Bureau d'intervention et de restitution belge v Beneo-Orafti SA.
Date: 2011-07-21
41. However, according to settled case‑law, in interpreting a provision of European Union law, it is necessary to consider not only its wording but also the context in which it occurs and the objectives pursued by the rules of which it is part (see, inter alia, Case C‑116/10 Feltgen and Bacino Charter Company [2010] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 12).
45. That interpretation is confirmed by the objective pursued by the legislature of the European Union in adopting Regulation No 320/2006. As is apparent, in particular, from recitals 1 and 5 in the preamble to that regulation, that objective is to restructure the sugar sector in order to reduce unprofitable production capacity in the European Union by introducing an economic incentive, in the form of a restructuring aid, for undertakings with the lowest productivity, to give up their quota production and renounce the quotas concerned (see, to that effect, Case C‑33/08 Agrana Zucker [2009] ECR I‑5035, paragraph 22).
69. Second, it should be recalled that, in the area of checks and penalties for irregularities committed under European Union law, the European Union legislature has, by adopting Regulation No 2988/95, laid down a series of general principles and has required that, as a general rule, all sectoral regulations comply with those principles (see, inter alia, Case C‑420/06 Jager  [2008] ECR I‑1315, paragraph 61).
75. With regard to the principle of proportionality, it should be noted that this principle, which is one of the general principles of European Union law, requires that acts adopted by European Union institutions do not exceed the limits of what is appropriate and necessary in order to attain the legitimate objectives pursued by the legislation in question; where there is a choice between several appropriate measures, recourse must be had to the least onerous, and the disadvantages caused must not be disproportionate to the aims pursued (see, inter alia, Agrana Zucker , paragraph 31).
76. As regards judicial review of the implementation of that principle, bearing in mind the wide discretion enjoyed by European Union legislature where the common agricultural policy is concerned, the lawfulness of a measure adopted in that sphere can be affected only if the measure is manifestly inappropriate in terms of the objective which the competent institution is seeking to pursue ( Agrana Zucker , paragraph 32).
77. What must be ascertained is therefore not whether the measure adopted by the legislature was the only measure possible or the best measure possible but whether it was manifestly inappropriate ( Agrana Zucker , paragraph 33).
80. Finally, with regard to the principle of non-discrimination, it should be noted that this 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 (see, to that effect, Case C‑133/09 Uzonyi  [2010] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 31 and case-law cited). However, the documents before the Court do not contain any information relating to a situation that might be comparable to that in the main proceedings. It cannot be concluded from those documents, therefore, whether and, if appropriate, in what conditions, the principle of non-discrimination could apply to such proceedings.