Agrargenossenschaft Pretzsch eG v Amt für Landwirtschaft und Flurneuordnung Anhalt.
Date: 2002-11-28
33 It must be noted that the objectives of Regulation No 3887/92 and, in particular, of Article 9 thereof are, according to the first, seventh and ninth recitals in the preamble to that regulation, to enable the reform of the common agricultural policy to be implemented efficiently, to monitor compliance with the provisions on Community aid effectively, and to adopt provisions to prevent and penalise irregularities and fraud effectively.
35 In order to attain the objectives mentioned in paragraph 33 of this judgment and taking into account the details of the various Community aid schemes, that provision prescribes, in a case where the area declared in an `area' aid application is greater than that determined by a check and, therefore, in a case where the conditions provided by the IACS have not been observed, sanctions graded according to the gravity of the irregularity committed.
36 In the first place, in relation to a slight overestimate of the area declared, made in good faith without serious negligence, the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 9(2) of Regulation No 3887/92 provides simply for the correction of the amount of the aid, which is to be calculated on the basis of the area actually determined by the check.
37 Secondly, under the second sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 9(2) of that regulation, where the excess of the area declared over that determined by a check is more than 3% or 2 hectares but not more that 20% of the area determined, the area actually determined is reduced by twice the excess.
38 Thirdly, under the second subparagraph of Article 9(2) of that regulation, no area-linked aid is granted if the farmer has, in his declaration, overstated by more than 20% the area in respect of which aid has been applied for.
39 Finally, it is clear from the third subparagraph of Article 9(2) of Regulation No 3887/92 that farmers who have made a false declaration intentionally or as a result of serious negligence are in any event excluded from the aid scheme concerned for the calendar year in question and even, in the case of a deliberately false declaration, for the following calendar year. Those penalties operate whatever the extent of the difference between the areas declared and those determined on inspection (Case C-354/95 National Farmers' Union and Others [1997] ECR I-4559, paragraph 62).
45 The grant of aid under the IACS involves procedures relating to a large number of applications.  The effective protection of the financial interests of the Community in such a context entails that the recipients of aid take an active part in the correct implementation of those procedures and take responsibility for the correctness of the amounts granted to them under the IACS (see, to that effect, Case C-63/00 Schilling and Nehring [2002] ECR I-4483, paragraphs 34 and 37).
52 Moreover, as the Court held at paragraph 37 of the judgment in Schilling and Nehring, cited above, it is apparent from the provisions of Regulations Nos 3508/92 and 3887/92 that the national authorities are not required, or above all able, to carry out checks to verify the accuracy of all the statements made in aid applications submitted to them.  In the context of the IACS it is for the farmers to submit aid applications for areas which satisfy the requirements for the grant of the aid concerned and to notify the competent authorities of any change in circumstances occurring after submission of the application.