Federal Republic of Germany v Commission of the European Communities.
Date: 1993-06-22
10 In considering this plea as to inadequacy of the statement of reasons, it must be borne in mind that the Court has consistently held (in particular in Case 327/85 Netherlands v Commission [1988] ECR 1065, paragraph 13) that the extent of the duty to state the reasons on which a decision is based, laid down in Article 190 of the EEC Treaty, depends on the nature of the act in question and on the context in which it was adopted.
11 In the present case, it is common ground that the German Government was closely involved in the process of drawing up the contested decision and was therefore aware of the reason for which the Commission considered that the amount at issue should not be charged to the EAGGF. It is apparent from the documents before the Court that the objections made by the Commission against the operation in question were brought to the attention of the German authorities on several occasions. In particular, by letter of 23 May 1990, the Commission indicated that it considered the tolerance of 1 500 000 kg mentioned on Licence No 231 95 065 to be unjustified.
13 As regards the evidence produced in the course of the proceedings by the Federal Republic of Germany in order to justify the contested operation, it must be noted first that Article 1(3) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1723/72 of 26 July 1972 on making up accounts for the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guarantee Section, provides that the Commission may set a deadline for the additional information requested of the Member States to be forwarded. If that information is not forwarded within the prescribed period, the Commission is to adopt its decision on the basis of the information in its possession at the deadline, except where the late submission of information is justified by exceptional circumstances. As regards the Commission' s power to set a deadline, the first recital in the preamble to Regulation No 422/86 (OJ 1986 L 48, p. 31) refers to the need for rapid scrutiny of the accounts and states that the Commission must take account of the progress made on clearance of the accounts.
14 Furthermore, it is common ground that in this case the deadline mentioned in Article 1(3) of Regulation No 1723/72 was set by the Commission at 30 June 1990. Since the German Government has not claimed the existence of exceptional circumstances, it follows that the additional information produced after that date must be regarded as out of time.
15 The plea in law concerning this part of the contested decision must therefore be rejected.
Exports for which the declaration was presented to the customs authorities only after the products had left Community territory (paragraph 4.1.3.3 of the summary report)
17 The Commission contends, on the other hand, that, having regard to the Community rules, all export declarations must be made in writing in order, in particular, to ensure that the information given by the exporter corresponds to the goods to be exported. In its view, it is common ground that in this case the declarations in question were not submitted in writing before the departure of the goods from the customs territory of the Community.
22 It is apparent from the foregoing provisions that, as the Commission contends, an export declaration must be made in writing, in order in particular to ensure that the information given by the exporter corresponds to the goods to be exported. It also follows from those provisions that although the declaration may be lodged before the goods are presented, it may not be lodged after they have left the customs territory.
23 That was not the position in this case, however, where it was merely taken for granted, without any proof thereof, that the customs authorities had been informed of the operation in question before the goods left the customs territory of the Community.
38 Finally, as regards the applicant' s argument regarding the appropriateness of the system of checks provided for the relevant Community rules, suffice it to note that the Court has consistently held (in particular in Case 819/79 Germany v Commission [1981] ECR 21, paragraph 21, and in Case C-28/89 Germany v Commission [1991] ECR I-581, paragraph 9) that where a regulation lays down specific measures of supervision, the Member States must apply them and it is unnecessary to examine the merits of their view that another system of supervision is more effective.