C 127/48
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
11.4.2023
Form of order sought The applicants claim that the General Court should:
— Annul the implementing decision of the European Commission of 2 December 2022 C(2022) 8645 final approving the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan of Italy, in so far as, in the statements concerning interventions in the field of environmental and climate commitments, the plan establishes, as a commitment which must be observed in order for contributions to be paid, a prohibition on the agricultural use of activated sludges or any other waste recovered in R10 operations within the meaning of Part IV of Decreto legislativo n.
152/2006 (Legislative Decree No 152/2006) and requires that only fertilisers approved under Regulation (EU) No 2019/1009 and/or organic fertilisers whose constituent matrices are included therein be used.
Pleas in law and main arguments In support of the action, the applicants rely on seven pleas in law.
1.
First plea, alleging infringement of Regulation (EU) No 2021/2115 (1) and of the communication of the European Commission titled ‘Ensuring availability and affordability of fertilizers — COM (2022) 590 final’ of 9 November 2022.
— Regulation (EU) No 2021 2115, in governing the allocation of agricultural contributions, contains no provision precluding the use of activated sludges and products derived therefrom, the use of which is in fact incentivised, in the context of the CAP, by the European Commission itself, which has expressed clearly that it is in favour of the use of sludges in agriculture, most recently in the communication ‘Ensuring availability and affordability of fertilizers — COM (2022) 590 final’ of 9 November 2022.
2.
Second plea, alleging infringement of Directive 2008/98/EC, (2) Directive EU 2018/851, (3) the principles of a circular economy, Directive EEC 86/278 (4) and Regulation (EU) No 2019/1009 (5).
— The general prohibition on using activated sludges and fertilisers derived therefrom which have been recovered in agriculture established in the national 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan approved by the Commission and, therefore, the burden associated with that activity as compared with fertilisers under Regulation (EU) No 2019/1009, contrasts clearly with the current development model selected at Community level, which is based on the so-called ‘circular economy’ and on using waste to produce energy, with the aim of preserving natural resources, and fails to take into consideration either the current and substantial failure to implement Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 in Italy or the fact that the latter, aside from not having even implicitly repealed Directive EEC 86/278, had no effect on the Italian rules on fertilisers (Decreto legislativo 75/2010 (Legislative Decree 75/2010)).
3.
Third plea, alleging infringement of Directive EEC 86/278 and distortion of the market and competition which is detrimental to operators in the activated sludge recovery sector.
— The general prohibition on using activated sludges recovered from agriculture causes impermissible and unjustified distortive effects on competition which, in addition to being contrary to Directive EEC 86/278, undermine the market position of other operators active in the activated sludge recovery sector, disadvantaging them as compared with producers of other organic and chemical fertilisers.
4.
Fourth plea, alleging infringement of Article 296(2) TFEU, Regulation (EU) No 2021/2115 and Directive EEC 86/278.
Failure to investigate, misrepresentation of the facts, conditions not satisfied, contradiction, manifest lack of logic, difference in treatment and serious failure to state reasons.
— The national strategic plan approved by the Commission, in so far as it prohibits the use of activated sludges and other waste recovered in R10 operations and fertilisers not covered by Regulation (EU) No 2019/1009, is entirely unjustified — a circumstance which makes it clear that the relevant conditions have not been met and that the legislation on the recovery of activated sludges in agriculture is being infringed — and establishes an impermissible difference in treatment compared to other fertilisers.