Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2003:168
Date: 2003-06-17
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Competition;Agreements, decisions and concerted practices;Transport;Dominant position
Concepts: General;Bringing matters before the Commission
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded;Action for annulment - inadmissible
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Order 
1. Procedure — Amendments to the Rules of Procedure — Immediate application 
(Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance) 
2. Procedure — Intervention — Lodging of the application to intervene — Time-
limit — Decision to open the oral procedure — Definition 
(Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Arts 52, 53, 115(1) and 116(6)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE T-52/00 
3. Procedure — Intervention — Persons having sufficient interest — Action for annul­
ment of a refusal to act on a complaint based on the competition rules — Party subject 
of the complaint 
(EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 37, second para., and 46) 
1. Amendments to its Rules of Procedure 
adopted by the Court of First Instance, 
being procedural provisions, are, on 
principle, immediately applicable as 
from the date of their entry into force. 
(see para. 23) 
2. Article 115(1) read with Article 116(6) 
of the Rules of Procedure of the Court 
of First Instance, as in force since 
1 February 2001, allows parties who 
have not lodged their application to 
intervene within the time-limits laid 
down for intervening during the 
written procedure to intervene on the 
basis of the Report for the Hearing 
during the oral procedure, subject to 
their application to intervene being 
lodged before the opening thereof. 
In that regard, the decision to open the 
oral procedure, which is when time for 
lodging an application to intervene 
finally expires, is the decision under 
Article 53 of those Rules and is taken 
by the Court of First Instance after the 
presentation by the Judge-Rapporteur 
of the preliminary report provided for 
by Article 52 of trie Rules of Procedure. 
(see paras 24-25, 27) 
3. The concept of an interest in the result 
of the case, within the meaning of the 
second paragraph of Article 37 of the 
Statute of the Court of Justice, which 
applies to the Court of First Instance by 
virtue of Article 46 of that Statute, 
must be understood as a direct, existing 
interest in the grant of the order 
sought. 
In the context of an action for annul­
ment of a Commission decision refus­
ing to act on a complaint alleging 
infringement of Articles 82 EC and 86 
EC, an entity which is the subject of the 
complaint to which that refusal relates 
does have such an interest. 
(see paras 32-34) 
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