Opinion of Mr Advocate General Van Gerven delivered on 2 May 1990

1 Original language: Dutch.

2 Council Regulation (EEC) No 857/84 of 31 March 1984 adopting general rules for the application of the levy referred to in Article 5c of Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 in the milk and milk products sector (OJ 1984 L 90, p. 13).

3 Council Directive 72/159/EEC of 17 April 1972 on the modernization of farms (OJ, English Special Edition 1972 (II), p. 324).

4 Beschikking Superheffing of the Minister van Landbouw en Visserij (Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries) of 18 April 1984 {Staatscourant 1984, p. 79).

5 Judgment in Joined Cases 196/88 to 198/88 Cornée and Others v Copali and Others [1989] ECR 2309. See also my Opinion in those Joined Cases.

6 Thus it is stated in the order for reference that the cowshed was put into use in November 1983. Furthermore, it is clear from the order that the reference quantity allocated to Mr Spronk was calculated pursuant to Arude 11(4)(a) of the Super-Levy Decree, which applies where stalls are actually put into use in 1983.

7 See Anicie 5c(l) of Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 of the Council of 27 June 1968 on the common organization of the market in milk and milk products (OJ, English Special Edition 1968 (I), p. 176), as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 856/84 of 31 March 1984 (OJ 1984 L 90, p. 10).

8 In the Netherlands this percentage reduction was 8.65% in the first year.

9 Thus in the case of Mr Spronk it was based on the quantity of milk delivered in 1982.

10 Slightly different rules apply if the number of cows available to the holding in the year before the investment obligations were incurred is higher than the number of stalls before expansion.