CELEX: C1999/188/24
Language: en
Date: 1999-07-03 00:00:00
Title: Case C-117/99: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the French Cour de Cassation (Commercial, Financial and Economic Chamber), by judgment of that court of 6 April 1999 in the case of Union Nationale Interprofessionnelle des Légumes Transformés (UNILET) and Gilles Le Bars against Association Comité Economique Régional Agricole Fruits et Légumes de Bretagne (CERAFEL)

3.7.1999                EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                       C 188/11
Reference for a preliminary ruling by the French Cour de                    The French Republic considers that the Commission has
Cassation (Commercial, Financial and Economic Chamb-                        infringed the principle of proportionality by applying a flat-rate
er), by judgment of that court of 6 April 1999 in the case                  correction of 2% on the basis that on-the-spot checks were of
of Union Nationale Interprofessionnelle des Légumes                         insufficient quality, even though the seriousness of the defects
Transformés (UNILET) and Gilles Le Bars against Associ-                     found in 1994 does not justify such a correction and it was
ation Comité Economique Régional Agricole Fruits et                         permissible for the Commission to carry out an assessment of
               Légumes de Bretagne (CERAFEL)                                the actual risk incurred by the Guarantee Section of the
                                                                            European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. The
                                                                            French Government claims that the Court of Justice should
                         (Case C-117/99)                                    also annul Decision C(1999)209 final of 3 February 1999 on
                                                                            that point.
                         (1999/C 188/24)
                                                                            The French Government claims:
Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the                      — that Commission Decision 1999/187/EC should be
European Communities by judgment of the French Cour de                           annulled in so far as it concerns a flat-rate correction of
Cassation (Commercial, Financial and Economic Chamber) of                        567.7 million francs. (1)
6 April 1999, received at the Court Registry on 9 April 1999,
for a preliminary ruling in the case of Union Nationale
Interprofessionnelle des Légumes Transformés (UNILET) and                   Pleas in law and main arguments
Gilles Le Bars against Association Comité Economique
Régional Agricole Fruits et Légumes de Bretagne (CERAFEL)
on the following question:                                                  The flat-rate correction of 2%, on the ground of the alleged
                                                                            insufficiency of the on-the-spot checks carried out under the
                                                                            support system for producers of certain arable crops (Council
Is Article 15b(8) of Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 (1) of the                 Regulation 1765/92), (2) is based on an extrapolation of
Council of 18 May 1972 on the common organisation of the                    weaknesses reveaed by a mission in situ; it rests on too small
market in fruit and vegetables to be interpreted as meaning                 and insignificant a sample and infringes the principle of
that, where a Member State has applied Article 15b(l) of that               proportionality. The French Government maintains that the
regulation, that is to say when it has made certain rules on                Commission has failed to carry out an assessment of the actual
production and marketing adopted by a producers’ organis-                   risk incurred by the Guarantee Section of the European
ation binding on producers established in the district who do               Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.
not belong to that organisation, it is entitled to exempt certain
non-member producers from the payment of those fees, in
respect of a given product, in so far as the goods produced by              (1) Commission Decision 1999/187/EC of 3 February 1999 on the
                                                                                clearance of the accounts presented by the Member States in
them are intended for industrial processing, rather than for                    respect of the expenditure for 1995 of the Guarantee Section of
marketing fresh.                                                                the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (OJ
                                                                                1999 L 61, p. 37).
                                                                            (2) OJ 1992 L 181, p. 12.
(1) OJ English Special Edition i 1972 (II), p. 437.
                                                                            Reference for a preliminary by the Tribunal d’lnstance
                                                                            (District Court), Paris 7th, by judgment of that court of
                                                                            30 March 1999 in the case of Hewlett Packard BV v
Action brought on 12 April 1999 by the French Republic                           Directeur Général des Douanes et Droits Indirects
  against the Commission of the European Communities
                                                                                                     (Case C-119/99)
                         (Case C-118/99)
                                                                                                     (1999/C 188/26)
                         (1999/C 188/25)                                    Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
                                                                            European Communities by judgment of 30 March 1999 of the
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                   Tribunal d’Instance, Paris 7ème, received at the Court Registry
ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European                on 12 April 1999, for a preliminary ruling in the case of
Communities on 12 April 1999 by the French Republic,                        Hewlett Packard BV v Directeur Général des Douanes et Droits
represented by Kareen Rispal-Bellanger, Deputy Director for                 Indirects on the following question:
International Economic Law and Community Law at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Christina Vasak, Assistant                 Under the Common Customs Tariff, facsimile machines and
Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the same Ministry, acting as               printers do not fall under the same tariff heading. When a
Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the                    single machine is designed to perform several functions, the
French Embassy, 8b Boulevard Joseph II.                                     tariff heading is determined according to the principal function.