Judgment_paragraph 10 · Hellenic Republic v Commission of the European Communities (C-331/00)

10Article 4(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 296/96 of 16 February 1996 on data to be forwarded by the Member States and the monthly booking of expenditure financed under the Guarantee Section of the Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2776/88 (OJ 1996 L 39, p. 5 provides that monthly advances against booking are to be reduced for expenditure effected by a Member State after the deadlines laid down by Community law according to the rules which it sets out. That provision is worded as follows:‘Advances against booking shall be reduced for expenditure effected after the deadlines laid down as follows:(a) where expenditure effected after the deadlines is equal to 4% or less of the expenditure effected before the deadlines, no reduction shall be made, irrespective of the number of months delay,(b) above the threshold of 4%, all further expenditure effected with a delay of up to:— one month shall be reduced by 10%,— two months shall be reduced by 25%,— three months shall be reduced by 45%,— four months shall be reduced by 70%,— five months or more shall be reduced by 100%.However, the Commission will apply a different time scale and/or lower reductions or none at all, if exceptional management conditions are encountered for certain measures, or if well-founded justifications are introduced by the Member States.The reductions referred to in this article shall be made in accordance with the rules laid down in Article 13 of Decision 94/729/EC.’