Official Journal of the European Union

Series C

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C/2024/1521

26.2.2024

(Case C-729/23 P)

(C/2024/1521)

Language of the case: Spanish

Parties

Appellant: Kingdom of Spain (represented by: I. Herranz Elizalde, acting as Agent)

Other parties to the proceedings: European Commission

French Republic

Form of order sought

The appellant claims that the Court of Justice should:

—set aside the judgment delivered on 20 September 2023 in Case T-450/21, and

—give final judgment in the matter and grant the application for annulment of the contested decision.

Grounds of appeal and main arguments

First ground of appeal:

Infringement of Article 31 of Delegated Regulation No 640/2014, (1) Article 53(4) of Delegated Regulation No 639/2014 (2) and Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council. (3)

Second ground of appeal:

Failure to observe the principle of legal certainty and the principle of legality under Article 49(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The judgment infers the obligation to impose penalties by way of analogy. The legal framework was not sufficiently clear to assert that the conduct at issue should be penalised.

Third ground of appeal:

Infringement of the right to effective judicial protection, failure to state reasons and infringement of Article 34(3) to (5) of Implementing Regulation No 809/2014.

Fourth ground of appeal:

Failure to observe the principle of non-discrimination between paying agencies: The judgment confuses the fact of establishing a comparable situation and a difference in treatment with the justification of such treatment, and errs in imposing on the Kingdom of Spain the burden of demonstrating that the difference in treatment was unjustified.

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Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance (OJ 2014 L 181, p. 48).

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and amending Annex X to that Regulation (OJ 2014 L 181, p. 1).

Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 352/78, (EC) No 165/94, (EC) No 2799/98, (EC) No 814/2000, (EC) No 1290/2005 and (EC) No 485/2008 (OJ 2013 L 347, p. 549).

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 of 17 July 2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance (OJ 2014 L 227, p. 69).

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/1521/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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