Case C-46/18: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 11 September 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato — Italy) — Caseificio Sociale San Rocco Soc. coop. arl and Others v Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura (AGEA), Regione Veneto (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Milk and milk products sector – Quotas – Additional levy – Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 – Article 2 – Collection of the levy by the purchaser – Deliveries exceeding the reference quantity available to producers – Amount from the price of the milk – Compulsory application of a deduction – Reimbursement of the amount of excess levy – Regulation (EC) No 1392/2001 – Article 9 – Buyer – Failure to comply with obligation to collect additional levy – Producers – Failure to comply with the monthly payment obligation – Protection of legitimate expectations)
Date: 2019-09-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Italy, agricultural levy, dairy industry, infringement of EU law, milk product, national law








C_2019383EN.01001601.xml










11.11.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 383/16






Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 11 September 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato — Italy) — Caseificio Sociale San Rocco Soc. coop. arl and Others v Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura (AGEA), Regione Veneto
(Case C-46/18) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Milk and milk products sector - Quotas - Additional levy - Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 - Article 2 - Collection of the levy by the purchaser - Deliveries exceeding the reference quantity available to producers - Amount from the price of the milk - Compulsory application of a deduction - Reimbursement of the amount of excess levy - Regulation (EC) No 1392/2001 - Article 9 - Buyer - Failure to comply with obligation to collect additional levy - Producers - Failure to comply with the monthly payment obligation - Protection of legitimate expectations)
(2019/C 383/15)
Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Consiglio di Stato

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: Caseificio Sociale San Rocco Soc. coop. arl, S.s. Franco and Maurizio Artuso, Claudio Matteazzi, Roberto Tellatin, Sebastiano Bolzon

Defendants: Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura (AGEA), Regione Veneto

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 2 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92, of 28 December 1992, establishing an additional levy in the milk and milk products sector, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1256/1999, of 17 May 1999, must be interpreted as meaning that a finding that the national legislation governing the arrangements for the buyer to collect the additional levy from producers is incompatible with that provision does not mean that producers subject to that legislation are no longer liable to pay that levy.










2.


Article 2(4) of Regulation No 3950/92, as amended by Regulation No 1256/1999, read in conjunction with Article 9 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1392/2001 of 9 July 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides that the reimbursement of the overpayment of the additional levy must benefit, as a priority, producers who, pursuant to a provision of national law incompatible with Article 2(2) of Regulation No 3950/92, as amended by Regulation No 1256/1999, have fulfilled their monthly payment obligation.










3.


The principle of the protection of legitimate expectations must be interpreted as not precluding, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, recalculation of the amount of the additional levy due by producers who have not fulfilled the obligation, provided for by the applicable national legislation, to pay that levy on a monthly basis.






(1)  OJ C 142, 23.4.2018.