Brussels, 31/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 30 May, European judges ruled that the extension to all traders in an inter-trade agricultural agreement providing for a “voluntary contribution required” (“cotisation volontaire obligatoire” or CVO, i.e. a contribution which is initially voluntary and later made compulsory by inter-ministerial order) does not constitute state aid. The Court thus followed the conclusions of its advocate general in a case initiated in France regarding a poultry producer, Doux Elevage, and a cooperative.
In answer to a request made by the French Council of State, the Court of Justice of the EU delivered a ruling on 30 May whereby the decision of a national authority, in this case French, which extends to all traders in an agricultural branch an agreement established in the context of a recognised inter-trade organisation and establishing a CVO, is not state aid. According to the judges, the contribution cannot be assimilated to an advantage granted directly or indirectly from public resources and imputable to the public authorities.
Doux Elevage SNCC, a subsidiary of the Doux group, which produces poultry, and the agricultural cooperative UKL-AREE had called upon the State Council to cancel an implicit ministerial decision of 2009 which extends to all traders an agreement of the Comité interprofessionnel de la dinde française” (CIDEF), which provides for the promotion and defence of the interests of that sector as well as the establishment of a CVO.
The two complainants stressed that, as extended, the CVO could be likened to state aid and that, consequently, the decision at issue should first have been notified to the European Commission.
The judges in Luxembourg did not uphold that argument. Their ruling specifies that the decision extending the establishment of a CVO has no connection with national aid, given that it is not an advantage financed by state resources. (LC/transl.jl)