Order — ECLI:EU:T:1998:30
Date: 1998-02-13
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Competition;Agreements, decisions and concerted practices
Concepts: Limitation periods
Procedure: Action for annulment - inadmissible
Origin: France

Summary of the O r d e r 
Actions for annulment — Time-limits — Mandatory — Point from which time starts to run — 
Notification — Purely formal errors irrelevant 
(EC Treaty, Art. 173) 
The two-month time-limit for bringing an 
action laid down by Article 173 of the Treaty 
is a matter of public policy which was estab­
lished in order to ensure that legal positions 
are clear and certain and to avoid discrimi­
nation or arbitrary treatment in the adminis­
tration of justice. The Court of First Instance 
may determine of its own motion whether it 
has been complied with. 
II - 261 
SUMMARY — CASE T-276/97 
In that context, an error in the description of 
the addressee of a decision which is the sub­
ject of an action for annulment is a purely 
formal error which cannot in any event pre­
vent the application of the time-limits laid 
down by the Treaty, provided that the 
addressee of the contested decision was able 
to see that it was addressed to him. 
I I - 262