ZS "Ezernieki" v Lauku atbalsta dienests.
Date: 2016-05-26
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First of all, it should be noted that Articles 22 to 24 of Regulation No 1257/1999 set out the general conditions for the grant of support for farming practices designed, in particular, to maintain the countryside. It follows from those provisions that agri-environmental aid is characterised by the five-year commitment given by the farmers concerned to practise a form of agriculture which respects the environment. In return for the agri-environmental commitments for a minimum of five years, financial support is allocated annually by the States according to the loss of revenue incurred or the resulting additional costs (judgments of 4 June 2009 in JK Otsa Talu, C‑241/07, EU:C:2009:337, paragraph 36; 24 May 2012 in Hehenberger, C‑188/11, EU:C:2012:312, paragraph 30; and 7 February 2013 in Pusts, C‑454/11, EU:C:2013:64, paragraph 30).
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Article 66(5) of Regulation No 817/2004 provides in addition that, where support is multiannual, payments subsequent to that made in the year in which an application was submitted must be made in response to an annual application for payment, except where the Member State has introduced an effective annual verification procedure as referred to in Article 67(1). It is apparent from that Article 66(5) that, apart from the existence of such a national procedure, no payment is made to farmers if they do not submit an annual application for payment. Submission of that annual application thus constitutes a condition governing eligibility for receiving agri-environmental aid on the basis of Articles 22 to 24 (judgment of 7 February 2013 in Pusts, C‑454/11, EU:C:2013:64, paragraph 32).
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The importance of submitting an annual application for payment of agri-environmental aid is also made clear in Article 67(1) of Regulation No 817/2004, which provides, as regards the system for checking the multiannual support for agri-environmental production methods, that initial applications to join a scheme and subsequent applications for payment must be checked in a manner which ensures effective verification of compliance with the conditions for granting support. Accordingly, the submission of such an annual application makes it possible to verify compliance with the agri-environmental commitments which have been given. In basing itself on that annual application, the organisation which makes the payments is in a position to verify effectively each year whether there continues to be compliance with those commitments covering several years and, where appropriate, to pay that aid (judgment of 7 February 2013 in Pusts, C‑454/11, EU:C:2013:64, paragraph 33).
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However, it is necessary to note that, so far as concerns the agri-environmental aid characterised by a multi-annual commitment, the conditions for the grant of support must be observed throughout the commitment period in respect of which that aid was granted (judgments of 24 May 2012 in Hehenberger, C‑188/11, EU:C:2012:312, paragraph 34, and 7 February 2013 in Pusts, C‑454/11, EU:C:2013:64, paragraph 35).
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Therefore, if one of the conditions for the grant of agri-environmental aid, such as the submission of an annual application for payment of support required by the national rules at issue in the main proceedings, is not complied with, even if only once, throughout the duration of the agri-environmental project in respect of which the beneficiary of that same aid has given a commitment, that aid cannot be granted (judgment of 7 February 2013 in Pusts, C‑454/11, EU:C:2013:64, paragraph 35).
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As is apparent from Article 71(2) of Regulation No 817/2004, which relates back to Article 49 of Regulation No 2419/2001, which was replaced by Article 73 of Regulation No 796/2004, in the event of exclusion from the benefit of agri-environmental aid by reason of failure to comply with the conditions governing the grant of that aid, the beneficiary of that aid is required to repay all the amounts already paid in respect of the support to which entitlement has been excluded (judgments of 24 May 2012 in Hehenberger, C‑188/11, EU:C:2012:312, paragraph 36, and 7 February 2013 in Pusts, C‑454/11, EU:C:2013:64, paragraph 37).
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It is necessary, next, to point out that the annual payments of aid cannot be considered to be definitive, since the aid thereby received may be repaid by the beneficiary where he fails to fully satisfy the conditions for payment thereof throughout the five-year period and that for the whole area declared (see, to that effect, judgments of 24 May 2012 in Hehenberger, C‑188/11, EU:C:2012:312, paragraph 34, and 7 February 2013 in Pusts, C‑454/11, EU:C:2013:64, paragraphs 36 and 37).
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It follows from the wording of Article 71(2) of Regulation No 817/2004, according to which the contested aid was paid to the applicant in the main proceedings, that the latter is required to repay that aid where the conditions governing the payment thereof are not satisfied (see, to that effect, judgments of 24 May 2012 in Hehenberger, C‑188/11, EU:C:2012:312, paragraph 34, and 7 February 2013 in Pusts, C‑454/11, EU:C:2013:64, paragraphs 36 and 37).
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In that regard, it must be held that, in accordance with the principle of the primacy of EU law, rules of national law, even of a constitutional order, cannot be allowed to undermine the unity and effectiveness of European Union law (judgments of 17 December 1970 in Internationale Handelsgesellschaft, 11/70, EU:C:1970:114, paragraph 3; 13 December 1979 in Hauer, 44/79, EU:C:1979:290, paragraph 14; and 15 January 2013 in Križan and Others, C‑416/10, EU:C:2013:8, paragraph 70).
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In that regard, it should be noted that it is settled case-law that, without prejudice to the special cases expressly provided for by the Union legislature, there is no general legal principle in EU law that an EU provision which is in force may be disapplied by a national authority if it causes the person concerned hardship which the Union legislature would clearly have sought to avoid if it had envisaged that eventuality when enacting the provision (judgment of 26 October 2006 in Koninklijke Coöperatie Cosun, C‑248/04, EU:C:2006:666, paragraph 63 and the case-law cited). Equity cannot be regarded as allowing any derogation from the application of provisions of EU law, save as provided for by the legislation or where the legislation is itself declared invalid (judgment of 26 October 2006 in Koninklijke Coöperatie Cosun, C‑248/04, EU:C:2006:666, paragraph 64 and the case-law cited).