Order — ECLI:EU:T:2017:584
Date: 2017-08-25
Language of the case: French
Court formation: President of the Chamber
Subject matter: Research and technological development
Procedure: Arbitration clause;Application for interim measures - unfounded;Action for damages
Origin: France

Order of the President of the General Court of 25 August 2017 — Sigma Orionis v REA (Case T‑47/16 R) (Application for interim measures — Arbitration clause — Horizon 2020 Framework Program for Research and Innovation — Decision to suspend payments and terminate grant contracts following a financial audit — Amounts allegedly due by the REA in the context of the implementation of the grant contracts — Claim for damages — Application for suspension of operation of a measure — Lack of urgency — Balancing of interests) 1. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Prima facie case — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Cumulative nature — Balancing of all the interests involved — Order of examination and method of verification — Discretion of the court hearing the application for interim relief (Arts 256(1) TFEU, 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(4)) (see paras 21-24) 2. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Burden of proof — Balancing of all the interests involved (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU) (see paras 26, 27) 3. Application for interim measures — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Balancing of all the interests involved — Application for the grant of a provisional measure for immediate payment by the REA of various sums due under several grant agreements to a company in a financial situation close to bankruptcy — Foreseeable risk of irreversible loss of those sums to the EU budget — Provisional measure sought inappropriate (Arts 268 TFEU, 279 TFEU and 340 TFEU) (see paras 30-35) 4. Application for interim measures — Admissibility criteria — Interest in bringing proceedings — Damage having already occurred — Inadmissibility (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156) (see para. 37) Re: APPLICATION based on Articles 278 and 279 TFEU and asking for immediate payment by the REA of a sum under the ‘FET-Event’ grant agreement. Operative part 1. The application for interim measures is dismissed. 2. Costs are reserved.