Azienda Agricola Disarò Antonio and Others v Cooperativa Milka 2000 Soc. coop. arl.
Date: 2009-05-14
31. In that respect, it should be borne in mind that the fact that a Member State has a milk production deficit is not a relevant factor for the purposes of determining the national reference quantity (see, to that effect, Case C‑203/86 Spain v Council [1998] ECR 4563, paragraph 29).
33. Moreover, in order to achieve that purpose, a concerted effort is required by all Community producers in equal measure (see Case 179/84 Bozzetti  [1985] ECR 2301, paragraph 32, and Spain  v Council , paragraph 29). The mechanism of the common agricultural market is predicated on the assumption that, where domestic demand for milk exceeds supply, the Member States can import milk, especially from Member States where demand is lower than supply. Furthermore, the claimants in the main proceedings argued at the hearing that the total reference quantity for the Community is not exceeded, which implies that overall demand for milk in the Community does not exceed supply.
37. Secondly, it follows from established case-law that, where implementation by the Council of a common policy requires it to assess a complex economic situation, its discretion is exercisable not only in relation to the nature and scope of the provisions which are to be adopted but also, to a certain extent, to the findings as to the basic facts, especially in the sense that it is free to base its assessment, if necessary, on findings of a general nature (see, inter alia, Joined Cases C‑248/95 and C-249/95 SAM Schiffahrt and Stapf [1997] ECR I-4475, paragraph 25).
44. First of all, it should be borne in mind that the Community legislature enjoys a wide discretion in matters concerning the common agricultural policy, commensurate with the political responsibilities given to it by Articles 34 EC to 37 EC (Joined Cases C-37/06 and C‑58/06 Viamex Agrar Handel and ZVK [2008] ECR I-69, paragraph 34).
45. As regards, more specifically, the objectives of the common agricultural policy as laid down in Article 33 EC, the Community institutions must make sure that a way is found to pursue those objectives in harmony and on an ongoing basis, where this becomes necessary as a result of conflicts which may arise between those objectives when they are pursued in isolation, and, where necessary, give any one of them temporary priority in order to satisfy the demands of the economic factors or conditions in the light of which their decisions are made (see, in particular, Case C-311/90 Hierl  [1992] ECR I-2061, paragraph 13 and the case-law cited).
47. It should be borne in mind that Regulation No 1788/2003 comes under the objective of stabilising the markets, which is expressly laid down in Article 33(1)(c) EC (see, by analogy, Hierl , paragraph 10).
53. As regards, more specifically, the objectives to which the national court and the claimants in the main proceedings have drawn attention, the Court has consistently held that the purpose of the levy system is to re‑establish, by limiting milk production, the balance between supply and demand in the milk market, which is characterised by structural surpluses. That purpose therefore falls within the ambit of the objectives of rational development of milk production and, by contributing to a stabilisation of the income of the agricultural community affected, that of ensuring a fair standard of living for the agricultural community (Joined Cases C‑480/00 to C-482/00, C-484/00, C-489/00 to C-491/00, and C‑497/00 to C‑499/00 Azienda Agricola Ettore Ribaldi and Others  [2004] ECR I‑2943, paragraph 57 and the case‑law cited).
67. In that regard, it should be borne in mind that, under the second subparagraph of Article 34(2) EC, the common organisation of agricultural markets must exclude any discrimination between producers and consumers within the Community. It is settled case-law that the principle of non-discrimination requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently and that different situations must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment is objectively justified (Case C‑273/04 Poland  v Council  [2007] ECR I‑8925, paragraph 86 and the case‑law cited).
69. However, even if Regulation No 1788/2003, which applies to all recipients of reference quotas alike, did in fact place a heavier burden on small producers than on large producers, it must be held that the fact that a measure adopted within the framework of the common organisation of the market may affect producers in different ways, depending upon the particular nature of their production, does not constitute discrimination if that measure is determined on the basis of objective criteria which are adapted to meet the needs of the general common organisation of the market. That is true of the milk quota and levy system, which is arranged in such a way that national and individual reference quantities are set at such a level that their total does not exceed the overall guaranteed reference quantity for each Member State (see, by analogy, Hierl , paragraph 19 and the case-law cited).
76. Since Regulation No 1788/2003 forms an integral part of the common agricultural policy, it should be borne in mind that, in that field, the Council has a discretion and review by the Court of that discretion is limited to ascertaining whether a measure adopted in that field is manifestly inappropriate in the light of the objective which the competent institution is seeking to pursue (see, to that effect, C-479/07 France  v Council  [2009] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 63 and the case-law cited).