Order;Information — ECLI:EU:T:2025:270
Date: 2025-03-11
Language of the case: German
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for annulment - inadmissible
Origin: Germany

Order of the General Court (Tenth Chamber, Extended Composition) of 11 March 2025 – NRW.Bank v SRB (2019 ex ante contributions) (Case T‑478/19) ( Economic and monetary union – Banking union – Single Resolution Mechanism of credit institutions and certain investment firms (SRM) – Single Resolution Fund (SRF) – Decision of the SRB on the calculation of the 2019 ex ante contributions – Obligation to state reasons – Principle of non-retroactivity – Article 5(1)(f) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/63 – Exclusion of certain liabilities from the calculation of the ex ante contributions – Promotional loans – Ancillary promotional activities – Plea of illegality – Action manifestly lacking any foundation in law ) 1. Plea of illegality – Scope – Measures the illegality of which may be pleaded – General measure providing the basis of the contested decision – Need for a legal connection between the contested measure and the contested general measure (Arts 263 and 277 TFEU) (see paragraphs 39-41) 2. Economic and monetary policy – Economic policy – Recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms – Promotional bank – Calculation of the ex ante contributions to Single Resolution Fund (SRF) –Exclusion of liabilities related to promotional loans from that calculation – Scope – Liability related to an ancillary promotional activity carried on in a competitive, for-profit environment – Precluded (Commission Regulation 2015/63, recital 13 and Arts 3, point 28, and 5(1)(f)) (see paragraphs 56, 61, 69-74) 3. EU institutions – Exercise of powers – Power conferred on the Commission to adopt delegated acts – Scope – Complex assessments and evaluations – Broad discretion – Determination of the methodology for calculating the ex ante contributions to the Single Resolution Fund (SRF) – Establishment of the criteria for adjusting those contributions – Judicial review – Limits (Art. 290 TFEU, European Parliament and Council Directive No 806/2014 recital 41; European Parliament and Council Directive 2014/59, Art. 103(7)) (see paragraphs 98, 99, 113) 4. Judicial proceedings – Application initiating proceedings – Formal requirements – Clear and precise statement of the pleas relied on – Similar requirements for submissions made in support of a plea – Imprecise formulation of a claim – Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(d)) (see paragraphs 138-140) 5. Acts of the institutions – Temporal application – Non-retroactivity – Exceptions – Conditions – Accomplishment of an objective in the general interest and respect for legitimate expectations – Withdrawal of a decision of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) setting ex ante contributions to the Single Resolution Fund (SRF) in order to rectify a failure to state reasons – Adoption of a decision entering into force on the date that the earlier decision takes effect – No amendments to the amount and the calculation of those contributions – Account taken of the purpose of contributions to the SRF – Whether permissible (Art. 296 second para., TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directive No 806/2014; Commission Regulation 2015/63, Arts 4 to 7, 9 and Annex I; European Parliament and Council Directive 2014/59) (see paragraphs 179-182) 6. Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Decision of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) establishing the ex ante contributions to the Single Resolution Fund (SRF) – Not necessary to include, in that decision, all figures necessary for verifying the accuracy of the calculation of the contributions – Weighing the obligation to state reasons against the general principle of protection of the business secrets of the institutions concerned – Legality of the provisions concerning the methodology for calculating the ex ante contributions to the SRF – Principle of non-disclosure of business secrets – Obligation for the SRB to publish or disclose to the institutions concerned, in collective and anonymised form, the information relating to the institutions that was used to calculate the ex ante contribution (Art. 296 second para., TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 806/2014; Commission Regulation 2015/63, Arts 4 to 7, 9 and Annex I; European Parliament and Council Directive 2014/59) (see paragraphs 192-199, 226) 7. Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope – Decision of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) establishing the ex ante contributions to the Single Resolution Fund (SRF) – Obligation for the SRB to disclose to the institutions concerned the methodology for calculating those contributions and the methodology for setting the amount of the annual target level (European Parliament and Council Directive No 806/2014, Arts 69(1) and (2), and 70(2); Council Regulation 2015/81, Art. 4; Commission Regulation 2015/63, Art. 4(2); European Parliament and Council Directive 2014/59) (see paragraph 253) Operative part 1. The action is dismissed. 2. NRW.Bank is ordered to bear its own costs and to pay those of the Single Resolution Board. 3. The European Commission is ordered to bear its own costs.