CELEX: C1996/294/03
Language: en
Date: 1996-10-05 00:00:00
Title: Action brought on 11 July 1996 by the Italian Republic against the Commission of the European Communities (Case C-242/96)

No C 294/2              EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                     5 . 10 . 96
      the field of technical standards and regulations, as               11 July 1996 by the Italian Republic, represented by Prof.
      amended by Council Directive 88/1 82/EEC of                        Umberto Leanza, acting as Agent, assisted by Maurizio
      22 March 1 988, is not applicable to national rules on the         Fiorilli, avvocato dello Stato, with an address for service in
      closing times of shops such as those at issue in the main          Luxembourg at the Italian Embassy, 5 rue
      proceedings.                                                       Marie-Adelaide .
(') OJ No C 312 , 18 . 11 . 1993 .
      OJ No C 76 , 12 . 3 . 1994 .
      OJ No C 392 , 31 . 12 . 1994 .                                     The applicant claims that the Court should : annul
                                                                         Commission Decision 96/311 /EC of 10 April 1996 to the
                                                                         extent to which, in clearing the accounts submitted by the
                                                                         Italian Republic for expenditure for 1992 , it declares that
                                                                         the total sum of Lit 108 850 076 808 is not chargeable to
                                                                         the EAGGF .
                   ORDER OF THE COURT
               (Third Chamber ) of 11 July 1996
in Case C-397/95 P: Dimitrios Coussios v. Commission of                  Main pleas in law and arguments adduced in support
                 the European Communities ( ! )
(Appeal — Official — Res judicata — Appeal clearly                       — Public storage of beef and veal; special inquiries finding
                                unfounded)                                    ( a ) inadequacy of controls and ( b ) purchase of
                             ( 96/C 294/02 )                                 non-permitted goods : Lit 54 927 174 194
                 (Language of the case: French)
                                                                             The Italian Republic contests the fixed-rate reduction of
                                                                              10 % and in any event maintains that the discretionary
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be                 power to make a fixed-rate adjustment was exercised in
           published in the European Court Reports)                           breach of the rules of conduct laid down in part C of
                                                                              Annex 2 to the Guidelines ( Doc . VI/216/93-F.R. of
In Case C-397/95 P: Dimitrios Coussios ( represented by                       2 June 1993 ). If the discretionary power to determine a
Georgios Sakellaropoulos ) — appeal against the order of the                  fixed-rate amendment had been exercised fairly, the
Court of First Instance of the European Communities                           figure arrived at would have been 5 % .
( Fourth Chamber ) of 11 October 1995 in Case T-302/94
Coussios v. Commission ( 1995 ) ECR-SC 11-723 , seeking to
have that order set aside , the other party to the proceedings           — Public storage of beef and veal , irregular auction
being the Commission of the European Communities                              procedures for the sale of intervention meat: Lit
( Agent: Ana Maria Alves Vieira , assisted by Denis                           7 104 000 000
Waelbroeck ) — the Court ( Third Chamber ), composed of:
J. - P. Puissochet, President of the Chamber, J. C. Moitinho
de Almeida and C. Gulmann ( Rapporteur ), Judges; D.                          Regulation ( EEC ) No 859/89 expressly prohibits the
Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate-General; R. Grass,                              submision of more than one tender for the contract for
Registrar, has made the following order on 11 July                            public storage by any one person . The AIMA has always
 1996 :                                                                       observed that provision and the tenders received were
                                                                              found to have been submitted by companies with
 1 . The appeal is dismissed.                                                 different identities and names . It is normal practice in
                                                                              Italy for producers' associations to undertake on behalf
                                                                              of their members all dealings with public bodies ( AIMA,
2 . Mr Coussios is ordered to pay the costs of the present                    foreign trade, Ministry of Finance, etc .). Those
       proceedings.                                                           procedures do not detract from the secrecy of the tenders
                                                                              and do not provide a means of etablishing a syndicate . In
 (') OJ No C 77, 16 . 3 . 1996 .                                              other words, the association merely acts as a
                                                                               'postman'.
                                                                         — Inadequate administration and control of premiums for
                                                                               sheep and goats : Lit 34 175 522 595
Action brought on 11 July 1996 by the Italian Republic
    against the Commission of the European Communities
                           ( Case C-242/96                                     The Italian Republic, without examining the merits of
                                                                               each case, states that in most of the cases covered by the
                              ( 96/C 294/03 )                                  inspection, the discrepancies are attributable to
                                                                               insufficient training of the staff assigned to the checks
 An action against the Commission of the European                              and lack of familiarity with the rules . The regions have
 Communities was brought before the Court of Justice on                        given an assurance that they are prepared to give the
 ---pagebreak--- 5 . 10. 96            I EN |              Official Journal of the European Communities                                   No C 294/3
     inspectors better training and appropriate national rules           The financial adjustment equal to 10 % of the expenses
     have been issued regarding inspections ( Circular No 4 in           paid to specialized traders and other independent
     GURI ( Official Gazette ) No 74 of 30 March 1993 ). The             warehouses between the start of the year and
     initiatives taken by the Italian Government should result           31 December 1992 is unlawful . The periods taken into
     in fixed-rate deductions at the lowest level permitted ,            account by the European Commission coincide with
     rather than the maximum ( 10% ).                                    transitional periods attributable initially to the transfer
                                                                         of the duties of the Sugar Stabilization Board to the
                                                                         AIMA and then to the cessation of the inspection
— Public storage of cereals, fixed-rate reduction following              activities of the UTIF — offices dealing with
     inquiries : Lit 10 082 336 246                                      manufacturing tax — concerning the production and
                                                                         movement of sugar at the so-called in-plant warehouses
                                                                         of the sugar companies .
    The Italian intervention agency does not have its own
     facilities for storage of the products delivered for that
    purpose and therefore has to rely on the cooperation of              As regards specialized traders, as beneficiaries of
    outside operators in order to implement intervention                 Community payments, a particularly far-reaching and
    measures . That task is entrusted to contractors, subject            strict system has been introduced , involving, inter alia,
    to the limitations of the individual warehouses on the list          heavy penalties merely for delay in sending
    or those authorized by the AIMA, under specific                      accompanying documents to the fraud prevention
    contracts laying down the conditions for provision of                offices . Moreover, in view of the close connection
    the service during the marketing year. In the recent past,           between the expenses paid out and charged to the
    contractors have not always carried out the tasks                    EAGGF budget and the contributions paid by the sugar
    assigned to them properly, to such an extent that serious            traders into the same EAGGF budget, the rejection of the
    management irregularities have been discovered .                     accounts in respect of warehousing is incompatible with
    Therefore , the AIMA is reviewing the rules applicable to            acceptance of the accounts in respect of the
    contractors in order to bring them more into line with               contributions paid by the beneficiaries .
    the Community regulations and the requirements
    indicated from time to time by Commission officials . In
    view of the fact that the Italian intervention agency has
    substantially amended the operating rules for public
    storage of cereals, to take account of the observations
    and comments made by the Commission officials, it is
    considered that the fixed-rate financial adjustment at the       Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Arbeitsgericht
    maximum levels of 10 and 5 % is excessive .                      Lorrach by order of that court of 28 November 1995 in the
                                                                     case of Horst Ziemann v. Firma Ziemann Sicherheit GmbH
                                                                               and Firma Horst Bohn Sicherheitsdienst
— Removal of land from production on multiannual basis :
    Lit 2 169 762 753                                                                        Case C-247/96
                                                                                              ( 96/C 294/04 )
    In the Commission 's opinion, the practice of following
    —r an agricultural practice known as ' aridocoltura ',           Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
    based on alternating with the normal production of               European Communities by an order of the Arbeitsgericht
    crops, over cycles of three or four years , periods which        Lorrach ( Labour Court, Lorrach ) of 28 November 1995 ,
    are often shorter than a cultivation year, in which the         which was received at the Court Registry on 19 July 1996 ,
    land is ploughed, sometimes more than once, in order to          for a preliminary ruling in the case of Horst Ziemann v.
    improve its capacity to take in and retain water, thereby        Firma Ziemann Sicherheit GmbH and Firma Horst Bohn
    increasing the reserves available — cannot render the            Sicherheitsdienst on the following questions :
    land eligible for set-aside aid since that very practice
    involved 'technical idle-time'; essentially, it would make
                                                                     1 . Do Article 1(1 ) and Article 4 ( 1 ) of Council Directive
    no sense to pay for non-use of land which in the
                                                                         77/l87/EEC ( 1 ) also apply to the transfer of part of a
    reference year was merely ploughed ( sometimes more
                                                                         business, such as the task of guarding a military
    than once ) but had not been used for any crop . On the
                                                                         installation , where there is no direct legal transfer
    basis of those considerations, a financial adjustment was
                                                                         between        successor     contractors      ( surveillance
    made at the rate of 10 % of the expenditure allowed for
                                                                         undertakings )?
    Sicily in respect of 1992 . However, the practice of
    traditional fallowing has been superseded in recent years
    and in any event since the 1987/1988 year ( the reference       2 . Is that at any rate the case if, on termination of the
    year ) by a different type of fallowing known as ' dressed           contract, the part of the business reverts to the body
    fallowing', involving recourse to cultivated autumn and              awarding the contract, which then immediately enters
    spring crops, for early harvesting, such as leguminous               into a contract for services with a succesor that contains
    forage crops, broad beans , chickpeas, potatoes, etc .               essentially the same standard conditions ?
— Reimbursement of sugar storage expenditure : Lit                   3 . Is there at any rate a transfer of a business within the
    391 281 020                                                          meaning of Article 1 ( 1 ) of Directive 77/187/EEC if