1.5.2009

Official Journal of the European Union

C 102/14

(Case C-82/09)

2009/C 102/24

Language of the case: Greek

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Municipality of Agios Nikolaos, Crete

Defendant: Minister for Rural Development and Food

Question referred

1.Do the definitions of forest and wooded land in Article 3(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 apply to matters of protection and management, in general, of forest and wooded land as defined above, which are not expressly governed by the Regulation, but for which provision is made in the national legal order?

2.If the answer to question 1 is in the affirmative, may the national legal order also define as forest or wooded land land that is not forests or wooded land under the definitions given in Article 3(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003?

3.If the answer to question 2 is in the affirmative, can the definition that may be given by the national legal order of forests and wooded land to include land that does not constitute forest or wooded land under the definitions in Article 3(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 differ from the definition in the above Regulation both as to the constituent elements included in the definition of forest or wooded land by the Regulation and as to the numerical determination of the dimensions of those elements that may be in common with the Regulation? Alternatively can that definition under the national legal order include constituent elements of the definition of forest or wooded land that are different from those included in the Regulation’s definition, but as to elements that it has in common with the Regulation its being permissible not to determine them numerically; if it does determine them numerically though, is it precluded from deviating from that (numerical determination) under the Regulation?