Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2003:106
Date: 2003-04-09
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Public procurement in the European Union
Concepts: Statement of reasons;Rights of the defence and procedural guarantees;Principle of the protection of legitimate expectations
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Community law — Principles — Rights of the defence — Compliance when the 
Commission adopts a decision to terminate Community financial support 
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SUMMARY — CASE T-217/01 
2. Acts of the institutions — Statement of reasons — Obligation — Scope — Refer­
ence to a document annexed —· Whether permissible 
(Art. 253 EC) 
3. Community law — Principles — Protection of legitimate expectations — Protection 
refused to person committing a manifest infringement of the rules in force 
1. Observance of the right to be heard is, 
in all proceedings initiated against a 
person which are liable to culminate in 
a measure adversely affecting that 
person, a fundamental principle of 
Community law which must be guar­
anteed even in the absence of any rules 
governing the proceedings in question. 
That principle requires that the 
addressees of decisions which signifi­
cantly affect their interests should be 
placed in a position in which they may 
effectively make known their views. 
The Commission decision to terminate 
Community financial support, con­
cluded with the applicant, within the 
framework of a grant agreement, when 
the latter had the opportunity to make 
observations on the factors taken into 
account by the Commission as the basis 
of its decision complies with that 
principle, even if the auditors' annual 
report carried out by the Commission 
staff concerning the audit of the appli­
cant's accounts, to which the decision 
refers, was only sent when the appli­
cant was notified of the decision. 
(see paras 56, 61, 63) 
2. Pursuant to Article 253 EC, the reasons 
stated for a measure must disclose 
clearly and unequivocally the reasoning 
of the Community authority which 
adopted it, so as to make the persons 
concerned aware of the reasons for the 
measure and thus enable them to 
defend their rights, and so as to enable 
the Community judicature to exercise 
its power of review. The extent of the 
obligation to state reasons depends on 
the nature of the measure at issue and 
the context in which it was adopted, as 
well as on all of the legal rules appli­
cable to the subject-matter in question. 
In addition, when reference is made to 
a document annexed to a decision and 
therefore to its contents, the duty to 
give reasons for that decision may be 
satisfied by such a document. 
(see paras 68-69) 
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FORUM DES MIGRANTS v COMMISSION 
3. The right to rely on the principle of 
protection of legitimate expectations 
extends to any economic operator to 
whom an institution has given justified 
hopes. However, it is settled law that 
the principle of protection of legitimate 
expectations may not be relied upon by 
an undertaking which has committed a 
manifest infringement of the rules in 
force. 
(see para. 76) 
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