Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2002:117
Date: 2002-05-14
Language of the case: Portuguese
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: European Social Fund (ESF)
Concepts: Statement of reasons;European Social Fund
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for annulment - successful
Origin: Portugal

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Com­
mission decision reducing, on a proposal from a Member State, assistance from the 
European Social Fund for vocational training 
(Art. 253 EC) 
2. Social policy — European Social Fund — Financial assistance for vocational train­
ing — Commission decision based on Article 6(1) of Regulation No 2950/83 — 
Evaluation of complex facts and accounts — Judicial review — Limits 
(Council Regulation No 2950/83, Art. 6(1)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE T-80/00 
1. The purpose of the obligation to state 
the reasons for an individual decision, 
laid down in Article 253 EC, is to 
provide the person concerned with 
sufficient information to make it poss­
ible to determine whether the decision 
is well founded or whether it is vitiated 
by an error which may permit its 
validity to be contested, and to enable 
the Community judicature to review 
the lawfulness of the decision. The 
extent of that obligation depends on 
the nature of the measure at issue and 
the context in which it was adopted. 
Given, in particular, that a decision 
reducing the amount of European 
Social Fund assistance initially granted 
has serious consequences for the recipi­
ent of that assistance, such a decision 
must either itself show clearly the 
grounds which justify the reduction in 
the assistance initially granted or, if 
such grounds are not stated because the 
Commission has simply confirmed the 
proposal of a Member State to reduce 
that assistance, refer clearly to a meas­
ure of the competent authorities in the 
Member State concerned in which the 
latter clearly set out the reasons for 
such a reduction. 
(see paras 35-38) 
2. The application of Article 6(1) of 
Regulation No 2950/83 on the imple­
mentation of Decision 83/516 concern­
ing the tasks of the European Social 
Fund — under which, where assist­
ance from the European Social Fund 
has not been used in conformity with 
the conditions laid down by the appro­
val decision, the Commission may 
suspend, withdraw or reduce the assist­
ance — may require the Commission 
to undertake an evaluation of complex 
facts and accounts. When undertaking 
such an evaluation, the Commission 
must therefore enjoy a considerable 
measure of latitude. Consequently, the 
Community judicature must, in exam­
ining whether that power was exer­
cised lawfully, confine itself to examin­
ing whether the Commission com­
mitted a manifest error in assessing 
the information in question. 
(see para. 51) 
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