Case C-466/24, Venshova: Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 23 October 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad – Varna – Bulgaria) – LQ v Zamestnik izpalnitelen direktor na Darzhaven fond Zemedelie (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Agriculture – Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 – Support for strategic plans – Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 – Direct payment for farmers – Areas at the farmers’ disposal – Legal basis for use of those areas – Rules for registration of that legal basis – Areas declared under aid schemes greater than those for which a legal basis was registered – Administrative penalties in cases of over-declaration of areas – Penalties under Article 19a of Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 – Article 19a – Penalties – Applicability of that article following the repeal of Regulation No 640/2014)
Date: 2025-10-23
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Bulgaria, EU direct payments, administrative sanction, aid per hectare, aid to agriculture, principle of legal certainty, principle of proportionality, single payment scheme








C_202506483EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/6483


15.12.2025






Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 23 October 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad – Varna – Bulgaria) – LQ v Zamestnik izpalnitelen direktor na Darzhaven fond ‘Zemedelie’
               


(Case C-466/24,
                (1)
Venshova
                (2)
)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Agriculture - Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 - Support for strategic plans - Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 - Direct payment for farmers - Areas at the farmers’ disposal - Legal basis for use of those areas - Rules for registration of that legal basis - Areas declared under aid schemes greater than those for which a legal basis was registered - Administrative penalties in cases of over-declaration of areas - Penalties under Article 19a of Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 - Article 19a - Penalties - Applicability of that article following the repeal of Regulation No 640/2014)
(C/2025/6483)
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Administrativen sad – Varna

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: LQ

Defendant: Zamestnik izpalnitelen direktor na Darzhaven fond ‘Zemedelie’
         

Operative part of the judgment

Article 32(2)(a) and Article 36(2) and (5) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009
must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation or a national practice whereby a farmer may be denied entitlement to the payment of aid in respect of areas for the use of which that farmer has concluded a contract for the year concerned, where that contract, as the legal basis for use of those areas, has not been registered in the computerised database designated for that purpose or within the time limits prescribed by national law, provided that the objectives pursued by the EU legislation in question and the general principles of EU law, in particular the principles of proportionality and of legal certainty, are observed.


(1)  OJ C, C/2024/5405.

(2)  The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any of the parties to the proceedings.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/6483/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)