The European Commission once again took the view, in a report adopted on Wednesday 23 May, that the Italian authorities must recover the money due from milk producers who exceeded quotas in the past (see EUROPE 11775).
The Commission points the finger of blame at the system for collection of recoverable amounts not subject to the deferred payment or reimbursement scheme (€1.268 billion), in particular with respect to the recovery of amounts subject to enforcement (€803 million).
Since 2010, the Commission has repeatedly expressed its dissatisfaction with the lack of significant progress in recovering the repayable additional milk levy not covered by the deferred payment or reimbursement scheme, it says. According to the information provided by the Italian authorities in their report on the thirteenth instalment, there are no major new developments in the actual collection of the levy not covered by the instalment-based schemes. The Italian authorities point out that €798 million will be recovered through legal action (enforced recovery proceedings) still pending but, to date, this has not produced any tangible results.
In view of the large amount of the levy that has not been paid and the length of time it has gone unrecovered, it must be concluded that “the Italian authorities have not been able, either now or in the past, to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of EU law”.
As for the amounts not subject to either the deferred payment or the reimbursement scheme, the Commission underlines that, by its judgement of 24 January 2018, the European Court of Justice has confirmed the failings of the Italian Republic as pointed out by the Commission.
The Italian authorities must now “take the necessary measures to comply with the judgement of the Court of Justice, as required by Article 260 TFEU, in particular by promptly putting into place effective arrangements for recovering the outstanding amounts capable of producing real and measurable results in terms of reducing the amount due”, the Commission states.
The report assesses the progress reported by Italy to the Commission on the recovery of the amount due from milk producers by virtue of the additional levy for the period from 1995-1996 to 2001-2002. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)