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URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/1994/C37492.html
Cite as: [1994] ECR I-301, [1994] EUECJ C-374/92

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61992J0374
Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 1 February 1994.
Hans Irsfeld OHG v Bundesanstalt für landwirtschaftliche Marktordnung.
Reference for a preliminary ruling: Hessischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof - Germany.
Beef and veal - Private storage aid - Beef cuts - Partial premature removal from storage - Conditions of entitlement to aid.
Case C-374/92.
European Court reports 1994 Page I-00301

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Agriculture - Common organization of the markets - Beef and veal - Private storage aid - Regulation No 2267/84 - Partial removal from storage of selected portions of boned forequarters before the expiry of the minimum storage period - Conditions of entitlement to aid - Retention in storage of a minimum quantity of beef
(Commission Regulation No 2267/84, Art. 4(2))

Regulation No 2267/84, which provides for the grant of private storage aid fixed at a standard rate in advance in respect of carcases, half-carcases, hindquarters and forequarters of beef, is designed primarily to ensure storage of as large as possible an amount of beef irrespective of the nature of the portions stored; Article 4(2) of that regulation is designed, both in order to take account of commercial practice and for practical reasons, to leave the storer a certain margin regarding the quantities to be stored as stipulated in the storage contract. That is why Article 4(2)(b) must be interpreted as meaning that where selected portions of boned forequarters of beef are prematurely removed from storage before the expiry of the minimum two-month storage period stipulated in Article 7(1) of the regulation, the storer is entitled to private storage aid if the portions of meat remaining in the private warehouse during that minimum storage period represent a quantity of unboned meat employed which is not less than 90% of the contractual quantity, without its being necessary that the portions of beef remaining in storage are capable of constituting whole boned forequarters.

In Case C-374/92,
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Hessischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Federal Republic of Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Hans Irsfeld OHG
and
Bundesanstalt fuer landwirtschaftliche Marktordnung
on the interpretation of Article 4(2)(b) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2267/84 of 31 July 1984 providing for the grant of private storage aid fixed at a standard rate in advance in respect of carcases, half-carcases, hindquarters and forequarters of beef (Official Journal 1984 L 208, p. 31),
THE COURT (Second Chamber),
composed of: G.F. Mancini, President of the Chamber, F.A. Schockweiler and J.L. Murray (Rapporteur), Judges,
Advocate General: C. Gulmann,
Registrar: H. von Holstein, Deputy Registrar,
after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:
- the plaintiff in the main proceedings, by Volker Schiller, Rechtsanwalt, Cologne,
- the Commission of the European Communities, by Ulrich Woelker, a member of its Legal Service, acting as Agent, assisted by Georg M. Berrisch, of the Brussels Bar,
having regard to the Report for the Hearing,
after hearing the oral observations of the plaintiff in the main proceedings and the Commission of the European Communities at the hearing on 30 September 1993,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 27 October 1993,
gives the following
Judgment

Costs
28 The costs incurred by the Commission of the European Communities, which has submitted observations to the Court, are not recoverable. Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the proceedings pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court.

On those grounds,
THE COURT (Second Chamber),
in answer to the question referred to it by the Hessischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof by order of 17 August 1992, hereby rules:
Article 4(2)(b) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2267/84 of 31 July 1984 providing for the grant of private storage aid fixed at a standard rate in advance in respect of carcases, half-carcases, hindquarters and forequarters of beef must be interpreted as meaning that in the case where selected portions of boned forequarters of beef are prematurely removed from storage before the expiry of the minimum two-month storage period stipulated in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2267/84, the storer is entitled to private storage aid in respect of beef if the portions of meat remaining in the private warehouse during that minimum storage period represent a quantity of unboned meat employed which is not less than 90% of the contractual quantity, without its being necessary that the portions remaining in storage are capable of constituting whole boned forequarters.