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

Legal background

Community legislation

For the purposes of this Directive:

...

(k) establishment means an approved slaughterhouse, an approved cutting plant, an approved cold store or a unit grouping together several such establishments;

...

The Community fees shall be set at a level which covers the costs borne by the competent authority in respect of:

- salary costs and social-security costs involved in the inspection service,

- administrative costs incurred in carrying out controls and inspections, which may include the expenditure required for in-service training of inspectors,

for the controls and inspections referred to in Articles 1, 2 and 3.

The controls and inspections connected with the cutting operations referred to in, inter alia, Article 3(1)(B) of Directive 64/433/EEC and Article 3(1)(B) of Directive 71/118/EEC must be covered

(a) either: at a standard rate by the addition of a standard amount of ECU 3 per tonne on meat entering a cutting plant.

That amount is added to the amounts referred to in 1 above;

(b) or: by charging the actual costs of inspection per hour worked.

Where the cutting operations are carried out in the establishment where the meat is obtained, the amounts laid down in the first subparagraph shall be reduced by up to 55%.

A Member State which opts to levy fees by the hour worked must be able to demonstrate to the Commission that the actual costs cannot be covered by charging fees in accordance with (a).

4. In order to cover increased costs, Member States may:

(a) either: increase the standard amounts of fees as laid down in points 1 and 2(a) for individual establishments.

Apart from that laid down in point 5(a), the conditions to be met might be the following:

- higher inspection costs due to a particular lack of uniformity in the animals for slaughter from the point of view of age, size, weight and state of health,

- longer waiting and otherwise non-productive periods for inspection staff owing to inadequate advance planning by the establishment of animal deliveries or technical inadequacies or failures, for example in older establishments,

- frequent delays in the slaughtering process, e.g. as a result of insufficient slaughter staff and hence under-employment of inspection staff,

- higher costs due to special travelling times,

- more time taken up on inspections due to frequently changing slaughter periods beyond the control of inspection staff,

- frequent interruptions in the slaughtering process to meet cleaning and disinfecting requirements,

- inspections of animals which, at the request of the owner, are slaughtered outside normal slaughtering hours.

The amount of the increases in the central standard rate for fees depends on the level of the costs to be covered;

(b) or: charge a special fee covering actual costs.

5. Member States in which salary costs, the structure of establishments and the relationship between veterinarians and inspectors diverge from the Community average taken as a basis for calculation of the standard amounts fixed in points 1 and 2(a) may exceptionally reduce them to meet the real costs of inspection:

(a) in general, where there are substantial differences in the cost of living and salary costs;

(b) for individual establishments, where the following conditions are met:

- a minimum daily slaughter rate enabling the deployment of the relevant inspection staff to be planned in advance,

- the number of slaughtered animals is constant, so that animal deliveries may be planned in advance, thus enabling rational use to be made of the inspection staff,

- strict organisation and planning within the establishment together with a rapid slaughter rate, permitting optimum use of inspection staff,

- no waiting or otherwise non-productive periods for inspection staff;

- the animals for slaughter are as far as possible uniform in age, size, weight and state of health.

In no case should the application of these exemptions result in reductions of more than 55% of the levels indicated in points 1 and 2(a).

National legislation

1. Fees shall be levied to cover the cost of official acts under this law and the legislative provisions enacted to implement this law.

2. The situations giving rise to fees under paragraph 1 shall be determined by the laws of the Länder. Fees shall be assessed in accordance with the legal provisions adopted by the European Community concerning the financing of inspections and health controls on meat ...

Where official acts within the meaning of point 6 are carried out in the establishment where the meat is obtained, the fees under points 6.1 to 6.3 are to be reduced appropriately, but by a maximum of 55%.

The main proceedings and the questions referred for a preliminary ruling

1. Must the second paragraph of Annex I, Chapter I, point 2, to Directive 85/73/EEC in the version of Directive 96/43/EC be interpreted as meaning that an establishment which is situated in the same building as a cutting plant but whose owner is a natural or legal person other than the owner of the cutting plant is also to be regarded as the establishment where the meat is obtained?

2. Which criteria are relevant to the decision of the authority to which the fee is owed regarding the extent to which it grants a reduction of the fees of up to 55% as provided for in the second paragraph of Annex A, Chapter I, point 2, to the abovementioned directive?

In that regard, may in particular the fact that staff need less time to carry out the controls or inspections also be taken into consideration where the fees in respect of such controls and inspections are fixed by the addition of a standard amount in accordance with Annex A, Chapter I, point 2, indent (a), to the abovementioned directive?

Moreover, if Question 1 is answered in the affirmative, when reducing the fee, may account nevertheless be taken of the fact that the establishments situated in one building are attributable to owners who are distinct in law, and may this in principle lead to a smaller reduction being granted in such cases than in cases where the slaughterhouse and cutting plant are not only situated in the same building but are also operated by the same natural or legal person?

The first question

The second question

Costs