Case C-350/23, Agrarmarkt Austria: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 19 September 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgerichtshof – Austria) – Vorstand für den Geschäftsbereich II der Agrarmarkt Austria (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Agriculture – Common agricultural policy – Direct support schemes – Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014 – Livestock aid application – Article 53(4) – Conditions for granting coupled support measures for bovine animals – Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 – Article 7 – Registration of bovine animals – Decision 2001/672/EC – Article 2(2) and (4) – Movement of bovine animals to summer grazing in mountain areas – Late notification – Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 – Points 2, 15, 16 and 18 of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1) – Article 30(4)(c) – Animal determined – Reduction in coupled support – Article 15(1) – Article 34 – Administrative penalties – Notification of failure to make an entry)
Date: 2024-09-19
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU direct payments, administrative sanction, aid to agriculture, database, farmer, livestock, pasture fattening








C_202406393EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/6393


4.11.2024






Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 19 September 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgerichtshof – Austria) – Vorstand für den Geschäftsbereich II der Agrarmarkt Austria


(Case C-350/23,
                (1)
Agrarmarkt Austria)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Agriculture - Common agricultural policy - Direct support schemes - Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014 - Livestock aid application - Article 53(4) - Conditions for granting coupled support measures for bovine animals - Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 - Article 7 - Registration of bovine animals - Decision 2001/672/EC - Article 2(2) and (4) - Movement of bovine animals to summer grazing in mountain areas - Late notification - Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 - Points 2, 15, 16 and 18 of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1) - Article 30(4)(c) - Animal determined - Reduction in coupled support - Article 15(1) - Article 34 - Administrative penalties - Notification of failure to make an entry)
(C/2024/6393)
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Verwaltungsgerichtshof

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant on a point of law: Vorstand für den Geschäftsbereich II der Agrarmarkt Austria

Interested party: TF

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Point 2(a) and point 18(a) of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1) and Article 30(4)(c) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance, as amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/723 of 16 February 2017,
must be interpreted as meaning that a notification of the movement of bovine animals to summer grazing in mountain areas which does not comply with the time limit set by the Member State concerned, in accordance with Article 2(2) and (4) of Commission Decision 2001/672/EC of 20 August 2001 laying down special rules applicable to movements of bovine animals when put out to summer grazing in mountain areas, as amended by Commission Decision 2010/300/EU of 25 May 2010, read in conjunction with Article 7(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 653/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014, may not be regarded as an incorrect entry in the computerised database for animals which is not of relevance for the verification of the respect of the eligibility conditions of that application, within the meaning of Article 30(4)(c) of Delegated Regulation No 640/2014, with the result that those animals may not be regarded as falling within the category of ‘animal determined’ within the meaning of point 18(a) of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1) of that delegated regulation.










2.


Article 15(1) and Article 34 of Delegated Regulation No 640/2014, as amended by Delegated Regulation 2017/723,
must be interpreted as meaning that the administrative penalties laid down in Article 31 of that delegated regulation may not be applied where the notification of the movement of bovine animals to summer grazing, by means of entering the data at issue in the computerised database for animals, was made late but the beneficiary had not been informed of the competent authority’s intention to carry out an on-the-spot check and that authority had not already informed the beneficiary of a non-compliance found by that authority.






(1)  
            OJ C 338, 25.9.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/6393/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)