Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 4 July 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Fővárosi Törvényszék – Hungary) – SB v Agrárminiszter

(Case C-538/22,  (1) Agrárminiszter (Calving rate))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Agriculture - Common Agricultural Policy - Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 - Article 52 - Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014 - Article 53(1) - Definition of eligibility criteria for coupled support measures - Competence of the Member States - Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 - Points 16 and 18 of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1) - Distinction between ‘declared animals’ and ‘animals determined’ - Article 30(3) - Support calculated on the basis of animals determined - Article 31(1) to (3) - Administrative penalties for non-compliance among declared animals - Application for coupled support linked to the keeping of suckler cows - Calving rate set in national regulations not reached by all declared animals - Rate achieved by a smaller number of those animals - National practice refusing support)

(C/2024/4929)

Language of the case: Hungarian

Referring court

Fővárosi Törvényszék

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: SB

Defendant: Agrárminiszter

Operative part of the judgment

Article 30(3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance, as amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1393 of 4 May 2016, read in the light of recitals 28 and 31, points 16 and 18 of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1), and Article 31(1) to (3) of Delegated Regulation No 640/2014, as amended by Delegated Regulation 2016/1393,

must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State’s practice of rejecting, in its entirety, an application for coupled support, where a condition for the grant of that support laid down by the national legislation, namely the requirement that a calving rate of 30 % be reached by the animals declared in the application for that support, is not met, instead of merely reducing the amount of the support by applying the administrative penalties provided for in Article 31(1) to (3) of that delegated regulation, as amended.

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(1)   OJ C 432, 14.11.2022.