By sending a reasoned opinion, the European Commission has formally asked Italy to recover fines of 1,395 billion euros from milk producers, due to exceeding the production quotas assigned to them between 1995 and 2009. the infringement procedure against Italy that the EU Commission had opened on June 20, 2013, with the sending of the letter of formal notice, took a higher gear. The "reasoned opinion" represents the second stage of the EU treaty infringement procedure.
Italy has two months to respond, after which the Commission threatens to file an appeal with the European Court of Justice, which could entail, in addition to the obligation to recover the amount of the fines from producers who have not paid them, also penalties fines to be paid by the State for its default.
The fines that Italian producers had to pay for failing to comply with the legislation on milk quotas amounted to a total of 2,265 billion euros, of which only a part was recovered by the State, which, according to the Commission, "has not adopted or implemented sufficient measures to ensure that sums owed by responsible producers are paid.
