Judgment_paragraph 3 · Azienda Agricola Barausse Antonio e Gabriele - Società semplice v Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura (AGEA) (C-348/18)

3The first, third, sixth and seventh recitals of Regulation No 3950/92 state:‘Whereas, pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 856/84 of 31 March 1984 amending Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products [(OJ 1984 L 90, p. 10)], an additional levy scheme was introduced from 2 April 1984 in the said sector; whereas the purpose of this scheme, introduced for nine years and due to expire of 31 March 1993, was to reduce the imbalance between supply and demand on the milk and milk-products market and the resulting structural surpluses; whereas the scheme remains necessary in the future in order to achieve a better market balance; whereas it should therefore continue to be applied for seven further consecutive 12-month periods starting on 1 April 1993;…Whereas the method adopted in 1984, consisting of the application of a levy to quantities of milk collected or sold for direct consumption above a certain guarantee threshold, must be maintained; whereas the said threshold is expressed for each Member State by a guaranteed total quantity which may not be exceeded by the sum of the individually allocated quantities for both deliveries and sales for direct consumption; ……Whereas if any of the total guaranteed quantities is overrun, the consequence for the Member State is that the producers who contributed to the overrun must pay the levy; …Whereas, in order to keep the management of the scheme sufficiently flexible, provision should be made for individual overruns to be equalled out over all the individual reference quantities of the same type within the territory of a Member State; whereas in the case of deliveries, which constitute nearly all the quantities marketed, the need to ensure that the levy is fully effective throughout the Community justifies, in principle, continuing to allow Member States the choice between two methods of equalling out overruns of individual reference quantities, bearing in mind the variety of milk production and collection structures; whereas, in this connection, Member States should be authorised not to reallocate unused reference quantities at the end of a period, whether nationally or between purchasers, and to use the amount collected in excess of the levy due for funding national restructuring programmes and/or to refund it to producers of certain categories or producers who find themselves in an exceptional situation.’