Reparcelling of Agricultural Lands and Reparcelling Measures in the Practice of the CJEU – Lessons Learned from Zamestik Judgment

The subject of Zamestik judgment (Court of Justice of the European Union, C-343/21) examined hereby is a Bulgarian farmer who was ordered by the Bulgarian authorities to repay the part of an agri-environmental grant from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) because, during the period of his commitment to the EAFRD, his agricultural holding was reparcelled and he was unable to fulfil his commitment to ensure the use of entire territory of the land for five years. The Opinion of the Advocate General and the judgment took different positions. From this decision we will learn about the concepts of reparcelling, reparcelling measures and approved land-consolidation, whether this concept should have a uniform EU interpretation and what kind of measures of Member States can be considered as reparcelling measures. The link between reparcelling, approved land-consolidation and agri-environmental objectives of the EAFRD and the “traditional land policy“ room for manoeuvre of the Member States will be examined.