Brussels, 04/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 3 June, Stéphane Le Foll, the French minister for agriculture welcomed the recent judgment from the European Court of Justice on compulsory voluntary contributions (cotisations volontaires obligatoire, CVO), which he said helps to bolster the “agricultural inter-trade system” (see EUROPE 10857). The French minister also said that “the collective action taken by inter-trade organisations is, indeed, crucial to competitiveness and sustainable development of agricultural sectors”.
Aked by the French Conseil d'Etat for a preliminary ruling, the European Court of Justice provided its response on 30 May last. It ruled that compulsory voluntary contributions (CVO) introduced and deducted by a recognised agricultural inter-trade organisation, after being extended to all operators in the sector by a joint ministerial decision in order to finance collective action, did not constitute a form of state aid.
The European Court of Justice considers that CVO are not state resources and that decisions regarding the use of these resources do not fall within the remit of the state. Consequently, the agreements that created them did not have to be notified to the European Commission prior to their extension. This decision of the European Court of Justice puts an end to a lengthy polemic on the nature of CVO in the context of European rules on state aid and confirms the position of the French Department of Agriculture, defended at the European Court of Justice by the national authorities. (LC/transl.fl)