Judgment of the Court of 23 January 1980. - SpA Grosoli and others v Ministry of Foreign Trade and others. - Reference for a preliminary ruling: Tribunale amministrativo regionale del Lazio - Italy. - Community tariff quota: 'advance allocation'. - Case 35/79.
European Court reports 1980 Page 00177
Greek special edition Page 00105
Summary
Parties
Subject of the case
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part
Keywords
COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF - COMMUNITY TARIFF QUOTAS - FROZEN BEEF AND VEAL - POWER OF MANAGEMENT OF MEMBER STATES - APPORTIONMENT OF NATIONAL SHARES - CRITERIA - PRIOR ALLOCATION OF PART OF THE NATIONAL SHARE TO A SINGLE TRADER - PERMISSIBILITY - CONDITIONS
( COUNCIL REGULATION NO 2861/77 , ART . 3 )
Summary
NEITHER REGULATION NO 2861/77 , OPENING , ALLOCATING AND PROVIDING FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF A COMMUNITY TARIFF QUOTA FOR FROZEN BEEF AND VEAL NOR OTHER RULES OF COMMUNITY LAW PRECLUDE A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR THE NATIONAL SHARE OF THE QUOTA IN QUESTION WHICH IS BASED UPON A NUMBER OF CRITERIA TO DEFINE THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF TRADERS AND TO FIX THE TOTAL AMOUNTS TO WHICH EACH OF THE CATEGORIES IS TO HAVE ACCESS , PROVIDED THAT SUCH CRITERIA ARE NOT DETERMINED IN AN ARBITRARY WAY AND DO NOT RESULT IN DEPRIVING SOME OF THE PERSONS CONCERNED OF ACCESS TO THE SHARE IN QUESTION .
IN PARTICULAR THERE IS NO REASON WHY A PART OF THE NATIONAL SHARE , DETERMINED IN ADVANCE ON THE BASIS OF THE CRITERIA FOR APPORTIONMENT , MAY NOT BE ALLOTTED IN ADVANCE TO A SINGLE TRADER SO LONG AS THE POSITION OCCUPIED BY THE TRADER IN QUESTION IS DETERMINED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ABOVE-MENTIONED CRITERIA . THE FACT THAT UNDER NATIONAL LAW ONE CATEGORY OF TRADERS CONSISTS OF A SINGLE LARGE-SCALE TRADER IS NOT SUFFICIENT BY ITSELF TO PROVE THAT THE CRITERIA ADOPTED BY THAT NATIONAL LAW ARE ARBITRARY .
Parties
IN CASE 35/79
REFERENCE TO THE COURT UNDER ARTICLE 177 OF THE EEC TREATY BY THE TRIBUNALE AMMINISTRATIVO REGIONALE DEL LAZIO ( REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE COURT ), FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING IN THE ACTION PENDING BEFORE THAT COURT BETWEEN
GROSOLI S.P.A .,
FIORUCCI CESARE S.P.A . AND EUROPORK S.P.A .,
ULTROCCHI S.P.A . AND M.A.R.R . S.P.A .,
S.C.I . ( SOCIETA ITALIANA CARNI ) S.N.C . AND
CONSORZIO ITALIANO MACELLATORI
AND
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN TRADE
AND ALSO CONCERNING
THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE ,
THE ENTE COMUNALE DI CONSUMO DI ROMA AND OTHERS
Subject of the case
ON THE INTERPRETATION OF COUNCIL REGULATION NO 2861/77 OF 19 DECEMBER 1977 ( OFFICIAL JOURNAL 1977 , L 330 , P . 7 ) OPENING , ALLOCATING AND PROVIDING FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF A COMMUNITY TARIFF QUOTA FOR FROZEN BEEF AND VEAL FALLING WITHIN SUBHEADING 02.01 A II B ) OF THE COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF ( 1978 ),
Grounds
1 BY AN ORDER OF 4 DECEMBER 1978 , RECEIVED AT THE COURT ON 1 MARCH 1979 , THE TRIBUNALE AMMINISTRATIVO REGIONALE DEL LAZIO , REFERRED TO THE COURT