EU: Spain fined due to irregularities in the agriculture sector
Brussels in 2010, demanded that Spain, made the "financial correction" of costs related to the managing of fruit and vegetable packaging (33 million Euro) and on the help given to a producers organization (5 million Euro).
Spain recurred of the decision to the General Court, which has refused the arguments of Spanish authorities.
As for the costs of packaging, the Court considered that Spain didn't show that they were assumed directly or indirectly by the producers organizations, as demanded by the Communitarian legislation.
In this context, the Court refuses Spanish arguments that producer's organizations reduced the price demanded from distributors, due to the fact that they would pay the environmental managing costs with the packaging.
As for the correction applied for the help received by the producers organization "Sat Royal", the Court considers that in order to assure the democratic functioning of it, Spain should have adopted measures to avoid that one person could control more than 20% of the voting rights.
The Court recalls that, according to European norms, every producer's organization must have among its members at least 5 producers and that, by principle, none of them must have more than 20% of the voting rights.
Spain reproached to the Commission having considered that a single person controlled four of the nine juridical persons members of the Sat Royal organization.
According to Spain, the true members of such producers organization were just nine merchant societies, and each one had at least 20% of the voting rights.
Source: ABC