Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions)

Provisional text

ORDER OF THE COURT (Eighth Chamber)

5 October 2023 (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice – Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Union scales for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses – Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182 – Derogations from the general obligation to classify carcasses – Slaughterhouses – Article 2(1) – Derogations granted to small scale establishments – National legislation which makes no provision for the grant of such derogations – Compulsory or optional nature of such derogations)

In Case C‑84/23,

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție – Secția de contencios administrativ și fiscal (High Court of Cassation and Justice – Division for Administrative and Tax Matters, Romania), made by decision of 5 October 2022, received at the Court on 14 February 2023, in the proceedings

SC Dinamel Trade SRL

v

Ministerul Agriculturii şi Dezvoltării Rurale,

THE COURT (Eighth Chamber),

composed of M. Safjan, President of the Chamber, N. Jääskinen and M. Gavalec (Rapporteur), Judges,

Advocate General: L. Medina,

Registrar: A. Calot Escobar,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to rule by reasoned order, pursuant to Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice,

makes the following

Order

1        This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 2(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182 of 20 April 2017 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the Union scales for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses and as regards the reporting of market prices of certain categories of carcasses and live animals (OJ 2017 L 171, p. 74).

2        The request has been made in proceedings between SC Dinamel Trade SRL and the Ministerul Agriculturii și Dezvoltării Rurale (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Romania) concerning the grant of a derogation from the general obligation to classify carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs laid down by the national legislation.

 Legal context

 European Union law

 Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013

3        Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ 2013 L 347, p. 671), entitled ‘Delegated powers’, provides, in paragraph 6 thereof:

‘In order to take account of technical developments and of the needs of sectors referred to in Article 10, as well as of the need to standardise the presentation of the different products for the purposes of improving market transparency, price recording and the application of the market intervention measures, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 227:

(a)      adapting and updating the provisions of Annex IV on the Union scales for the classification, identification and presentation of carcasses;

(b)      laying down supplementary provisions relating to classification, including by qualified classifiers, to grading, including by automated grading techniques, to identification, weighing and marking of carcasses and to the calculation of average Union prices and to the weighting coefficients used in the calculation of those prices;

(c)      laying down, in the beef and veal sector, derogations from provisions and specific derogations which may be granted by Member States to slaughterhouses in which few bovine animals are slaughtered, and additional provisions for the products concerned, including regarding the classes of conformation and fat cover and, in [the] sheepmeat sector, further provisions as regards weight, colour of meat and fat cover and the criteria for the classification of light lambs;

(d)      providing Member States with the authorisation not to apply the grading scale for classification of pig carcasses and the authorisation to use assessment criteria in addition to weight and estimated lean-meat content, or laying down derogations from that scale.’

4        Article 227 of that regulation, entitled ‘Exercise of the delegation’, provides:

‘1.      The power to adopt the delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2.      The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in this Regulation shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of seven years from 20 December 2013. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the seven-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.

3.      The delegation of power referred to in this Regulation may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4.      As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

5.      A delegated act adopted pursuant to this Regulation shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.’

5        Annex IV of that regulation, entitled ‘Union scales for the classification of carcasses referred to in Article 10’, is worded as follows:

‘A.      Union scale for the classification of carcasses of bovine animals aged eight months or more

…

V.      Classification and identification

[Approved slaughterhouses] … shall take measures to ensure that all carcasses or half-carcasses [of] bovine animals aged eight months or more slaughtered in such slaughterhouses … are classified and identified in accordance with the Union scale.

Before identification by marking, Member States may grant authorisation to have the external fat removed from the carcasses or half-carcasses if this is justified by the fat cover.

B.      Union scale for the classification of pig carcasses

…

II.      Classification

Carcasses shall be divided into classes according to their estimated lean-meat content and classified accordingly:

 Delegated Regulation 2017/1182

6        Recital 3 of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 states:

‘In order to reduce administrative burden, Member States should have the possibility to grant derogations from the general obligation to classify carcasses to small scale establishments. On the basis of experience gained with the application of the Union scale for classification, it is appropriate to provide for such derogations for slaughterhouses which slaughter, as an annual average per week, less than 150 bovine animals aged eight months or more or less than 500 pigs. Nevertheless, Member States may determine lower limits depending on their national conditions, especially in order to ensure the representativeness of price reporting.’

7        Article 1 of that regulation, entitled ‘Identification of age and categories of bovine animals’, provides:

‘The age of the bovine animals for the determination of the categories as referred to in point A.II of Annex IV to [Regulation No 1308/2013] shall be verified on the basis of the information available in the bovine animal identification and registration system established in each Member State in accordance with Title I of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 [of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 (OJ 2000 L 204, p. 1)].’

8        Article 2 of that regulation, entitled ‘Derogations from the compulsory classification of carcasses’, provides:

‘1.      Member States may decide that the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs, laid down in points A.V and B.II of Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, respectively, shall not be compulsory for slaughterhouses which slaughter:

(a)      less than 150 bovine animals aged eight months or more per week as an annual average;

(b)      less than 500 pigs per week as an annual average.

Member States may determine a lower limit, in particular to ensure the representativeness of price recording as referred to in Article 8(2) of [Commission] Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1184 [of 20 April 2017 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 (OJ 2017 L 171, p. 103)].

2.      Member States may decide that the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and pigs shall not be compulsory:

(a)      for carcasses of bovines and pigs owned by the slaughterhouse if no commercial transaction in purchasing these animals takes place;

(b)      for carcasses of pigs of clearly defined local breeds or with particular modes of marketing if their anatomical body composition makes the homogeneous and standardised classification of carcasses impossible.

3.      Member States that apply classification of sheep carcasses pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 may decide, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria, that the requirements on classification of sheep carcasses shall not be compulsory for certain slaughterhouses.

4.      Member States shall notify the Commission if they decide to apply any of the derogations laid down in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.’

 Romanian law

9        Article 2(1) of the Ordonanța Guvernului nr. 4/2019 privind reorganizarea sistemului național de clasificare a carcaselor de bovine, porcine și ovine, precum și monitorizarea, controlul și raportarea prețurilor de piață ale carcaselor și ale animalelor vii (Government Order No 4/2019 on the reorganisation of the national system for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses, and on the monitoring, control and reporting of market prices of carcasses and live animals) of 30 January 2019 (Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, No 81 of 31 January 2019; ‘Government Order No 4/2019’) provides that the national classification system ensures the compulsory application of the EU scales for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses, in accordance with the European legislation in the field of carcass classification, and of the national legislation in force, in order to improve market transparency and to establish comparable market prices for carcasses at both the national and EU level, as those constitute the basis for the management of the relevant measures and for the application of the intervention mechanisms of the European Commission in that sector.

10      Under Article 3(1) of the Hotărârea Guvernului nr. 842/2021 privind modul de organizare și funcționare a sistemului național de clasificare a carcaselor de bovine, porcine și ovine (Government Decision No 842/2021 laying down detailed rules for the organisation and functioning of the national system for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses) of 11 August 2021 (Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, No 810 of 24 August 2021; ‘Government Decision No 842/2021’), the application of the EU scales for the classification of carcasses and the reporting of market prices of certain categories of carcasses and live animals, as provided for by the EU legislation, are compulsory and represent:

‘(a)      a necessity for the monitoring, on a comparable basis, of the market prices of meat in all Member States and for the calculation of those average market prices at the EU level, this monitoring being necessary in the beef and veal sector and in the pork sector for the management of market measures such as public intervention, private storage and export refunds;

(b)      an eligibility condition for public intervention in the beef and veal sector;

(c)      an important tool for determining the value of a carcass, which contributes to market transparency …’

11      Under Article 5 of Government Decision No 842/2021, slaughterhouses are essentially subject to the following obligations:

‘…

(b)      to enter into a contract for the provision of carcass classification services, for each species of animal they slaughter, only with carcass classification agencies or independent authorised carcass classifiers …;

…

(d)      permanently to ensure in the establishment the conditions necessary for the performance by the service provider of the activity of classifying all carcasses, according to the technical rules for carcass classification, recording and reporting of classification results and meat prices;

…

(g)      to take the necessary measures to ensure the uninterrupted conduct of the carcass classification activity in the establishment, if [the person] with whom the contract for the provision of classification services has been concluded has been sanctioned by the [Inspecția clasificare carcase (Carcass Classification Inspectorate, Romania)] with the measure of suspension/cancellation of the carcass classification authorisation or in any other case of modification/change/termination of the contract for the provision of classification services;

(h)      to communicate the schedule of the slaughter of the animals to [the person] with whom the contract for the provision of classification services has been concluded, so that that person is present in the slaughterhouse at the start of the slaughter of the animals so as to classify the carcasses at the time of determination of their warm weight and not later than the interval established in the technical classification rules, differentiated by species;

(i)      to make available to the carcass classifier, before the start of the classification, documents containing accurate information, in order to record these data in the IT application and draw up the classification report …;

…

(m)      to keep in the archive the complete sets of documents, ordered chronologically by reporting week, for a period of two calendar years from the end of the year in which they were drawn up, according to the provisions of the technical classification rules, differentiated by species;

(n)      to make available to all suppliers/producers of animals who delivered animals for slaughter in the slaughterhouse the classification report edited by the carcass classifier and authenticated by signature, within a maximum of 48 hours after the animals have been slaughtered …

…

(p)      to notify the regional Carcass Classification Inspectorate of any non-compliances found in the application by the classifier of the provisions of the technical classification rules as regards carcasses and/or whenever the carcass classifier does not comply with the provisions of the service contract and/or whenever it terminates the service contract;

…

(r)      to allow inspections to be carried out … in order to allow verification that the primary recording of the data in the classification reports is accurate as well as their reporting in the national classification database.’

 The dispute in the main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling

12      Dinamel Trade, which operates a small slaughterhouse, found itself obliged to enter into contracts for the provision of carcass classification services, pursuant to Government Order No 4/2019 and Government Decision No 842/2021, in order to comply with the general obligation to classify carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs.

13      Dinamel Trade brought an action before the Tribunalul Brăila (Regional Court, Brăila, Romania) seeking an order that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issue an administrative decision exempting it from the obligation to carry out those classification operations.

14      That action having been dismissed by judgment of 9 April 2014, Dinamel Trade lodged an appeal on a point of law against that judgment before the Curtea de Apel Galați (Court of Appeal, Galați, Romania), which set aside that judgment and referred the case back to the Tribunalul Brăila (Regional Court, Brăila).

15      Hearing the case again, the Tribunalul Brăila (Regional Court, Brăila) nevertheless declined jurisdiction in favour of the Curtea de Apel Galați (Court of Appeal, Galați), which, by judgment of 30 June 2016, dismissed Dinamel Trade’s action.

16      Dinamel Trade lodged an appeal on a point of law against that judgment with the referring court, the Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție – Secția de contencios administrativ și fiscal (High Court of Cassation and Justice – Division for Administrative and Tax Matters, Romania), which dismissed it as unfounded by judgment of 4 February 2020.

17      Dinamel Trade lodged an application for revision with the referring court, on the ground that, by its judgment of 4 February 2020, the referring court had not taken into consideration Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 since that delegated regulation had not been in force at the time of delivery of the judgment of the Curtea de Apel Galați (Court of Appeal, Galați) of 30 June 2016.

18      The referring court granted that application for revision, set aside its judgment of 4 February 2020 and referred the case for a new hearing for the purpose of ruling on the appeal on a point of law.

19      On 24 May 2022, Dinamel Trade requested the referring court to make a reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice. Dinamel Trade claims that Government Order No 4/2019 and Government Decision No 842/2021 do not provide for a derogation for small scale establishments, as the classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs is compulsory regardless of the number of animals slaughtered per week, whereas it follows from the recitals of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 that, even though the Member States are not required to do so, they should have the possibility of granting derogations from the general obligation to classify carcasses to small scale establishments, in order to reduce their administrative burden.

20      Whilst indicating that it is a court against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy, which gives rise to the application of the third paragraph of Article 267 TFEU and an obligation to make a reference to the Court, the referring court states that it appears clear to it that the EU legislature left it to the discretion of each Member State to decide whether or not to provide, in its national law, for derogations from the compulsory classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs and that Romania chose to lay down a general classification obligation, without any derogations therefrom.

21      Nevertheless, the referring court submits that, while the Commission states, in recital 3 of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182, that ‘Member States should have the possibility to grant derogations from the general obligation to classify carcasses to small scale establishments’, which, according to that court, does allow the inference that the Member States remain free to grant such derogations, that institution also states therein that ‘it is appropriate to provide for such derogations for slaughterhouses which slaughter, as an annual average per week, less than 150 bovine animals aged eight months or more or less than 500 pigs’, which reads rather like an obligation on their part.

22      According to the referring court, in the exercise of discretion as regards the grant of derogations from the compulsory classification of carcasses, by choosing not to grant any derogation and, specifically, by choosing to disregard the analysis criteria laid down by Delegated Regulation 2017/1182, Government Order No 4/2019 and Government Decision No 842/2021 depart from the principles of the EU legislation.

23      The referring court states that it is thus necessary to determine whether the national legislation that fails to provide for any derogation from that obligation is compatible with Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 and, likewise, whether the manner in which the national authorities exercise their discretion is consistent with that regulation.

24      In those circumstances, the Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție – Secția de contencios administrativ și fiscal (High Court of Cassation and Justice – Division for Administrative and Tax Matters) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:

‘Are Article 2(1) of [Government Order No 4/2019], Article 3(1) and Article 5 of [Government Decision No 842/2021], which govern the national system for the classification of carcasses and which provide that classification is compulsory irrespective of the number of animals slaughtered, … contrary to Article 2(1)(a) and (b) of [Delegated Regulation 2017/1182], which deems it appropriate and necessary to abolish the compulsory classification of carcasses for small scale slaughterhouses which slaughter less than 150 bovine animals per week as an annual average and less than 500 pigs per week as an annual average, using the expression: “Member States may decide that the requirements on classification [of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs] shall not be compulsory for slaughterhouses which slaughter a limited number of bovine animals and pigs”?’

 Consideration of the question referred

25      Pursuant to Article 99 of its Rules of Procedure, where, inter alia, the reply to a question referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling may be clearly deduced from existing case-law or where the answer to the question referred for a preliminary ruling admits of no reasonable doubt, the Court may at any time, on a proposal from the Judge-Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate General, decide to rule by reasoned order.

26      It is appropriate to apply that provision in the present case.

27      According to the settled case-law of the Court, in the procedure laid down by Article 267 TFEU providing for cooperation between national courts and the Court of Justice, it is for the latter to provide the national court with an answer which will be of use to it and enable it to decide the case before it. To that end, the Court should, where necessary, reformulate the questions referred to it (judgment of 26 October 2021, PL Holdings, C‑109/20, EU:C:2021:875, paragraph 34 and the case-law cited).

28      It should also be borne in mind that it is not the task of the Court, in preliminary ruling proceedings, to rule on the compatibility of provisions of national law with the legal rules of the European Union (order of 16 May 2022, Staatsanwaltschaft Köln (Removal of a child to Romania), C‑724/21, EU:C:2022:393, paragraph 18 and the case-law cited).

29      Accordingly, it is appropriate to consider that, by its question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation pursuant to which the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs, laid down in points A.V and B.II, respectively, of Annex IV to Regulation No 1308/2013, apply to all slaughterhouses established in the national territory, regardless of the number of animals slaughtered per week.

30      Under the first subparagraph of Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182, Member States may decide that the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs, laid down in points A.V and B.II, respectively, of Annex IV to Regulation No 1308/2013, are not to be compulsory for slaughterhouses which slaughter either less than 150 bovine animals aged eight months or more per week as an annual average or less than 500 pigs per week as an annual average.

31      The second subparagraph of Article 2(1) of that delegated regulation provides that Member States may determine a lower limit, in particular to ensure the representativeness of price recording as referred to in Article 8(2) of Implementing Regulation 2017/1184.

32      In accordance with the settled case-law of the Court, in interpreting a provision of EU law, it is necessary to consider not only its wording but also its context and the objectives pursued by the rules of which it forms part (judgment of 28 January 2020, Commission v Italy (Directive combating late payment), C‑122/18, EU:C:2020:41, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited).

33      As regards, first of all, the wording of Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182, it is clear from the expression ‘Member States may decide that the requirements … shall not be compulsory’ in its first subparagraph that that provision does not lay down an obligation but an option for the Member States not to make compulsory, in their national laws, those requirements on the classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs.

34      That article expressly determines, in its second subparagraph, the margin of discretion enjoyed by a Member State that decides to provide, in its national legislation, for derogations from those classification obligations, which is also consistent with the optional nature of those derogations.

35      It thus follows from the wording of Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 that Member States are free to choose whether or not to introduce such derogations in their national legislation, within the limits laid down by that provision.

36      That interpretation, which follows from the clear wording of Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182, is reinforced, next, by the context of that provision and the rules of which it forms part.

37      First, it follows from Article 2(2) and (3) that the Member States are free to exempt, subject to the conditions laid down by those paragraphs, certain types of slaughterhouses from the obligations to classify beef, pig and sheep carcasses.

38      Second, regard must be had to the wording of Article 2(4) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182, pursuant to which Member States are to notify the Commission if they decide to apply any of the derogations laid down in paragraphs 1 to 3 of that article.

39      It is clear from that wording that it is the Member States that decide whether or not to apply any of the derogations laid down in that Article 2.

40      Furthermore, if it were to be considered that the Member States are required to provide for such derogations, the notification thereof would serve no purpose.

41      Third, it should be recalled that Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 was adopted by the Commission on the basis of the powers conferred upon it under Article 227 of Regulation No 1308/2013. Article 19(6)(c) of that regulation provides, inter alia, that ‘the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts … laying down specific derogations which may be granted by Member States to slaughterhouses in which few bovine animals are slaughtered’.

42      That empowerment does not provide, by contrast, that the Commission could adopt a delegated regulation whose provisions state that Member States are required to grant such derogations.

43      Therefore, the limits on that power confirm the interpretation of points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 that follows from its wording.

44      Fourth, it must be added that that interpretation is further confirmed by the wording of certain provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008 of 10 December 2008 laying down detailed rules on the implementation of the Community scales for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcases and the reporting of prices thereof (OJ 2008 L 337, p. 3). Articles 5 and 20 of that regulation provide, as regards bovine animals and pigs, respectively, that Member States may decide that the provisions on classification are not to be compulsory, within the limits laid down by that regulation.

45      Admittedly, Regulation No 1249/2008 was repealed and replaced by Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 and is not applicable ratione temporis to the dispute in the main proceedings, as is apparent from the request for a preliminary ruling.

46      However, the fact remains that the clear wording of those provisions of Regulation No 1249/2009, from which it is no way apparent that the Member States were required to provide, in their national legislation, for derogations from the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs, is an indication of the scope of the corresponding provisions of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182.

47      As regards, lastly, the objectives pursued by Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182, the intention expressed by the Commission, as apparent from the wording of recital 3 of that delegated regulation, also does not preclude an interpretation to the effect that the Member States are free to choose whether or not to introduce derogations from the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs, within the limits laid down by that provision.

48      The Commission sets out, in that recital, the situations in which it considers it appropriate for the Member States to make use of the option open to them of providing, in their national legislation, for derogations from the obligations on the classification of carcasses.

49      More specifically, the Commission states, in the first sentence of that recital, that ‘Member States should have the possibility to grant derogations from the general obligation to classify carcasses to small scale establishments’, in order to reduce their administrative burden. That wording therefore clearly shows the Commission’s intention of giving the Member States the possibility of providing for those derogations. By contrast, it is true that, in the second sentence of that recital, that institution states that ‘it is appropriate to provide’ for such derogations for slaughterhouses which slaughter, as an annual average per week, ‘less than 150 bovine animals aged eight months or more or less than 500 pigs’ and that the Member States ‘may determine’ lower limits depending on their national conditions, which could suggest the contrary.

50      However, it cannot be inferred from this that the Commission intended, by adopting Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182, to introduce an obligation rather than an option, requiring the Member States to provide for derogations from the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs.

51      In addition to what follows from the clear wording of the first sentence of recital 3 of that regulation, it must be borne in mind that the preamble to an EU act has no binding legal force and cannot be relied on either as a ground for derogating from the actual provisions of the act in question or for interpreting those provisions in a manner that is clearly contrary to their wording (judgment of 13 September 2018, Česká pojišťovna, C‑287/17, EU:C:2018:707, paragraph 33 and the case-law cited).

52      In the present case, as stated in the preceding paragraphs of the present order, Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 does not establish any obligation on the part of the Member States. That provision cannot therefore be interpreted to the contrary on the ground that the second sentence of recital 3 of the delegated regulation could, for its part, be understood to that effect.

53      In the light of the foregoing, points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation 2017/1182 must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation pursuant to which the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs, laid down in points A.V and B.II, respectively, of Annex IV to Regulation No 1308/2013, apply to all slaughterhouses established in the national territory, regardless of the number of animals slaughtered per week.

 Costs

54      Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the referring court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court.

On those grounds, the Court (Eighth Chamber) hereby rules:

Points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 2(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1182 of 20 April 2017 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the Union scales for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcasses and as regards the reporting of market prices of certain categories of carcasses and live animals,

must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation pursuant to which the requirements on classification of carcasses of bovine animals and of pigs, laid down in points A.V and B.II, respectively, of Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007, apply to all slaughterhouses established in the national territory, regardless of the number of animals slaughtered per week.

[Signatures]

*      Language of the case: Romanian.

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