Case C-116/24, Porcellino Grasso: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 20 March 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Curtea de Apel Piteşti – Romania) – Porcellino Grasso SRL v Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale, Agenţia pentru Finanţarea Investiţiilor Rurale, Agenţia de Plăţi şi Intervenţie pentru Agricultură, Agenţia de Plăţi şi Intervenţie pentru Agricultură – Centrul Judeţean Vâlcea (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Common agricultural policy – European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) funding – National Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 – Rural development measure – Animal welfare payments – Calculation errors – Reduction of those payments by national authorities without waiting for a definitive decision by the European Commission – Impact of the expiry of the prescribed deadline for amending that programme, and Commission decisions approving or amending that programme – No contradiction between a judgment of the Court of Justice and a judgment of the General Court of the European Union – Liability of the Member State concerned for infringement of EU law)
Date: 2025-03-20
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EAFRD, EAGF, Romania, eligibility criteria, judgment of the Court (EU), liability of the State, operational programme, rural development








C_202502634EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/2634


19.5.2025






Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 20 March 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Curtea de Apel Piteşti – Romania) – Porcellino Grasso SRL v Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale, Agenţia pentru Finanţarea Investiţiilor Rurale, Agenţia de Plăţi şi Intervenţie pentru Agricultură, Agenţia de Plăţi şi Intervenţie pentru Agricultură – Centrul Judeţean Vâlcea


(Case C-116/24,
                (1)
Porcellino Grasso)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Common agricultural policy - European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) funding - National Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 - Rural development measure - Animal welfare payments - Calculation errors - Reduction of those payments by national authorities without waiting for a definitive decision by the European Commission - Impact of the expiry of the prescribed deadline for amending that programme, and Commission decisions approving or amending that programme - No contradiction between a judgment of the Court of Justice and a judgment of the General Court of the European Union - Liability of the Member State concerned for infringement of EU law)
(C/2025/2634)
Language of the case: Romanian

Referring court

Curtea de Apel Piteşti

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Porcellino Grasso SRL

Defendants: Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale, Agenţia pentru Finanţarea Investiţiilor Rurale, Agenţia de Plăţi şi Intervenţie pentru Agricultură, Agenţia de Plăţi şi Intervenţie pentru Agricultură – Centrul Judeţean Vâlcea

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 19 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 74/2009 of 19 January 2009, and Article 9(3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1974/2006 of 15 December 2006 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 335/2013 of 12 April 2013
must be interpreted as not precluding the national authorities involved in the implementation of a non-repayable financial support measure from adopting, on account of calculation errors found by the European Court of Auditors, acts ordering a reduction in the amount of financial aid granted under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) Rural Development Programme for Romania for the 2007 to 2013 programming period, as approved and amended by decisions of the European Commission, when that programme could no longer be revised or amended on the date on which those errors were found. The considerations set out by the General Court of the European Union in the judgment of 18 January 2023, 
Romania v Commission
 (T-33/21, EU:T:2023:5), are irrelevant in that regard.










2.


The principle of the liability of Member States for infringement of EU law does not apply where the support rates relating to financial aid granted under a European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) Rural Development Programme have been determined in a manner that does not comply with EU law and where the beneficiaries of that aid have received payments, in respect of that aid, that are calculated on the basis of corrected rates that comply with that law.






(1)  OJ C C/2024/3735.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/2634/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)