Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2002:62
Date: 2002-03-07
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Second Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Competition;Agreements, decisions and concerted practices;Freedom to provide services;Dominant position
Concepts: General
Procedure: Action for annulment - inadmissible
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment 
Actions for annulment — Actionable measures — Definition — Measures with binding 
legal effects — Preparatory measures — Excluded 
(EC Treaty, Art. 173 (now, after amendment. Art. 230 EC)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE T-95/99 
Only measures which produce binding legal 
effects and are capable of affecting the 
interests of the applicant by bringing about 
a distinct change in his legal position 
constitute measures challengeable by an 
action for annulment under Article 173 of 
the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, 
Article 230 EC). In the case of acts or 
decisions adopted by a procedure involving 
several stages, in particular where they are 
the culmination of an internal procedure, in 
principle, an act is reviewable only if it is a 
measure definitively establishing the pos­
ition of the Commission at the conclusion 
of that procedure, and not a provisional 
measure intended to pave the way for the 
final decision. 
In those circumstances, where the Commis­
sion makes it clear in a letter to the 
complainant which constitutes the con­
tested measure that the assessments con­
tained therein are of a provisional nature, 
the content of the contested measure con­
firms that statement, and the Commission 
makes it clear that its comments are subject 
to any further observations that the appli­
cant might wish to make, it must be 
concluded that the contested measure is to 
be regarded as a preparatory statement of 
position. Since the contested measure is not 
one which definitively establishes the Com­
mission's position, it does not produce 
binding legal effects capable of affecting 
the complainant's interests, and is not 
therefore a reviewable act for the purposes 
of Article 173 of the Treaty. 
(see paras 32, 34, 36-38, 41) 
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