Opinion of Advocate General Jacobs delivered on 14 April 1994

1 Original language: English.

2 MCAs were first introduced by Council Regulation (EEC) No 974/71 (OJ, English Special Edition, 1971(1), p. 257).

3 Council Regulation (EEC) No 855/84 of 31 March 1984 on the calculation and the dismantlement of the monetary compensatory amounts applying to certain agricultural products (OJ 1984 L 90, p. 1).

4 Council Decision 84/361/EEC of 30 June 1984 concerning an aid granted to farmers in the Federal Republic of Germany (OJ 1984 L 185, p. 41).

5 Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1).

6 Twentieth Council Directive 85/361/EEC of 16 July 1985 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: derogations in connection with the special aids granted to certain farmers to compensate for the dismantlement of monetary compensatory amounts applying to certain agricultural products (OJ 1985 L 192, p. 18).

7 See Council Decision 85/257/EEC, Euratom of 7 May 1985 on the Communities' system of own resources (OJ 1985 L 128, p. 15), now replaced by Council Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom of 24 June 1988 on the system of the Communities' own resources (OJ 1988 L 185, p. 24).

8 Paragraph 24a was inserted into the Umsatzsteuergesetz by the Erste Gesetz zur Änderung des Umsatzsteuergesetzes, of 29 June 1984 (BGBl. I, 796): see Sölch/Ringleb/List Umsatzsteuergesetz (Munich 1993), Paragraph 24a, Note 2.

9 See, similarly, the subsequent Council Decision 88/402/EEC of 30 June 1988 on an aid granted to farmers in the Federal Republic of Germany (OJ 1988 L 195, p. 70), and Council Decision 92/392/EEC of 30 June 1992 on temporary national compensation for farmers in Germany (OJ 1992 L 215, p. 100).

10 See Council Regulation (EEC) No 2358/71 of 26 October 1971 on the common organization of the market in seeds (OJ, English Special Edition 1971(111), p. 894), last amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1239/89 of 3 May 1989 (OJ 1989 L 128, p. 35). However, Article 6 of Regulation No 2358/71 provides for the fixing of annual reference prices in the case of hybrid maize for sowing.

11 Now in Part Three, Tide V, Chapter 1, Section 3, of the Treaty.

12 Cited above, note 9.

13 See paragraph 5 above.

14 Cited above, note 4.

15 Cited above, note 5.