Judgment_paragraph 1. · 84/81

1.Council Regulation (EEC) No 652/79 of 29 March 1979 on the impact of the European monetary system on the Common Agricultural Policy (Official Journal 1979, L 84, p. 1) was adopted as a result of the setting up of the European monetary system. It provided that the amounts fixed in units of account for the purposes of the Common Agricultural Policy were thenceforth to be expressed in units of account known as “ECU” by means of a fixed coefficient.It also continued a system of franchises which had been in force in various forms since 1974. This system, the purpose of which is to avoid overcompensation by the application of monetary compensatory amounts, consists in reducing the monetary gap used for the fixing of monetarv compensatory amounts. For this reason, Regulation No 652/79 amended Regulation (EEC) No 974/71 of the Council of 12 May 1971 on certain measures of conjunctural policy to be taken in agriculture following the temporary widening of the margins of fluctuation for the currencies of certain Member States (Official Journal, English Special Edition 1971 (I), p. 257), as amended bv Regulation (EEC) No 1112/73 of the Council of 30 April 1973 (Official Journal 1973, L 114, p. 4), by adding a provision to the effect that the percentage or the average of the percentages to be applied to prices to obtain the monetary compensatory amounts was to be reduced by a certain rate. This rate was 1.50 points for Member States such as the United Kingdom with floating currencies, that is to say, not belonging to the European monetary system.As provided by the second paragraph of Article 5, Regulation No 652/79 was originally to apply until 30 June 1979, but its validity was extended until 31 March 1980 bv Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1264/79 (Officii! Journal 1979, L 161, p. 1).On 18 February 1980 the Commission transmitted to the Council a series of proposals intended to consolidate existing agrimoneiary provisions and to introduce the ECU into the Common Agricultural Policy. However, no agreement was reached by the Council, and on 20 March 1980 the Commission submitted a proposal to extend the validitv of Regulation No 652/79 until 30 June 1980 (Official Journal 1980, C 81, p. 3). That proposal also failed to be accepted in time by the Council, the British Government having refused to agree unless the regulation was amended so as to abolish the franchise for floating currencies which had appreciated. The regulation therefore expired on 31 March 1980.Having been obliged to amend the monetary compensatory amounts when there was a change in the value of the pound sterling, on 2 April 1980 the Commission adopted Regulation (EEC) No 846/80, amending Regulation (EEC) No 2140/79 as regards the abolition of monetary compensatory amounts for the United Kingdom in certain sectors and their introduction in other sectors (Official Journal 1980, L 91, p. 1). By that regulation, which entered into force on 7 April 1980, the date of its publication in the Official Journal, it fixed positive monetary compensatory amounts, in particular in the dairy sector, for the United Kingdom, but maintained the method of calculation in relation to the ECU and the franchise of 1.5C points provided for by Regulation No 652/79.Following a further change in the value of the pound sterling, amongst other currencies, Regulation No 846/80 was replaced bv Commission Regulation No 967/80 of 18 April 1980 altering the monetary compensatory amounts (Official Journal 1980, L 103. p. 1). That regulation maintained the same method of calculation and the same franchise, but abolished the positive monetary compensatory amounts applicable to the United Kingdom in most sectors, including the dairy sector, on the ground that the amounts thus calculated were negligible in relation to the average value of the products in question.In the preambles to Regulation No 846/80 and No 967/80, the Commission stated:“... in order to avoid a hiatus in the system resulting, in particular, in an increase or a reintroduction of monetary compensatory amounts for certain Member States, it appears necessary, in view of the overriding public interest and as a precautionary measure pending a final decision on the matter by the Council, to continue to apply the system in its present form, to wit, the calculation of monetary compensatory amounts in relation to the ECU and taking account of the franchises provided for bv Regulation (EEC) No 652/79.”The Commission informed traders of this development in a communication published in the Official Journal of 9 April 1980 (Official Journal 1980. C 87, p. 12).On 23 April 1980 the Council adopted Regulation (EEC) No 1011/80, amending Regulation No 652/79 on the impact of the European monetary system on the Common Agricultural Poliev (Official Journal 1980, L 108, p. 3). Article 1 of that regulation, which entered into force on 26 April 1980, the day of its publication in the Official Journal, is worded as follows:“With effect from 1 April 198C the date ‘31 March 198C’ appearing in the second subparagraph of Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 652/79, shall be replaced bv ‘30 June 1980’, without the individual rights acquired by operators being thereby affected.”