Opinion of Advocate General Van Gerven delivered on 8 April 1992

1 Original language: Dutch.

2 Council Regulation (EEC) No 3247/81 of 9 November 1981 on the financing by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guarantee Section, of certain intervention measures, particularly those involving the buying-in, storage and sale of agricultural products by intervention agencies (OJ 1981 L 327, p. 1).

3 OJ 1985 L 251, p. 1.

4 Regulation of the Council No 136/66/EEC of 22 September 1966 on the establishment of a common organization of the market in oils and fats (OJ, English Special Edition 1965-1966, p. 221).

5 See the first and second sentences of Article 12(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 136/66, as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1562/78 of 29 June 1978 (OJ 1978 L 185, p. 1).

6 OJ 1985 L 333, p. 5.

7 Sec also Article 2 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1502/85 of 23 May 1985 fixing the production target price, the production aid and the intervention price for olive oil for the 1985/86 marketing year (OJ 1985 L 151, p. 27), according to which the intervention price referred to in Article 1 (ECU 227.62 per 100 kg) relates to semi-fine virgin olive oil with a free fatty acid content, expressed as oleic acid, of 3.3 grams for 100 grams.

8 OJ 1978 L 216, p. 1.

9 OJ 1990 L 337, p. 3.

10 OJ 1990 L 350, p. 43.

11 Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italian (GURI) No 114 of 26 April 1984.

12 GURI No 235 of 5 October 1985.

13 Joined Cases C-297/88 and C-197/89 Dzodzi v Belgian State [1990] ECR I-3763. See also Case C-231/89 Gmurzynska [1990] ECR I-4003 and Case C-384/89 Tomatis [1991] ECR I-127 (summary publication only).

14 The national court simply sutes that the theft was discovered on 25 August 1986.

15 Article 9(2) of Regulation No 3472/85 provides that in cases where the intervention agency entrusts intervention to storage agencies it must check on a random basis that the oil stored corresponds to the samples specified in Article 8(3).

16 See, most recently, Case C-197/90 Italy v Commission [1992] ECR I-1, paragraph 38.

17 See in particular Case 347/85 United Kingdom v Commis-sión [1988] ECR 1749, paragraph 13.