Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:586
Date: 1999-11-25
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: European Social Fund (ESF)
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - successful
Origin: Portugal

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Appeals — Pleas in law — Admissibility — Points of law — Application by the Court 
of First Instance of the principles of the rights of the defence — Included 
(EC Treaty, Art. 168a (now Art. 225 EC); EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 51) 
2. Social policy — European Social Fund — Financial assistance for vocational train­
ing — Decision reducing assistance initially granted — Rights of defence of the 
undertakings concerned — Scope 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-462/98 P 
1. The question whether the Court of 
First Instance correctly applied the 
principles governing the rights of 
defence and in particular the right to 
be heard constitutes a question of law 
which it falls to the Court of Justice to 
examine on appeal. 
(see para. 35) 
2. Respect for the rights of defence is, in 
all proceedings initiated against a per­
son which are liable to culminate in a 
measure adversely affecting that per­
son, a fundamental principle of Com­
munity law which must be guaranteed 
even in the absence of any rules gov­
erning the proceedings in question. 
That principle requires that the addres­
sees of decisions which significantly 
affect their interests should be placed in 
a position in which they may effectively 
make known their views. 
In the absence of an invitation to an 
appellant by or on behalf of the 
Commission to submit its observations 
after a reasonable period on the docu­
ments recording the actions for which 
it was criticised and on the basis of 
which the Commission adopted its 
decisions reducing financial assistance 
from the European Social Fund, it must 
be concluded that the appellant was 
not placed in a position effectively to 
make known its views on the accusa­
tions made against it. 
(see paras 36, 43) 
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