CELEX: C2002/274/38
Language: en
Date: 2002-11-09 00:00:00
Title: Case C-333/02: Action brought on 20 September 2002 by the Italian Republic against the Commission of the European Communities

C 274/22                EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                       9.11.2002
Pleas in law and main arguments                                          —     order the Commission of the European Communities and
                                                                               the Council of the European Union to pay the costs.
The obligation on the part of the United Kingdom to take
measures in order to comply with the directive for the entirety
of its territory is not disputed.
                                                                         Pleas in law and main arguments
Since the United Kingdom has not informed the Commission
of the provisions adopted and brought into force to comply               For the fifth year running the regulation adopted by the
with the directive concerned for Gibraltar and since the                 Council, identifying the deficit areas for which ‘derived’ prices
Commission is in possession of no other information enabling             for sugar and beet are fixed, did not include Italy, with
it to conclude that the United Kingdom has adopted and                   the result that the ‘ordinary’ intervention price fixed by
brought into force the necessary provisions, it is compelled to          Article 2(1)(a) of the regulation is applicable to Italy.
assume that the United Kingdom has not yet adopted such
provisions and has thus failed to fulfil its obligations under the
directive.
                                                                         The criterion used in describing an area as a ‘deficit’ area has
                                                                         been to take as a basis the figures for production and
( 1) OJ L 85, 29.3.1999, p. 1.                                           consumption shown in the balance sheets communicated by
                                                                         the Member States.
                                                                         It is forecast that Italy’s production of sugar will be
                                                                         111 400 tonnes greater than its estimated consumption.
                                                                         The Commission reaches that result by using a criterion
Action brought on 20 September 2002 by the Italian                       for assessing consumption which the Italian Government
Republic against the Commission of the European Com-                     considers to be unlawful and incorrect.
                               munities
                          (Case C-333/02)                                In particular, the calculation of foreseeable consumption did
                                                                         not include sugar used in products intended for export.
                          (2002/C 274/38)
                                                                         The Commission has, therefore, considered that ‘consumption’
                                                                         means solely white sugar used directly in Italy, to the exclusion
                                                                         of sugar used (still in Italy) in the preparation of sugar-based
                                                                         products intended for export.
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties and the Council of the European Union was brought
before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
20 September 2002 by the Italian Republic, represented by                What has been determined is not, therefore, the ‘demand’ for
Prof. Umberto Leanza, acting as Agent, and Giacomo Aiello,               sugar, understood as ‘consumption’ by the market, but rather
Avvocato dello Stato.                                                    consumption stricto sensu in the national territory.
The applicant claims that the Court of Justice should:                   That operating method does not appear to be right, since it
                                                                         uses an unduly restrictive definition of consumption.
—     annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 1129/2002 ( 1) of
      7 June 2002 fixing the derived intervention prices for
      white sugar for the 2002/2003 marketing year (OJ of                (1 ) OJ L 169, 28.6.2002, p. 22.
      28 June 2002), in so far as it fails to fix the derived            (2 ) OJ L 178, 30.6.2001, p. 1.
      intervention price for white sugar for all areas of Italy and,
      in so far as may be necessary, annul also Article 2(1)(a) of
      Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 (2) of 19 June
      2001;