Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:633
Date: 1997-12-18
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Competition;Agreements, decisions and concerted practices
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - unfounded
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment
1. Appeals — Pleas in law — Mere repetition of pleas in law and arguments submitted to the
Court of First Instance — Inadmissible — Appeal dismissed
(EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 51, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the Court of
Justice, Art. 112(1)(c))
2. Appeals — Pleas in law — Inadequate or contradictory grounds — Admissibility
3. Appeals — Pleas in law — Distortion of evidence — Admissibility
I-2587
SUMMARY — CASE C-401/96 P
4. Non-contractual liability — Conditions — Damage — Causal link — Burden of proof
(EC Treaty, Arts 178 and 215)
1. Under the first paragraph of Article 51 of
the Statute of the Court of Justice in
combination with Article 112(1)(c) of the
Rules of Procedure of the Court of Jus­
tice an appeal must specify the alleged
flaws in the judgment which the appellant
seeks to have set aside and the legal argu­
ments which specifically support that
application.
That requirement is not satisfied by an
appeal which confines itself to repeating
or reproducing word for word the pleas
in law and arguments previously submit­
ted to the Court of First Instance, includ­
ing those based on facts expressly rejected
by that court.
2. The question whether the grounds of a
judgment of the Court of First Instance
are contradictory or inadequate is a ques­
tion of law which is amenable, as such, to
judicial review on appeal.
3. Whilst it is for the Court of First Instance
alone to assess the value which should be
attached to the items of evidence pro­
duced to it, a plea alleging distortion of
that evidence is admissible in an appeal.
4. It is first and foremost for the party seek­
ing to establish the Community's liability
to adduce conclusive proof as to the
existence or extent of the damage he
alleges and to establish the causal link
between that damage and the conduct
complained of on the part of the Com­
munity institutions.
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