Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:86
Date: 1999-02-23
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Tobacco
Procedure: Appeal - unfounded;Appeal - inadmissible;Action for damages
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment 
Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Raw tobacco — Disposal of 
stocks held by intervention agencies — Commission's discretion — Scope — Conse­
quences 
(Commission Regulation No 3389/73) 
I - 5187 
SUMMARY — CASE C-64/98 Ρ 
Where the Commission decides, in the 
context of the arrangements for the dispo­
sal of tobacco held by intervention agen­
cies, not to award a particular contract 
because of the risk of disturbance of the 
market, it enjoys a wide power for the 
assessment of complex economic situa­
tions. The decision whether or not to 
accept a bid is not therefore a simple and 
mechanical administrative operation but 
calls for the appraisal of a complex eco­
nomic situation. In those circumstances, 
even decisions which may subsequently 
prove to be open to criticism do not 
necessarily cause the Community to incur 
liability in the absence of a manifest error 
of assessment on the part of the institution. 
I-5188