Willy Gerekens and Association agricole pour la promotion de la commercialisation laitière Procola v État du grand-duché de Luxembourg.
Date: 2004-07-15
21. The requirements flowing from the protection of the general principles recognised in the Community legal order are also binding on the Member States when they implement Community regulations.
22. Those general principles include legal certainty (see Case C-453/00 Kühne & Heitz  [2004] ECR I-0000, paragraph 24).
23. Although, as a general rule, the principle of legal certainty precludes a Community measure from taking effect from a point in time before its publication, it may exceptionally be otherwise when the purpose to be attained so demands and when the legitimate expectations of the persons concerned are duly respected (see Joined Cases C-143/88 and C-92/89 Zuckerfabrik Süderdithmarschen and Zuckerfabrik Soest  [1991] ECR I-415, paragraph 49, and Case C-110/97 Netherlands  v Council  [2001] ECR I-8763, paragraph 151).
25. The aim pursued by the national rules in issue in the main proceedings is to implement the arrangements for the additional levy on milk, in accordance with the obligation placed on Member States by Article 5c(1) of Regulation No 804/68. The purpose of those arrangements is to re-establish, by limiting milk production, the balance between supply and demand in the milk market, which is characterised by structural surpluses (see, in particular, Case 84/87 Erpelding  [1988] ECR 2647, paragraph 26). Their objective can be attained only if all the quantities produced and coming into the market in one way or another, and thus influencing supply and demand, are taken into account from the first 12-month period beginning 1 April 1984.
28. As regards the possible breach of the legitimate expectations of those concerned, it must be borne in mind that any trader in regard to whom an institution has given rise to justified hopes may rely on the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations (Case C-22/94 Irish Farmers Association and Others  [1997] ECR I‑1809, paragraph 25).
29. The principle of the protection of legitimate expectations may be invoked as against particular rules only to the extent that the public authorities themselves have previously created a situation which could give rise to a legitimate expectation (see, to that effect, Case C-179/00 Weidacher  [2002] ECR I-501, paragraph 31). Furthermore, where a prudent and discriminating trader could have foreseen the adoption of a Community measure likely to affect his interests, he cannot plead that principle if the measure is adopted (see, to that effect, Irish Farmers Association and Others , cited above, paragraph 25).
35. The principle that penal provisions may not have retroactive effect is indeed one which is common to all the legal orders of the Member States and is enshrined in Article 7 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as a fundamental right which takes its place among the general principles of law whose observance is ensured by the Court of Justice (Case 63/83 Kirk  [1984] ECR 2689, paragraph 22, and Case C-331/88 Fedesa and Others  [1990] ECR I-4023, paragraph 42).
36. However, the Court has held that the additional levy is not to be regarded as a penalty analogous to those provided for under Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation No 536/93 of 9 March 1993 laying down detailed rules on the application of the additional levy on milk and milk products (OJ 1993 L 57, p. 12) (see Joined Cases C-231/00, C‑303/00 and C-451/00 Cooperativa Lattepiù and Others  [2004] ECR I-0000, paragraph 74, and Joined Cases C-480/00 to C-482/00, C-484/00, C‑489/00 to C‑491/00 and C-497/00 to C-499/00 Azienda Agricola Ettore Ribaldi and Others  [2004] ECR I-0000, paragraph 58).
37. The additional levy on milk amounts to a restriction arising from market policy rules or structural policy. It is to be considered to be intervention to stabilise agricultural markets and is to be used to finance expenditure in the milk sector. It follows that, apart from its obvious aim of requiring milk producers to observe the reference quantities allocated to them, the additional levy has an economic objective too, in that it is intended to bring to the Community the funds necessary for disposal of milk produced by producers in excess of their quotas (see Cooperativa Lattepiù and Others , paragraphs 74 and 75, and Azienda Agricola Ettore Ribaldi and Others , paragraphs 58 and 59).