On Friday 12 July, the European Commission called on Italy to take "all necessary measures" to comply with the 2018 Court of Justice ruling by implementing an effective system for recovering the amounts due by the country's milk producers as part of the additional levy (fine in the event of exceeding milk quotas).
The Commission has adopted its latest report assessing Italy's progress in recovering the amount due by milk producers from the additional levy for the period 1995/1996 to 2001/2002 (see EUROPE 12026/17).
Additional levy due for the 2002/2003 period. Considering the overrun of the national quota allocated to Italy, the Italian milk producers responsible for this overrun owed the Union budget 227.76 million euros for the 2002/2003 period. Of this amount, 118.4 million euros of additional levy is still due to the European Union budget.
Levy for the period 1995/96 to 2008/2009 not covered by the 2003 instalment payment scheme. While the situation regarding the recovery of the levy under the instalment payment scheme set up in 2003 is satisfactory, the same cannot be said of the collection of recoverable amounts not subject to the schemes of deferred payment or reimbursement in instalments (1.283 billion euros), in particular with respect to the recovery of amounts subject to enforcement (888 million euros).
The Commission points out that, in its judgment of 24 January 2018, the Court confirmed the shortcomings that the Commission alleges against the Italian Republic. The Commission is closely monitoring the Italian authorities' implementation of the Court’s judgment. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)