Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2016:296
Date: 2016-05-12
Language of the case: Spanish
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Space;Research and technological development
Procedure: Action for damages - unfounded;Action for annulment - inadmissible;Action for damages - inadmissible
Origin: Spain

summary of the pleas in law relied on, and that new pleas in law may not be introduced in the course of the proceedings unless they are based on matters of law or of fact which come to light in the course of the procedure. However, a plea or an argument which amplifies a plea put forward previously, whether directly or by implication, in the original application, and which is closely connected therewith, must be declared admissible (judgment of 11 July 2013 in Ziegler v Commission, C‑439/11 P, EU:C:2013:513, paragraph 46). The same applies to a submission made in support of a plea in law (judgment of 19 May 2010 in Boliden and Others v Commission, T‑19/05, EU:T:2010:203, paragraph 90). 80 In the present case the applicant’s submission that it suffered non-material damage as a result of the contested decision does not appear in the application and is not based on any matters of law or of fact relied on during the proceedings. Moreover, it is not an amplification of a plea previously relied on. The non-material damage mentioned in the application and examined in paragraphs 65 to 76 above was invoked by reason of the Commission’s conduct and not in relation to the contested decision. 81 Therefore, the complaint claiming the existence of non-material damage relating to the adoption of the contested decision must be rejected as being new and, therefore, inadmissible in accordance with Article 48(2) of the Rules of Procedure of 2 May 1991. 82 In any event, even if it were not a new complaint, it must be held that the applicant’s claim in that regard contains no figures and indirectly seeks a declaration that its participation in the eDIGIREGION project should not have been excluded. In other words, such a claim seeks essentially to obtain the same result as that which it is deprived of by reason of the fact that its action for annulment was out of time. Therefore, it appears to be closely connected to the action for annulment, within the meaning of the case-law set out in paragraphs 46 to 48 above, and therefore must be dismissed in accordance with that case-law. 83 Further, the applicant fails to provide any information supporting the existence of damage to its reputation linked to the contested decision. In that connection, the decision rejecting its participation in the project, although unfavourable, cannot in itself, be regarded as injuring its reputation. The consequences related to the adoption of such a decision are part of the risks to which all experienced economic operators are exposed when they take part in such a procedure. It follows that the damage to reputation supposedly connected to the contested decision is not established. 84 Therefore, the claim for compensation for non-material damage, whether it is connected to the Commission’s conduct or the contested decision, must be dismissed. 85 It follows from all of the foregoing that the applicant’s action for damages must be dismissed in its entirety, without there being any need to accede to its request to order a report or to appoint an expert or to its request for a measure of organisation of procedure to take statements from the project coordinators. Likewise, its request to publish the General Court’s judgment must be dismissed. 86 The present action must therefore be rejected in its entirety. Costs 87 Under Article 134(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the successful party’s pleadings. Since the applicant has been unsuccessful, it must be ordered to pay the costs, in accordance with the form of order sought by the Commission. On those grounds, THE GENERAL COURT (Sixth Chamber) hereby: 1. Dismisses the action; 2. Orders Holistic Innovation Institute SLU to pay the costs. Frimodt Nielsen Dehousse Collins Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 12 May 2016. [Signatures] * Language of the case: Spanish.