regulation (EC) No
rules
2201/96 as regards the system of production aid for products
processed from fruit and vegetables. Therefore, the Commission
proposes a flat-rate adjustment of 10 % of the total expenditure
by way of aid in Spain. Nonetheless, checks are carried out
the
annually in Spain on all undertakings
marketing year. However, in accordance with the provisions in
Article 15(1)(a) of Regulation 504/97, for selected undertak-
ings,
('the sample group'), additional analytical checks are
carried out for finished products which may be the subject of
an application for financial assistance, which does not mean
that the remainder have committed irregularities.

throughout

Action brought on 13 April 2004 by the Kingdom of
Spain against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities

(Case C-175/04)

(2004/C 146/05)

An action against the Commission of the European Commu-
nities was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
Communities on 13 April 2004 by the Kingdom of Spain,
represented by Lourdes Fraguas Gadea, Abogado del Estado,
with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul the decision of 4 February 2004 (1),

in so far as
concerns Spain's exclusion for 'inadequate quality checks'
(EUR 7314 117) in respect of aid for processors of toma-
toes and for 'failure to comply with the delivery timetable'
(EUR 1277 630. 65) in the case of aid to certain producers
of citrus fruit.

— order the defendant institution to pay the costs.

Aid for certain producers of citrus fruits:

The reason given by the Commission for the proposal for
financial correction is the transfer of
the agreed quantities
between different delivery periods. However, in the marketing
year 1997/98 there was considerably above average rainfall in
Spain which gave rise, in some regions or localities, to difficul-
ties in gathering those varieties of fruit ready for harvest and
delays in ripening for later varieties. Those circumstances
affected the delivery timetable mentioned in those contracts.
The Spanish authorities argue that
force
majeure. Moreover, in the marketing year 1997/98, there were
no rules governing the transfers of quantities agreed quarterly
between different delivery periods in respect of multi-annual
contracts. Thus the conduct cannot be deemed to be unlawful,
since in previous marketing years the transfer of agreed quanti-
ties between different delivery period had been authorised.

it was a case of

(1) Commission Decision 2004/136/EC of 4 February 2004 excluding
from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by the
Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agri-
cultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) OJ L 40, p. 31