24.3.2012

Official Journal of the European Union

C 89/6

(Case C-670/11)

2012/C 89/09

Language of the case: French

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Établissement national des produits de l’agriculture et de la mer (FranceAgriMer)

Defendant: Société Vinifrance SA

Questions referred

1.Where it is apparent that a producer who received Community storage aid for concentrated grape must in return for concluding a storage contract with the national intervention agency acquired from a fictional or non-existing company the grape must which he then had concentrated under his responsibility before storing it, can he be regarded as having the capacity of ‘owner’ of the concentrated grape must for the purposes of Article 2(2) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1059/83 of 29 April 1983? Is Article 17 of that regulation applicable where the storage contract concluded with the national intervention agency contains a particularly serious flaw, relating in particular to the fact that the company which concluded the contract with the national intervention agency cannot be regarded as the owner of the stored products?

2.Where a sectoral regulation, such as Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987, establishes a mechanism for Community aid without also laying down a system of sanctions in the event of a breach of its provisions, must Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 be applied in the event of such a breach?

3.Where an economic operator has failed to fulfil the obligations defined by a sectoral Community regulation, such as Regulation No 1059/83, and to satisfy the conditions which that regulation lays down for entitlement to Community aid and where that sectoral regulation provides, as does Article 17 of the abovementioned regulation, for a system of measures or sanctions, does that system apply to the exclusion of any other system provided for in European Union law, even where the breach in question prejudices the financial interests of the European Union? Or, conversely, is the system of measures and administrative sanctions provided for in Regulation No 2988/95 alone applicable in the event of such a breach? Or are both regulations applicable?

4.If the sectoral regulation and Regulation No 2988/95 are both applicable, how must their provisions be combined for the purpose of determining the measures and sanctions to be implemented?

5.Where an economic operator has committed a number of breaches of European Union law and where some of those breaches fall within the scope of the system of measures or sanctions of a sectoral regulation, while others constitute irregularities within the meaning of Regulation No 2988/95, must the latter regulation alone be applied?

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1059/83 of 29 April 1983 on storage contracts for table wine, grape must, concentrated grape must and rectified concentrated grape must (OJ 1983 L 116, p. 77).

Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987 on the common organization of the market in wine (OJ 1987 L 84, p. 1).

Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests (OJ 1995 L 312, p. 1).