In their defence, the States concerned contended that their system was necessary for the operation of the service of general economic interest constituted by the distribution of energy. The Court dismissed the actions brought by the Commission, holding that the Treaty granted a measure of discretion to the States as regards the manner in which they entrusted certain undertakings with the operation of services of general economic interest. Lastly, under the appeals procedure judgments of the Court of First Instance may be challenged before the Court of Justice. An increasing number of appeals are being dismissed by the Court of Justice by way of order, on the ground that they are manifestly inadmissible or unfounded. This trend shows that the appeals procedure is not intended to evolve into a system of mechanical and general appeals against the judgments of the Court of First Instance.
Appeals thus remain a special procedure centred on the examination of points of law only.
During 1997 the Court of First Instance disposed of 173 cases. The treatment of these four groups of cases called for the deployment of considerable resources. 295 of these cases were brought by customs agents, essentially to obtain reparation for the damage they claimed to have sustained as a result of the completion of the internal market prescribed by the Single European Act. A few examples will demonstrate the importance and the variety of numerous cases brought before the Court of First Instance. In the field of competition , a judgment concerning undertakings supplying and hiring mobile cranes centred on the time-limits to be observed by the Commission in dealing with a case brought before it.