Avis juridique important

Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 23 April 2002. - Niels Nygård v Svineafgiftsfonden, and Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri. - Reference for a preliminary ruling: Vestre Landsret - Denmark. - National levy on pigs - Charge having an equivalent effect - Internal taxation - Levy scheme authorised by the Commission as State aid compatible with the common market - Levy incompatible with provisions of the EC Treaty other than Articles 92 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 87 EC) and 93 of the EC Treaty (now Article 88 EC) - Discretion of the national courts. - Case C-234/99. European Court reports 2002 Page I-3657

Summary Parties Grounds Decision on costs Operative part

1. Tax provisions - Internal taxation - Parafiscal charge on pigs levied in respect of every animal produced in a Member State and slaughtered in that Member State or exported live which benefits those two types of production - Classification as a tax having an equivalent effect to customs duties - Excluded - Classification as an internal charge - Conditions

(EC Treaty, Arts 9, 12 and 95 (now, after amendment, Arts 23 EC, 25 EC and 90 EC))

2. State aid - Commission decision authorising a tax scheme as State aid - Obstacle to examination by national courts of compatibility with other Treaty provisions - No obstacle

(EC Treaty, Arts 92 (now, after amendment, Art. 87 EC) and 93 (now Art. 88 EC))

1. A levy charged by a body established under public law according to identical criteria on pigs produced in a Member State for slaughter on the domestic market or for live export to other Member States, the revenue from which is allocated to activities benefiting the two types of production, does not fall under the prohibition of charges having equivalent effect to customs duties on exports within the meaning of Article 9 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 23 EC), Article 12 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 25 EC) and Article 16 of the Treaty (repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam). Such a levy may, however, be classified as discriminatory internal taxation prohibited by Article 95 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 90 EC) if and to the extent to which the advantages deriving from the use made of its revenue compensate in part the charge imposed on pigs produced for slaughter in the Member State concerned, thereby placing at a disadvantage the production of pigs for live export to other Member States.

( see para. 49, operative part 1 )

2. The fact that a national levy is intended to finance an aid scheme authorised by the Commission pursuant to the Treaty provisions on State aid does not preclude a national court from examining whether such a levy is compatible with other directly effective Treaty provisions.

This assessment carried out by national courts makes it possible to guarantee individuals the legal protection deriving from the direct effect of the Community law provisions and, should those provisions be infringed, to re-establish internal legality, without thereby encroaching on the central and exclusive role which Articles 92 (now, after amendment, Article 87 EC) and 93 (now Article 88 EC) of the Treaty reserve to the Commission in determining whether aid is compatible with the common market.

( see paras 62, 65, operative part 2 )

In Case C-234/99,

REFERENCE to the Court under Article 234 EC by the Vestre Landsret (Denmark) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

Niels Nygård

and

Svineafgiftsfonden,

intervener:

Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri,

on the interpretation of Article 9 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 23 EC), Article 12 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 25 EC), Article 16 of the EC Treaty (repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam), Article 93 of the EC Treaty (now Article 88 EC), and Article 95 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 90 EC),

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),

composed of: N. Colneric, President of the Second Chamber, acting for the President of the Sixth Chamber, C. Gulmann, R. Schintgen, V. Skouris (Rapporteur) and J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, Judges,

Advocate General: J. Mischo,

Registrar: R. Grass,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

- Mr Nygård, by M. Meyer, advokat,

- Svineafgiftsfonden, by S.T. Sørensen, advokat,

- the Danish Government, by J. Molde, acting as Agent, assisted by S.G. Jensen, advokat,

- the Commission of the European Communities, by H.P. Hartvig and E. Traversa, acting as Agents,

having regard to the report of the Judge-Rapporteur,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 10 May 2001,

gives the following

Judgment

1 By order of 16 June 1999, received at the Court on 21 June 1999, the Vestre Landsret (Western Regional Court) referred for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC two questions concerning the interpretation of Article 9 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 23 EC), Article 12 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 25 EC), Article 16 of the EC Treaty (repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam), Article 93 of the EC Treaty (now Article 88 EC), and Article 95 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 90 EC).

2 Those questions have arisen in a dispute between Mr Nygård, a pig breeder, and the Svineafgiftsfond (Pig Levy Fund) (the Fund) relating to recovery of the production levy payable in respect of the pigs which Mr Nygård exported live to Germany between 1 August 1992 and 1 July 1993.

The legal framework

3 Under Paragraph 6(1) of Lov No 414 om administration af Det Europæiske Fællesskabs forordninger om markedsordninger for landbrugsvarer m.v. (Law on the Administration of the European Economic Community Regulations on the Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural and other Products) of 13 June 1990 (Lovtidende 1990, p. 1365), as amended by Law No 380 of 6 June 1991 (Lovtidende 1991, p. 1499) and by Law No 265 of 6 May 1993 (Lovtidende 1993, p. 1122), (the Enabling Law), the Minister for Agriculture may lay down rules for the payment of levies on agricultural goods produced in Denmark ... The levies shall be paid into a fund for each of the sectors in which they are charged ....

4 Under Paragraph 6(3) of the Enabling Law the Minister for Agriculture shall lay down the detailed rules for payment of the public resources referred to in subparagraphs 1 and 2.

5 Paragraph 7(1) of the Enabling Law provides:

Fund revenue shall be used to finance measures for sales promotion, research and trials, product development, provision of advice, training, preventive sanitary measures, disease eradication and control, together with all other measures authorised by the Minister for Agriculture ... The resources referred to in Paragraph 6(1) must be allocated to the sectors in which they were levied.

6 The Landbrugsministeriets bekendtgørelse om afgift ved slagtning og ved eksport af svin (Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture establishing a Pig Slaughter and Export Levy), No 74 of 30 January 1992 (Decree No 74/92), which was adopted pursuant to the Enabling Law and is applicable to the facts of the case in the main proceedings, provides inter alia:

Paragraph 1

1. A production levy shall be charged for every pig - including sows, boars, store pigs and piglets - bred and slaughtered in Denmark and declared fit for human consumption following inspections carried out by the public authorities. The levy is also payable in respect of pigs slaughtered for private consumption.

2. The amount of the levy shall be DKK 7.00 for each pig having a carcass weight below or equal to 100 kg and DKK 17.50 for each pig having a carcass weight greater than 100 kg.

...

Paragraph 2

1. For pigs slaughtered in abattoirs for export, it is for the abattoir concerned to charge the levy referred to in Paragraph 1 to the supplier and to notify the Svineafgiftsfond each week ... of the number of pigs slaughtered and declared fit for consumption, in each of the two weight categories, during the previous week, and to pay to the Fund the levies due in that regard.

2. In the case of pigs slaughtered in private abattoirs, it is for the abattoir concerned to pay the levy referred to in Paragraph 1 to the Svineafgiftsfond ... no later than two weeks after slaughter. The payment card is issued by the veterinary inspector, who must notify the Svineafgiftsfond, immediately after the inspection certificate has been issued, of the number of pigs slaughtered in each weight category.

Paragraph 3

1. For every pig - including sows, boars, store pigs and piglets - bred in Denmark and exported live, the exporter shall pay a levy amounting to DKK 7.00 for each pig having a live weight below or equal to 120 kg and DKK 17.50 for each pig having a live weight greater than 120 kg.

2. The exporter shall, no later than two weeks after exportation, notify the Svineafgiftsfond ... of the exports, by stating the number of live pigs in each weight category, and pay to the Svineafgiftsfond the levies due in that regard.

The dispute in the main proceedings and the questions referred for preliminary ruling

7 Mr Nygård, a pig breeder established in Denmark, exported to Germany between 1 August 1992 and 1 July 1993 live pigs intended for abattoirs. In this connection he paid in Germany a production levy for each pig supplied to the abattoirs, pursuant to the Gesetz über die Einrichtung eines zentralen Fonds zur Absatzförderung der deutschen Land-, Forst- und Ernährungswirtschaft (German Law establishing a Central Fund for the Commercial Promotion of German Agriculture and Forestry and the German Food Industry) (the German Law on the Commercial Promotion Fund).

8 Having refused to pay the amount claimed from him, in respect of those pigs, under the production levy introduced by Paragraph 3(1) of Decree No 74/92, the Fund brought proceedings against Mr Nygård before the Retten i Skjern (District Court, Skjern) (Denmark). By decision of 31 March 1995 that court ordered him to pay the full amount of the production levy due in respect of the exported pigs, amounting to DKK 101 776.37, plus interest.

9 Mr Nygård appealed to the Vestre Landsret, arguing primarily that the levy imposed on live pigs for export constitutes in its entirety a charge having an equivalent effect to a customs duty on exports within the meaning of Articles 9, 12 and 16 of the Treaty. In the alternative, he contended that, if it is not a charge having equivalent effect, that levy constitutes discriminatory internal taxation prohibited by Article 95 of the Treaty in so far as the levy resources are allocated to activities benefiting exclusively, or to a proportionately greater degree, the breeding of pigs for slaughter on the domestic market.

10 In its order for reference, the Vestre Landsret points out that the Danish scheme of production levies, and in particular that of the production levy introduced by Decree No 74/92, was notified, in accordance with Article 93(3) of the Treaty, to the Commission, which authorised it as State aid compatible with the common market. The Vestre Landsret states that, in its examination of the activities financed by the revenue generated by those levies, the Commission took into account inter alia the fact that controls relating to quality, weighing, classification, etc. are mandatory under Community or national provisions, that research is in the interest of the entire sector and that the results are notified to the traders operating within that sector.

11 The Vestre Landsret also notes that the Fund, which forms an integral part of the public administration, is designed to reinforce the development possibilities and competitiveness of the pigmeat sector by financing, within that sector, measures such as those referred to in Paragraph 7(1) of the Enabling Law.

12 Further, the national court analyses the use made of the subsidies paid by the Fund during the 1992/1993 financial year. It draws up for this purpose an analytical table setting out the direct allocation of the subsidies between two categories of activities, namely those relating to national primary production (40% of the total subsidies) and those relating to national slaughter and subsequent processing, as well as to the sale of the derivatives of the primary product on the Danish market and export markets respectively (60% of the total subsidies). The Vestre Landsret points out, however, that these figures do not take account of any indirect effects which allocation and use of the subsidies may have had, and notes that the parties to the main proceedings have reserved to themselves the right to rectify the key to the allocation of activities when the case is being examined as to its substance before it.

13 The Vestre Landsret states that it shares the view defended before it by the Fund and by the Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri (Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries), which has intervened in support of the Fund, to the effect that the questions of interpretation raised by Articles 9, 12, 16 and 95 of the Treaty, which are material to the resolution of the dispute pending before it, have already been answered in the Court's existing case-law. From this the Vestre Landsret concludes that it must carry out the necessary assessment of the facts in the main proceedings in the light of the criteria laid down in that case-law.

14 The Vestre Landsret is, however, unsure whether the authorisation granted by the Commission at the conclusion of the proceedings under Article 93(3) of the Treaty precludes a national court from setting aside, even in part, a levy used to finance authorised aid on the ground that such a levy is contrary to Articles 9, 12 and 16, or Article 95, of the Treaty.

15 Finding that the Court has not yet dealt specifically with that question, the Vestre Landsret accordingly decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling:

I. Must Article 9 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 23 EC), Article 12 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 25 EC) and Article 16 of the EC Treaty (repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam) or Article 95 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 90 EC) be construed as meaning that those provisions, or that provision, preclude a public body in a Member State from charging a production levy in respect of pigs bred in the Member State in question and exported live to another Member State, in the case where:

- a similar levy is charged for each pig produced in the Member State in question and sold for slaughter on the domestic market;

- the detailed rules for calculating the levy do not give rise to discrimination between the two product groups, since, when the different "weight categories" are being determined for slaughtered and live pigs, it can be assumed that compensation is provided for the average difference between "carcass weight" and "live weight", but

- the levy in respect of pigs sold for slaughter on the domestic market becomes payable when they are delivered for slaughter, whereas the levy in respect of pigs exported live becomes payable at the time of export;

- in the first case, the levy is payable by the producer, whereas in the second case it is payable by the exporter, irrespective of whether he is also the producer, and;

- the levy is not charged in respect of pigs sold live on the domestic market, and;

- part of the revenue generated by the levy is allocated to activities which, in view of their nature and immediate objectives, concern primary production of pigs in the Member State, and thus also benefit exported pigs, whereas another part of the revenue generated by the levy is allocated to activities which, in view of their nature and immediate objectives, concern only slaughtering and further processing in the Member State and the sale on the domestic and export markets of nationally processed derivatives of the primary product, and thus do not benefit exported pigs?

II. If Question I is answered in the affirmative: does it make any difference to the answer that the levy scheme was, pursuant to Article 93(3) of the EC Treaty (now Article 88(3) EC), notified to and approved by the EU Commission as being lawful State aid?

The first question

16 By its first question, the national court is asking in substance whether a levy such as that in issue in the main proceedings is capable of being a charge having equivalent effect to customs duties on exports within the meaning of Articles 9, 12 and 16 of the Treaty or of constituting discriminatory internal taxation prohibited by Article 95 of the Treaty.

18 It is thus first necessary to examine whether the levy in issue in the main proceedings falls to be classified as a charge having equivalent effect to customs duties on exports within the meaning of Articles 9, 12 and 16 of the Treaty. It may then prove necessary, in the second instance, to examine whether this levy constitutes discriminatory internal taxation prohibited by Article 95 of the Treaty.

Classification as a charge having equivalent effect

20 This latter case, however, presupposes that the charge is imposed on national products processed or marketed on the national market and on national products exported in an unprocessed state at the same marketing stage, and that the chargeable event is identical for both classes of products (see, by way of analogy, in regard to charges levied on national products and imported products, Joined Cases C-149/91 and C-150/91 Sanders Adour and Guyomarc'h Orthez Nutrition Animale [1992] ECR I-3899, paragraph 17, and Outokumpu, paragraph 24).

23 It is in this regard settled case-law that if the advantages stemming from the use of the revenue from a charge forming part of a general system of internal charges applying systematically to national products processed and marketed on the national market and to products exported in an unprocessed state fully offset the burden borne by the national product processed and marketed on the national market when it is placed on the market, that charge constitutes a charge having an effect equivalent to a customs duty, contrary to Articles 9 and 12 of the Treaty (see, by way of analogy, Compagnie Commerciale de l'Ouest and Others, cited above, paragraph 27, Case C-17/91 Lornoy and Others [1992] ECR I-6523, paragraph 21, and Case C-72/92 Scharbatke [1993] ECR I-5509, paragraph 10). On the other hand, if the advantages accruing to the taxed national products processed and marketed on the national market from the use of the revenue generated by the charge offset only partially the burden borne by those products, such a charge will constitute a breach of the prohibition of discrimination laid down by Article 95 of the Treaty (see inter alia, by way of analogy, UCAL, paragraph 22).

24 In order to assess the levy in issue in the main proceedings in the light of the principles just outlined, it is first necessary to note that it is common ground that this levy forms part of a general system of taxation of Danish agricultural products covering several production levy schemes. It is also common ground that these production levy schemes have the same legal basis, namely the Enabling Law, and are intended to finance specific funds in individual sectors, the revenue from which is allocated to objectives relating to the production and marketing of Danish agricultural products.

26 According to Mr Nygård, the difference in the transactions giving rise to liability also has the effect that the rates of levy charged are implicitly fixed in accordance with the value of the taxable product in the case of supply for purposes of slaughter in Denmark, whereas they bear no relation to the value of the taxable product in the case of exportation. He states in this regard that the classification of the animals into two categories subject to two differing rates of taxation follows the main distinction, relevant from the point of view of slaughter, drawn between ordinary slaughter pigs, on the one hand, and sows and other pigs, known as weighted, on the other. Whereas pigs supplied for slaughter might, subject to a few exceptions, be regarded as constituting a homogenous product group, pigs exported live cover in fact several categories of products at different stages of production and serving different objectives within the production. Thus, the real value of pigs exported live lies not in the fact that they may in principle be supplied for slaughter, but rather in the fact that they may enter primary production as either raw material or production equipment.

27 Mr Nygård explains that a slaughter pig intended for the German market is heavier than that sold on the Danish market in view of the fact that the demand is different. The levy, in absolute figures, is none the less the same, regardless of the fact that the slaughter pig intended for export is more expensive than the slaughter pig intended for the domestic market by reason of the longer breeding period involved. Thus, in relation to the value of the pigs, the level of taxation is in relative terms much higher in the case of exportation than in the case of sale for slaughter on the domestic market.

40 In the light of this analysis, it must be concluded that a levy such as that here in issue in the main proceedings is not a charge having equivalent effect to customs duties on exports, with the result that its compatibility with Community law falls to be assessed under Article 95 of the Treaty.

Classification as discriminatory internal taxation

41 With regard to the classification of a levy charged on exported goods under Article 95 of the Treaty, it must first be noted that, according to the Court's case-law, that article must be interpreted as also prohibiting any tax discrimination against products intended for export to other Member States (see Larsen and Kjerulff, cited above, paragraph 27).

44 In the present case, it is clear from the order for reference that the Vestre Landsret considers it to be an established fact that 60% of the revenue generated by the levy in issue in the main proceedings is used to subsidise activities relating to slaughtering and processing on the domestic market and to the marketing of the products thus processed, which benefit solely the production of pigs for slaughter on the domestic market, while only 40% of the revenue generated by the levy is used to finance activities concerning primary production and benefiting the production of pigs both for live export and for slaughter on the domestic market.

45 The Fund and the Danish Government challenge the accuracy of the Vestre Landsret's breakdown of the figures. They argue that it is based on the mistaken premiss that the export of live pigs does not benefit from activities other than those directly linked to primary production. They submit in particular that the revenue generated by the levy in issue in the main proceedings benefits the entire Danish pig sector, without discriminating against the production of pigs exported live, in so far as it serves to finance a full range of measures which benefit in differing degrees the various traders involved in the primary production of pigmeat in Denmark. By way of example, they cite the numerous measures designed inter alia to prevent and treat animal maladies, the protection of livestock during transportation and the promotion of pigmeat sales, which are financed by the revenue of the levy in issue in the main proceedings and which also benefit exports of live pigs.

46 The Fund and the Danish Government also argue that the relationship between the activities which - according to the premiss on which the Vestre Landsret bases itself - principally concern primary production and those which principally concern slaughter, processing and marketing of pigs is in a state of continuous change according to the overall needs of the sector at any particular time. A picture taken at one single point in time and corresponding to a specific and temporally circumscribed reference period would fail to provide any meaningful indication as to the use made of production levies such as those in issue in the main proceedings. In order to determine whether exported products are suffering fiscal discrimination, the Vestre Landsret ought, on the basis of average economic considerations, to conduct an overall assessment covering a much broader reference period.

48 Should it appear, on the basis of the principles derived from the Court's case-law, that the production of pigs for slaughter on the domestic market derives from the revenue provided by the Fund, which is the body which receives the levy in issue in the main proceedings, a benefit that is proportionately greater than the production of pigs for live export to another Member State, that levy will have to be considered to constitute discriminatory internal taxation prohibited by Article 95 of the Treaty in so far as the use made of its revenue compensates in part the charge imposed on pigs bred for slaughter on the domestic market.

49 In light of all the foregoing, the answer to the first question must be that a levy charged by a body established under public law according to identical criteria on pigs produced in a Member State for slaughter on the domestic market or for live export to other Member States, the revenue from which is allocated to activities benefiting the two types of production, does not fall under the prohibition of charges having equivalent effect to customs duties on exports within the meaning of Articles 9, 12 and 16 of the Treaty. Such a levy may, however, be classified as discriminatory internal taxation prohibited by Article 95 of the Treaty if and to the extent to which the advantages deriving from the use made of its revenue compensate in part the charge imposed on pigs produced for slaughter in the Member State concerned, thereby placing at a disadvantage the production of pigs for live export to other Member States.

The second question

50 By its second question, the national court is asking in substance whether the fact that a national levy is intended to finance an aid scheme authorised by the Commission pursuant to the Treaty provisions on State aid precludes a national court from assessing whether such a levy is compatible with other directly effective Treaty provisions.

51 It is necessary to state at the outset that, according to settled case-law, Articles 12 and 95 of the Treaty are directly effective and confer on individuals rights which national courts must protect (see, inter alia, Lornoy and Others, cited above, paragraph 24).

52 In order to reply to the question posed, it is necessary to recall the Court's case-law on the assessment of whether a charge forming part of an aid scheme is compatible with the various Treaty provisions which may cover it.

53 With regard to a parafiscal charge, such as that in issue in the main proceedings, which may fall within the scope of either Article 12 or Article 95 of the Treaty, the Court has ruled that the use to which the revenue from that charge is put, for the benefit of domestic products, may constitute State aid incompatible with the common market if the conditions for the application of Article 92 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 87 EC) are met, this being a matter which the Commission alone is competent to determine in accordance with the procedure laid down for that purpose in Article 93 of the Treaty and subject to review by the Court (see Scharbatke, paragraphs 18 and 20).

60 Although, as follows from paragraph 41 of SFEI and Others, cited above, the national courts and the Commission fulfil complementary and separate roles within the actual system of supervision of State aid established by the Treaty, the same applies, a fortiori, where what is in issue is the examination of a parafiscal charge, intended to finance an aid scheme, in the light of Treaty provisions other than those concerning State aid, with a view to remedying, if necessary, infringements of Community law which have not been confirmed in the procedure provided for under Article 93 of the Treaty.

61 While any examination into whether an aid scheme is compatible with the common market is a matter for the Commission, regard being had to the fact that such an examination involves assessments of an economic and social nature which must be made within a Community context (see, in this regard, Case C-156/98 Germany v Commission [2000] ECR I-6857, paragraph 67), it cannot be disputed that, regarding the assessment of the manner in which the revenue generated by a domestic parafiscal charge is allocated, the national courts are best placed to collate the necessary information and to carry out the assessments required in that regard on the basis of data which should normally follow from the accounts and other documents relating to the management of the bodies which collect the levy and allocate subsidies and other benefits.

63 Finally, it must be pointed out that in the present case, as follows from the reply to the first question submitted, the issue of the use made of the revenue generated by the levy in issue in the main proceedings may be the subject of a separate assessment in the light of the overall domestic taxation system of which that levy forms part.

65 The answer to the second question submitted must therefore be that the fact that a national levy is intended to finance an aid scheme authorised by the Commission pursuant to the Treaty provisions on State aid does not preclude a national court from examining whether such a levy is compatible with other directly effective Treaty provisions.

Costs

66 The costs incurred by the Danish Government and by the Commission, which have submitted observations to the Court, are not recoverable. Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court.

On those grounds,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),

in answer to the questions referred to it by the Vestre Landsret by order of 16 June 1999, hereby rules:

1. A levy charged by a body established under public law according to identical criteria on pigs produced in a Member State for slaughter on the domestic market or for live export to other Member States, the revenue from which is allocated to activities benefiting the two types of production, does not fall under the prohibition of charges having equivalent effect to customs duties on exports within the meaning of Article 9 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 23 EC), Article 12 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 25 EC) and Article 16 of the EC Treaty (repealed by the Treaty of Amsterdam). Such a levy may, however, be classified as discriminatory internal taxation prohibited by Article 95 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 90 EC) if and to the extent to which the advantages deriving from the use made of its revenue compensate in part the charge imposed on pigs produced for slaughter in the Member State concerned, thereby placing at a disadvantage the production of pigs for live export to other Member States.

2. The fact that a national levy is intended to finance an aid scheme authorised by the Commission pursuant to the Treaty provisions on State aid does not preclude a national court from examining whether such a levy is compatible with other directly effective Treaty provisions.