Ireland v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 2005-09-15
26. In that respect, the Court has already held that financing by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund of expenditure incurred by national authorities is governed by the rule that only expenditure incurred in conformity with the Community rules is to be charged to the Community budget (Case C-55/91 Italy v Commission [1993] ECR I-4813, paragraph 67). That principle applies equally to the grant of financial assistance under the ESF.
27. In particular, pursuant to Article 24(2) of Regulation No 4253/88, if the examination in respect of an operation or measure for which Community assistance was granted reveals an irregularity, the Commission may reduce, suspend or cancel that assistance.
30. Article 24 of Regulation No 4253/88 does not make any distinction of a quantitative or qualitative nature concerning the irregularities which may give rise to reductions in assistance.
31. Furthermore, as the Advocate General observed in paragraph 36 of his Opinion, even irregularities which do not have a specific financial impact may be seriously prejudicial to the financial interests of the Union and to compliance with Community law and for that reason justify the application of financial corrections on the part of the Commission.
50. Finally, in respect of the infringement of the principle of partnership relied on by Ireland, it is clear from Article 38(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, and from the case-law relating to that provision, that an application must state the subject-matter of the proceedings and a summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based, and that that statement must be sufficiently clear and precise to enable the defendant to prepare its defence and the Court to rule on the application. It is therefore necessary for the basic legal and factual particulars on which a case is based to be indicated coherently and intelligibly in the application itself (Case C-178/00 Italy v Commission [2003] ECR I-303, paragraph 6, and Case C-55/03 Commission v Spain , not published in the ECR, paragraph 23).
57. As far as concerns the Structural Funds, it is Article 24(2) of Regulation No 4253/88 which constitutes the legal basis for any claim for recovery by the Commission (Case C-500/99 P Conserve Italia v Commission [2002] ECR I-867, paragraph 88).
68. Furthermore, according to settled case-law, if the Commission did not carry out the correction due in respect of a previous year, but tolerated the irregularities on grounds of fairness, the Member State concerned does not acquire any right to demand that the same position be taken with regard to the irregularities with respect to the following financial year by virtue of the principle of legal certainty or the principle of protection of legitimate expectations (Case C-55/91 Italy  v Commission , cited above, paragraph 67, Germany v Commission , cited above, paragraph 12, and Case C-373/99 Greece  v Commission  [2001] ECR I-9619, paragraph 56).
69. Nor can the principle of legal certainty, which requires that legal rules be clear and precise, and aims to ensure that situations and legal relationships governed by Community law remain foreseeable (Case C-63/93 Duff and Others  [1996] ECR I-569, paragraph 20), be regarded as having been infringed by the contested decision, since the legislation applicable at the relevant time provided that the Commission may reduce the financial assistance in the event of proven irregularity.