On 3/28/22, the Council of State published three rulings on CAAs (Agricultural Assistance Centers)-reforming the decisions of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR) (1)-where freelancers are denied the management of aid files for farmers and ranchers. #CleanSpades.
Aid in agriculture, premise
AGEA-the General Agency for Agricultural Disbursements-is the primary provider of public grants to the agricultural enterprise system. Coordinates the work of the OPRs (Organismi Pagatori Regioni) and represents Italy in relations with the EU. It uses, ta inter alia, the CAAs (Agricultural Assistance Centers) to which farmers and ranchers must turn to submit applications for government grants. CAAs, in order to carry out their activities, must sign an annual ‘convention’ with AGEA.
The AGEA resolution 6.12.20 no. 25 (Approval of the 2020-2021 Agreement between Agea and the CAAs) of Agricultural Assistance – signed by Gabriele Papa Pagliardini, a former business partner of Coldiretti’s magic circle as well as responsible for the irreparable loss of 4 billion euros allocated to Italian farmers (2.3) – had, however, stipulated that ‘all owner-operators qualified to access and operate in the Paying Agency’s information systems must be employees of the CAA or its contracted companies‘ (Art. 4.3).
Excluded freelancers
The professional associations had filed a series of appeals against the aforementioned AGEA resolution that unjustifiably excludes more than 2,500 freelancers from access to the SIAN (National Agricultural Information Service), which is essential for the management of aid files in agriculture.
The Lazio Regional Administrative Court had upheld the aforementioned appeals, declaring that the Byzantine resolution mentioned above was illegal (4,1). All the more so since it is precisely the freelancers-and not also the employees of the CAAs under Coldiretti and other agricultural confederations-who have degrees consistent with the activities in question.
Council of State, rulings on CAAs
The Council of State, in its three first rulings on CAAs (5,6,7), overturned the decisions of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court with apodictic reasons, in a copy-paste dense among other typographical errors. Among the most significant passages are the statutes inherent in:
– the ‘penetrating power‘(a.k.a. unlimited arbitrariness) of AGEA in imposing specific organizational requirements on CAAs – such as precisely the provision of services by artless employees rather than freelancers – ‘without thereby encroaching on the general managerial autonomy of CAAs.’
– the irrelevance of ‘possible critical profiles for competition with respect to the free market (being, on the contrary, that of CAAs a restricted market subject to a reservation regime in several respects)‘. In the wake of the disgraceful opinion issued by the Antitrust Authority, which ignores the rights of farmers to continue to turn to the professionals they trust.
Gabriele Papa Pagliardini, the denied conflict of interest
Gabriele Papa Pagliardini, director general of AGEA, founded AgriRevi SpA together with various figures belonging to the so-called magic circle of Coldiretti, the leading agricultural confederation in Italy (with a number of members that even exceeds the number of active agricultural enterprises surveyed by ISTAT). (8) Coldiretti dominates the market for services in agriculture, right from CAAs, and is therefore interested in excluding freelancers from that market. Just as Gabriele Papa Pagliardini did, with AGEA resolution 6.12.20 no. 25.
Gabriele Papa Pagliardini’s conflict of interest was recognized by the European Commission, as a result of special questions from the Strasbourg Parliament (9.2). In the blithe silence of Teresa Bellanova and Stefano Patuanelli, who were themselves asked for explanations. (10) But in the present judgments ‘the Administration counters‘ – at the taxpayers’ expense – ‘that the aforementioned conflict of interest would be referred to in entirely general and hypothetical terms and would, moreover, be unfounded.’ And the Council of State, in defiance of applicable EU rules, (11) denied the existence of any conflict of interest.
Competition and constitutional rights up in smoke
Ignorance of the criteria protecting competition in the EU(Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU, Article 106.2) may force the closure of the hundreds of CAAs where more than 2,500 freelancers operate today. Agronomists, graduate agronomists and agrotechnicians, land surveyors, and doctors of forestry would thus be unjustifiably deprived of the right to offer crucial services in interactions with agricultural enterprises.
Farmers and ranchers in turn would be unjustifiably deprived of the right to continue relying on the CAAs of freelancers. And so to receive qualified professional services on competitive terms and prices. Conversely, they would be forced to join agricultural confederations that often speculate on their members (12)-in violation of, among other things, the constitutional right to freedom of association-in order to exercise their rights to receive payments recognized by EU regulations.
Interim conclusions
It is logical to expect that the professional orders overwhelmed by the Council of State rulings will not lower their heads in the face of injustice. Therefore, they will have to appeal to the Supreme Court, with cross-appeal to the European Court of Justice, which is the sole judicial authority entrusted with the official interpretation of the Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and its regulations.
It seems useful to move away from Rome, to mitigate the risks of possible Coldiretti influence on the judiciary. Also through its ‘Agromafie Observatory’ whose scientific committee includes, among others:
– Honorary assistant chairman of the Council of State Salvatore Giacchetti,
– State Councilors Giuseppe Chinè and Stefano Toschei,
– Supreme Court advisers Pierluigi Di Stefano, Pasquale Fimiani, Cosimo D’Arrigo, Marcello Maria Fracanzani, Rosaria Giordano(former adviser, among others, to former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte)
– Attorney General at the Supreme Court Giovanni Salvi. (13)
#CleanSpades
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Dario Dongo. TAR Lazio’s trio on CAAs. Freelancers readmitted. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 11.6.21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/tris-del-tar-lazio-sui-caa-riammessi-i-liberi-professionisti
(2) Dario Dongo. AGEA – Coldiretti. European Commission rejects conflict of interest. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 3/24/21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/progresso/agea-coldiretti-la-commissione-europea-boccia-il-conflitto-d-interessi
(3) Dario Dongo, Giulia Orsi. Report of the Court of Auditors on AGEA directed by Gabriele Papa Pagliardini. #CleanSpades. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12.3.21. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/relazione-della-corte-dei-conti-sull-agea-diretta-da-gabriele-papa-pagliardini-vanghepulite
(4) Dario Dongo. TAR Lazio annuls AGEA-CAA agreement. #CleanSpades. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12.5.21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/tar-lazio-annulla-la-convenzione-agea-caa-vanghepulite
(5) Council of State, Judgment no. 2271/22. CAA SAE – European Agricultural Services + RPT and National College of Agricultural Surveyors. https://bit.ly/3DqkZEt
(6) Council of State, Judgment no. 2272/22. CAA CANAPA + ENPAIA Foundation/Cassa di Previdenza degli Agrotecnici ed Agrotecnici graduati. https://bit.ly/35oLPjT
(7) Council of State, Judgment no. 2277/22. CAA Freelancers + RPT and National College of Agricultural Technicians. https://bit.ly/3wM6t8Q
(8) Dario Dongo. Coldiretti, many members and some doubts. #CleanSpades. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 4/15/21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/coldiretti-tanti-soci-e-alcuni-dubbi-vanghepulite
(9) Dario Dongo. Coldiretti, Federconsorzi 2 and the director of AGEA. Senate Question. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 8.1.21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/coldiretti-federconsorzi-2-e-il-direttore-di-agea-interrogazione-al-senato
(10) Dario Dongo. Conflict of interest AGEA – Pagliardini – Coldiretti, questions to the European Parliament. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 30.1.21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/conflitto-d-interessi-agea-pagliardini-coldiretti-interrogazioni-al-parlamento-europeo
(11) Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046, laying down the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union . See Article 61, Conflict of Interest.
(12) Dario Dongo. Germina Campus, Coldiretti’s holding company speculating on farmers. #CleanSpades. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 6/13/21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/germina-campus-la-holding-di-coldiretti-che-specula-sugli-agricoltori-vanghepulite
(13) Supreme Court Attorney General Giovanni Salvi is among others one of the protagonists of Luca Palamara and Alessandro Sallusti’s book ‘The System. Power, Politics Business: Secret History Of The Italian Judiciary.‘ (Rizzoli, Milan, 2021. ISBN 9788817157162). Quoted on pages 15, 16, 17, 29, 80, 137, 138, 139, 147, 155
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
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