Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1 Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Milk and milk products - Additional levy on milk - Rules on the transfer of reference quantities following the transfer of a holding - `Lease' - Definition - Formation of a company by producers in order to realize the marketable value of the reference quantities of one of its members - Excluded - Conditions

(Council Regulations No 804/68, Art. 5c, as amended by Regulation No 856/84, and No 857/84, Art. 7)

2 Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Milk and milk products - Additional levy on milk - Definition of producer - Lessee of a holding - Need for actual resumption of production by the person concerned

(Council Regulation No 857/84, Art. 12(c))

3 Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Discrimination between producers or consumers - Additional levy on milk - Milk production carried on by groups of producers - Certain forms of company authorized by a Member State to the exclusion of others likely to favour forms of production not in compliance with Community legislation - No discrimination

(EC Treaty, Art. 40(3))

Summary

4 In the context of the system of reference quantities exempt from the additional levy on milk, a reference quantity is in principle transferred only by transfer of the land of the holding to which it attaches, provided that such transfer complies with the formal requirements and other conditions laid down by the Community legislation. In that regard and with particular reference to a transfer by lease of a holding, Article 7 of Regulation No 857/84 must be interpreted as meaning that the formation by producers of a company under national law may not be equated to a lease where its purpose and effect are to realize the marketable value of the reference quantities of one of its members for the benefit of some of them by transferring only those quantities, without the land of the holding to which they are attached and without those members, in their capacity as producers, having the intention of continuing to operate the holding. Equally, that article cannot apply to the formation of such a type of company viewed as a required structural adjustment to milk production within the meaning of Article 5c of Regulation No 804/68, as amended by Regulation No 856/84.

5 Article 12(c) of Regulation No 857/84, which defines the term `producer' for the purposes of the milk levy system, must be interpreted as requiring in principle actual resumption of production by the lessee of a holding for that lessee to be regarded as a producer within the meaning of that provision.

6 The second subparagraph of Article 40(3) of the Treaty does not preclude a Member State from authorizing, for the purpose of carrying on milk production, recourse to certain forms of company under national law, such as partial GAECs (groupements agricoles d'exploitation en commun - collective farming groups) confined to dairy farming, whilst prohibiting recourse to other forms of company, such as sociétés en participation (a form of joint adventure), in so far as the latter may favour forms of production which are not in compliance with the Community legislation governing the additional levy on milk.

The situations appertaining to those two forms of company are not comparable since the members of a partial GAEC confined to dairy farming actually and personally take part in the work of milk production, whereas in a société en participation a single member may be made responsible for that work. Moreover, in order to permit effective administrative control of the application of the system, a Member State must be in a position to exclude certain forms of company which facilitate operation in a manner not in compliance with the Community rules, without thereby running the risk of infringing the prohibition of discrimination.