Official Journal of the European Union

C 236/28

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(Case C-210/15 P)

(2015/C 236/38)

Language of the case: Polish

Parties

Appellant: Republic of Poland (represented by: B. Majczyna, acting as Agent)

Other party to the proceedings: European Commission

Form of order sought

—set aside in its entirety the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 25 February 2015 in Case T-257/13 Republic of Poland v European Commission;

—annul Commission Implementing Decision 2013/123/EU of 26 February 2013 on excluding from European Union financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (notified under document C(2013) 981) (1), in so far as it excludes from European Union financing the sums of EUR 287,238.60 and EUR 568,440.96 paid by the paying agency accredited by the Republic of Poland;

—order the European Commission to pay the costs at first instance and on appeal.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The Republic of Poland raises against the judgment under appeal a plea of misinterpretation of Article 11(1) of Regulation No 1257/1999 and Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1698/2005 consisting in the acceptance that a condition of support for early retirement is that the transferor of the farm must have carried on commercial farming before the transfer of that farm, whereas those provisions give rise to a requirement that (commercial or non-commercial) farming has been carried on for 10 years before the transfer of the farm and a prohibition of commercial farming by the transferor of the farm after the transfer of the farm.

According to the Republic of Poland, a requirement that commercial farming has been carried on in the period preceding the transfer of the farm does not follow from EU law. Article 11(1) of Regulation No 1257/1999 and Article 23(2) of Regulation No 1698/2005 lay down a requirement that farming activity has been carried on for 10 years preceding the transfer of the farm, but the activity during that period may be commercial or non-commercial. In addition, those provisions prohibit commercial farming by the transferor of the farm after the transfer of the farm.

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(1) OJ 2013 L 67, p. 20.

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