Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2002:478
Date: 2002-09-12
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Association Agreement;External relations;Overseas countries and territories;Rice
Procedure: Action for annulment - inadmissible;Appeal - successful
Origin: Provisional data;Netherlands Antilles

Summary of the Judgment 
Actions for annulment — Natural and legal persons — Measures of direct and individual 
concern to them — Regulations introducing specific measures in respect of imports of rice 
originating in the overseas countries and territories — Action brought by the Netherlands 
Antilles — Inadmissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 173, fourth para., (now, after amendment, Art. 230, fourth para. EC; 
Commission Regulations N os 2352/97 and 2494/97) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-142/00 P 
A measure of general application such as a 
regulation can be of individual concern to 
natural and legal persons only if it affects 
them by reason of certain attributes pecu­
liar to them, or by reason of a factual 
situation which differentiates them from all 
other persons and distinguishes them indi­
vidually in the same way as the addressee. 
The Netherlands Antilles are not individ­
ually concerned by Regulation No 2352/97 
introducing specific measures in respect of 
imports of rice originating in the overseas 
countries and territories (OCT) and Regu­
lation No 2494/97 on the issuing of import 
licences for rice falling within CN code 
1006 and originating in the overseas coun­
tries and territories under the specific 
measures introduced by Regulation 
No 2352/97. 
First, the general interest which an OCT, as 
an entity responsible for economic and 
social affairs within its jurisdiction, may 
have in obtaining a result that is favourable 
for its economic prosperity is not sufficient 
on its own to enable it to be regarded as 
being concerned, or — a fortiori — indi­
vidually concerned, for the purposes of the 
fourth paragraph of Article 173 of the 
Treaty, (now, after amendment, the fourth 
paragraph of Article 230 EC) by Regu­
lations Nos 2352/97 and 2494/97. 
Second, the finding that the Commission 
was required, in so far as the circumstances 
of the case so permitted, to take account, at 
the time when Regulations Nos 2352/97 
and 2494/97 were adopted, of the negative 
effects which those regulations might have 
on the economy of the OCTs concerned 
and on the undertakings concerned does 
not discharge the Netherlands Antilles from 
the burden of proving that they were 
affected by those regulations by reason of 
a factual situation which differentiates 
them from all other persons. The fact that 
the Netherlands Antilles exported by far 
the most rice originating in the OCTs to the 
Community is not such as to distinguish 
them from all other OCTs. Even if the 
assertion that the safeguard measures laid 
down by Regulations Nos 2352/97 and 
2494/97 were liable to have significant 
socio-economic consequences for the 
Netherlands Antilles proved to be well 
founded, the fact nevertheless remains that 
those measures will have similar con­
sequences for the other OCTs. The econ­
omic activity of the processing of rice from 
third countries in the OCTs, is a commer­
cial activity that may be carried out at any 
time by any economic operator in any 
OCT. Such economic activity is not there­
fore such as to differentiate the Netherlands 
Antilles from all other OCTs. 
(see paras 65, 69, 76-78, 80) 
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