Order — ECLI:EU:T:2000:274
Date: 2000-11-27
Language of the case: English
Court formation: First Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Provisions governing the Institutions;Value added tax
Concepts: Costs
Procedure: Action for annulment;Application as to costs - unfounded
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary of the Order 
Procedure — Costs — Taxation — Recoverable costs — Indispensable expenses incur­
red by the parties — Definition — Expense of payment of litigation insurance — 
Included — Conditions 
(Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 91(b)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE T-78/99 (92) 
It follows from Article 91(b) of the Rules of 
Procedure of the Court of First Instance 
that recoverable costs are confined to 
expenses which are both incurred for the 
purpose of the proceedings before the 
Court and indispensable for such purposes. 
The term 'indispensable expenses' cannot 
cover expenses incurred by a party which 
are not directly connected with its defence 
before the Court but are simply a matter of 
its own choice. 
It follows that the expense of paying a 
litigation insurance premium, even if in­
curred for the purposes of proceedings 
before the Court of First Instance, cannot, 
as a rule, be considered to be an indispen­
sable expense within the meaning of Art­
icle 91(b) of the Rules of Procedure. How­
ever, it might be so considered in excep­
tional circumstances, where the party con­
cerned can prove, on the basis of objective 
evidence, that it would not have been able 
to bring its action without a litigation 
insurance policy guaranteeing, in the event 
of an order for costs being made against it, 
payment of the costs of the opposite party. 
(see paras 16-18) 
II - 3718