Judgment_paragraph 6 · Hellenic Republic v Commission of the European Communities (C-50/94)

6The Court has held (Case 349/85 Denmark v Commission [1988] ECR 169, paragraph 19) that until the accounts have been duly cleared, the Commission is required by Article 2 of Regulation No 729/70 to refuse to charge to the EAGGF refunds which have not been granted in accordance with the Community rules. That obligation does not disappear merely because the accounts are cleared after the expiry of the period prescribed in Article 5 of that regulation. No penalty is imposed for failure to comply with that time-limit, which may therefore be regarded, having regard to the nature of the decision on the clearance of the accounts, the essential purpose of which is to ensure that expenditure incurred by the national authorities is in accordance with the Community rules, as a merely formal limit, save where the interests of a Member State are affected.