Judgment_paragraph 106 · Romania v European Commission (T-33/21)

106Admittedly, it was held in paragraph 93 of the judgment of 22 November 2018, Portugal v Commission (T‑31/17, EU:T:2018:830), that overall programmes were provisional in nature, with the result that, by approving them, the Commission was not, in principle, taking a definitive view on the compatibility of the measures contained therein with all the applicable rules of EU law and, therefore, on the eligibility of those measures for EU financing. The Court further held that it cannot be inferred from the mere fact that the Commission approves an overall programme either that the measures contained in that programme necessarily comply with all the relevant rules of EU law or that the eligibility of those measures for EU financing could no longer be called into question by the Commission, in particular as part of the conformity clearance procedure provided for in Article 31 of Regulation No 1290/2005, and referred to points 48, 49, 52 and 59 of the Opinion of Advocate General Kokott in Czech Republic v Commission (C‑4/17 P, EU:C:2018:237).