CELEX: C2004/146/05
Language: en
Date: 2004-05-29 00:00:00
Title: Case C-175/04: Action brought on 13 April 2004 by the Kingdom of Spain against the Commission of the European Communities

29.5.2004   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 146/4
            
         Action brought on 13 April 2004 by the Kingdom of Spain against the Commission of the European Communities
   (Case C-175/04)
   (2004/C 146/05)
   An action against the Commission of the European Communities was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 13 April 2004 by the Kingdom of Spain, represented by Lourdes Fraguas Gadea, Abogado del Estado, with an address for service in Luxembourg.
   The applicant claims that the Court should:
   
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               annul the decision of 4 February 2004 (1), in so far as concerns Spain's exclusion for 'inadequate quality checks' (EUR 7314 117) in respect of aid for processors of tomatoes and for 'failure to comply with the delivery timetable' (EUR 1277 630. 65) in the case of aid to certain producers of citrus fruit.
            
         
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               order the defendant institution to pay the costs.
            
         Pleas in law and main arguments
   The Commission takes the view that the procedure which was carried out in relation to the quality checks for finished products does not conform to Article 15 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 504/97 of 19 March 1997, laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 as regards the system of production aid for products processed from fruit and vegetables. Therefore, the Commission proposes a flat-rate adjustment of 10 % of the total expenditure by way of aid in Spain. Nonetheless, checks are carried out annually in Spain on all undertakings throughout the marketing year. However, in accordance with the provisions in Article 15(1)(a) of Regulation 504/97, for selected undertakings, ('the sample group'), additional analytical checks are carried out for finished products which may be the subject of an application for financial assistance, which does not mean that the remainder have committed irregularities.
   Aid for certain producers of citrus fruits:
   The reason given by the Commission for the proposal for financial correction is the transfer of the agreed quantities between different delivery periods. However, in the marketing year 1997/98 there was considerably above average rainfall in Spain which gave rise, in some regions or localities, to difficulties in gathering those varieties of fruit ready for harvest and delays in ripening for later varieties. Those circumstances affected the delivery timetable mentioned in those contracts. The Spanish authorities argue that it was a case of force majeure. Moreover, in the marketing year 1997/98, there were no rules governing the transfers of quantities agreed quarterly between different delivery periods in respect of multi-annual contracts. Thus the conduct cannot be deemed to be unlawful, since in previous marketing years the transfer of agreed quantities between different delivery period had been authorised.
   
      (1)  Commission Decision 2004/136/EC of 4 February 2004 excluding from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) OJ L 40, p. 31