JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Fifth Chamber)
8 January 2002 (1)
(Agriculture - Combating bovine spongiform encephalopathy - Powers of the Member States - Decision to slaughter and determination of the timing of slaughter of United Kingdom calves during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis in March 1996)
In Case C-507/99,
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 234 EC by the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven (Netherlands) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Denkavit Nederland BV
and
Minister van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij,
Voedselvoorzieningsin- en verkoopbureau,
on the power of the Member States to order the slaughter of United Kingdom calves and determine its timing during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis of March 1996 and on the interpretation of Article 8 of Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market (OJ 1990 L 224, p. 29), as amended by Council Directive 92/118/EEC of 17 December 1992 laying down animal health and public health requirements governing trade in and imports into the Community of products not subject to the said requirements laid down in specific Community rules referred to in Annex A (I) to Directive 89/662/EEC and, as regards pathogens, to Directive 90/425 (OJ 1993 L 62, p. 49),
THE COURT (Fifth Chamber),
composed of: P. Jann, President of the Chamber, D.A.O. Edward, A. La Pergola, L. Sevón (Rapporteur) and M. Wathelet, Judges,
Advocate General: F.G. Jacobs,
Registrar: H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator,
after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:
- Denkavit Nederland BV, by E.A. Buys, advocaat,
- the Netherlands Government, by M.A. Fierstra, acting as Agent,
- the Commission of the European Communities, by G. Berscheid and C. van der Hauwaert, acting as Agents,
having regard to the Report for the Hearing,
after hearing the oral observations of Denkavit Nederland BV, represented by E.A. Buys, of the Netherlands Government, represented by J.G. van Bakel, acting as Agent, and of the Commission, represented by G. Berscheid and T. van Rijn, acting as Agent, at the hearing on 4 October 2001,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 29 November 2001,
gives the following
Relevant provisions
Community legislation
In order to take account of the restrictions on free circulation which may result from the application of measures for combating the spread of diseases in animals, exceptional measures of support for the market affected by those restrictions may be taken in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 27. Those measures may only be taken in so far as, and for as long as, is strictly necessary for the support of that market.
If, during a check carried out at the place of destination of a consignment or during transport, the competent authorities of a Member State establish:
(a) the presence of agents responsible for a disease referred to in Directive 82/894/EEC ..., as last amended by Commission Decision 90/134/EEC ..., a zoonosis or disease, or any cause likely to constitute a serious hazard to animals or humans, or that the products come from a region contaminated by an epizootic disease, they shall order that the animal or consignment of animals be put in quarantine at the nearest quarantine station or slaughtered and/or destroyed.
...
The protective measures provided for in Article 10 may be applied.
...
1. Each Member State shall immediately notify the other Member States and the Commission of any outbreak in its territory, in addition to an outbreak of diseases referred to in Directive 82/894/EEC, of any zoonoses, diseases or other cause likely to constitute a serious hazard to animals or to human health.
The Member State of dispatch shall immediately implement the control or precautionary measures provided for in Community rules, in particular the determination of the buffer zones provided for in those rules, or adopt any other measure which it deems appropriate.
The Member State of destination or transit which, in the course of a check referred to in Article 5, has established the existence of one of the diseases or causes referred to in the first subparagraph may, if necessary, take the precautionary measures provided for in Community rules, including the quarantining of the animals.
Pending the measures to be taken in accordance with paragraph 4, the Member State of destination may, on serious public or animal health grounds, take interim protective measures with regard to the holdings, centres or organisations concerned or, in the case of an epizootic disease, with regard to the buffer zone provided for in Community rules.
The measures taken by Member States shall be notified to the Commission and to the other Member States without delay.
...
4. The Commission shall in all cases review the situation in the Standing Veterinary Committee at the earliest opportunity. It shall adopt the necessary measures for the animals and products referred to in Article 1 and, if the situation so requires, for the products derived from those animals, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17. The Commission shall monitor the situation and, by the same procedure, shall amend or repeal the decisions taken, depending on how the situation develops.
The competent authorities in Belgium, France and the Netherlands shall be authorised to purchase any bovine animal aged six months or less on 20 March 1996 and present on that date on a holding located in the territory of Belgium, France or the Netherlands respectively presented to them by any producer, which can be proved by him to have been born in the United Kingdom.
The competent authorities in Belgium, France and the Netherlands shall be authorised to purchase any bovine animal born on or after 1 September 1995 and present on 20 March 1996 on a holding located in the territory of Belgium, France or the Netherlands respectively presented to them by any producer, which can be proved by him to have been born in the United Kingdom.
If the number of animals presented for sale and subsequent destruction exceeds the number for which there is capacity to destroy in the Member State concerned, the competent authority may limit access to this scheme.
National legislation
1. The animals mentioned in the first and second subparagraphs of Article 3.8 may not be transported elsewhere from the recipient's holding referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3.8 or from the calf-fattening station referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 3.8.
2. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the animals mentioned in the second subparagraph of Article 3.8 shall be slaughtered within a period to be determined by the area director and at such place as he may determine, under supervision of national officials and in accordance with the instructions of the area director in whose district the calf-fattening station is situated.
3. The keeper of the animals mentioned in the first subparagraph shall be obliged to afford to the national officials such cooperation as may be required.
Compensation shall amount to ECU 2.8 per kilogram live weight and shall be calculated in accordance with Article 2(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 717/96 adopting exceptional support measures for the beef and veal market in Belgium, France and the Netherlands (OJ 1996 L 99).
The main proceedings and the questions referred for a preliminary ruling
(1) Does the fact that the calves in issue come under the common organisation of the market in beef and veal mean that the (alleged) power on the part of the Netherlands authorities to determine the point in time at which British calves are to be slaughtered must have a basis in Community legislation, in the absence of which the national authorities do not have any such power?
(2) If the answer to the first question is in the affirmative: does Article 8 of Directive 90/425/EEC constitute an adequate basis for that power?
(3) If the second question is answered in the negative: is there any other basis for that power in Community law?
Consideration of the questions submitted
Observations submitted to the Court
Findings of the Court
- to order the slaughter of young bovine animals originating from the United Kingdom present in their territory and
- consequently, to determine when their slaughter took place.
Costs
48. The costs incurred by the Netherlands Government and the Commission, which have submitted observations to the Court, are not recoverable. Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court.
On those grounds,
THE COURT (Fifth Chamber),
in answer to the questions referred to it by the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven by decision of 19 October 1999, hereby rules:
The Community provisions applicable to the common agricultural policy in the beef and veal sector are to be interpreted as meaning that, in response to information concerning a possible link between bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans and to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis in the United Kingdom, the Member States were entitled, under Article 8(1)(a) of Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market, as amended by Council Directive 92/118/EEC of 17 December 1992 laying down animal health and public health requirements governing trade in and imports into the Community of products not subject to the said requirements laid down in specific Community rules referred to in Annex A (I) to Directive 89/662/EEC and, as regards pathogens, to Directive 90/425:
- to order the slaughter of young bovine animals originating from the United Kingdom present in their territory and
- consequently, to determine when their slaughter took place.
Jann
Sevón Wathelet
|
Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 8 January 2002.
R. Grass P. Jann
Registrar President of the Fifth Chamber
1: Language of the case: Dutch.