Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber) 15 June 2023, C-183/22 (Saint-Louis Sucre v Premier ministre and Others.)

Also known as

In a preliminary ruling requested by the French Conseil d'État concerning the recognition of the Étrépagny SICA as a producer organisation (PO) in the sugar sector, the Court of Justice (Fifth Chamber) held, first, that the single-membership rule under Article 153(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 applies solely to producer members of a PO, not to non-producer members. Second, the Court held that Article 153(2)(c) of the same Regulation requires the competent national authority, when assessing whether a PO's statutes ensure democratic scrutiny by producer members, to examine all forms of control—including capital holdings, trade union confederation affiliations, and managerial responsibilities—that one person may exercise over PO members, and to determine not only whether producer members hold a majority of votes but also whether non-producer members, through decisive influence, are able to control PO decisions even without a majority.AI