Case C-585/15 | Raffinerie Tirlemontoise SA v État belge

Summary:

Case analysed by the Court of Justice of the European Union following a request made in proceedings between Raffinerie Tirlemontoise SA and l’État Belge (the Belgian State) concerning a claim for reimbursement of overpaid sugar production levies for the 1999/2000 to 2004/2005 marketing years.

Further information:

The Court of Justice delivered its judgement on 9 February 2017, by which it declared invalid Commission Regulation (EC) No 2267/2000 of 12 October 2000 fixing the production levies and the coefficient for calculating the additional levy in the sugar sector for the marketing year 1999/2000 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1993/2001 of 11 October 2001 fixing the production levies in the sugar sector for the marketing year 2000/2001.

The CJEU did not put into question the production levy system and the principle by which the sugar producers had to bear the full financial responsibility for the losses incurred in each marketing year by disposing of that part of production under quota which is surplus to the Union's internal consumption and were accordingly liable to a levy on their production under quota, to be fixed by the Commission with a view to covering the losses incurred during the marketing years 1999/2000 and 2000/2001. The Court ruled, however, that the Commission had erred in calculating the annual levies set for the period in question pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 2038/1999. It found that the method used by the Commission in its Regulations (EC) No 2267/2000 and No 1993/2001, in order to fix the levies, was incorrect because it led to an over-estimation of the costs to be covered and to consequently over-charging sugar producers.