Kingdom of Spain v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 2001-09-13
13 It must be observed at the outset that only intervention undertaken in accordance with the Community rules in the framework of the common organisation of agricultural markets is to be financed by the EAGGF (see Case C-247/98 Greece v Commission [2001] ECR I-1, paragraph 7, and Case C-278/98 Netherlands v Commission [2001] ECR I-1501, paragraph 38).
14 It must be emphasised that whilst it is for the Commission to prove that an infringement of the rules on the common organisation of the agricultural markets has occurred (see Greece v Commission, cited above, paragraph 7, and Netherlands v Commission, cited above, paragraph 39), the burden of providing such proof has been defined by the Court having regard to the fact that it is the Member State which is best placed to collect and verify the data required for the clearance of EAGGF accounts (Greece v Commission, cited above, paragraphs 8 and 9, and Netherlands v Commission, cited above, paragraphs 40 and 41).
16 Article 8(1) of Regulation No 1663/95 states expressly that when the Commission considers that expenditure was not effected according to Community rules, it shall communicate to the Member State concerned an evaluation of any expenditure which it may propose to exclude from Community financing. That term should be interpreted, as should its equivalent in the different language versions, as meaning that it is not necessary to state a particular figure for the value of the expenditure in question and that it is sufficient to provide the elements necessary in order to calculate that value at least approximately.
26 In that respect, it must be observed first of all that each case must in principle be assessed separately to determine whether, when the Member State in question carried out operations financed by the EAGGF, it acted in accordance with the requirements of Community law and, if it failed to do so, to what extent (Case C-242/97 Belgium v Commission [2000] ECR I-3421, paragraph 129).
27 That does not mean that a Member State is not authorised to plead breach of the principle of equal treatment. However, it may do so only if the cases it cites are at least comparable as regards all the elements which characterise them, including, in particular, the period during which the expenditure was incurred, the sectors concerned and the nature of the irregularities complained of (Belgium v Commission, cited above, paragraph 130).
28 Next, it should be borne in mind that the Court has consistently held that prohibited discrimination can arise only where comparable situations are treated differently, unless such treatment is objectively justified (see, in particular, Belgium v Commission, cited above, paragraph 131).
29 In the present case the summary report relating to the results of checks in the clearance of accounts under the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF in accordance with Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation No 729/70 concerning public stocks of bovine meat, tobacco, failing to comply with time-limits for payment, public storage of cereals, fruit and vegetables, arable crops, the statement of insurance (SOI), meat and fish (document VI/4777/99) shows that the deficiencies found in the Kingdom of Spain were of a different nature and seriousness to those found in the United Kingdom and in the Federal Republic of Germany. It follows that, for the reasons put forward by the Advocate General in paragraphs 46 and 47 of his Opinion, the situations were not comparable.