Order — ECLI:EU:T:2000:112
Date: 2000-04-13
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries
Concepts: Applications by natural or legal persons;Limitation periods
Procedure: Action for annulment - inadmissible
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Order 
1. Actions for annulment — Time-limits — Point from which time starts to run — Event 
causing time to run — Burden of proof 
(EC Treaty, Art. 173, fifth para, (now, after amendment, Art. 230, fifth para., EC); 
Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 102(2)) 
2. Actions for annulment — Natural or legal persons — Measures of direct and individual 
concern to them — Decision addressed to a Member State, granting financial assistance 
for certain projects proposed under the Leader II programme — Application by a local 
action group whose project was not accepted — Inadmissible 
(EC Treaty, Art. 173, fourth para, (now, after amendment, Art. 230, fourth para., 
EC» 
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SUMMARY — CASE T-263/97 
1. With regard to the time-limits laid 
down in the last paragraph of Arti­
cle 173 of the Treaty (now, after 
amendment, the last paragraph of 
Article 230 EC) and in Article 102(2) 
of the Rules of Procedure of the Court 
of First Instance, it is for the party 
pleading that the action is out of time 
to provide evidence of the date on 
which the event causing time to begin 
to run occurred. 
(see para. 47) 
2. Persons other than the addressees of a 
decision can only claim to be individu­
ally concerned, within the meaning of 
the fourth paragraph of Article 173 of 
the Treaty (now, after amendment, the 
fourth paragraph of Article 230 EC), if 
that decision affects them because of 
certain attributes peculiar to them or 
because of a factual situation which 
distinguishes them from any other 
person and thereby individualises them 
in a way similar to that of the addres­
see. 
That is not the case where, by its 
decision, the Commission excludes the 
territory of some administrative units 
in areas for action for local action 
groups or other joint actors are liable 
to receive financial assistance from the 
Community during the second phase of 
the Leader II programme. The con­
tested decision does not concern the 
applicant in a way which is different 
from other local action groups or joint 
actors, but is to be seen, with respect to 
the applicant, as a measure whose 
effects are capable of concerning var­
ious categories of individuals in an 
objective, general and abstract manner. 
(see paras 63-64) 
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