Order — ECLI:EU:C:1999:571
Date: 1999-11-18
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Fisheries policy
Concepts: Institution called upon to act
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - unfounded
Origin: Spain

Summary of the Order 
Actions for failure to act — Institution must be called upon to act — Conditions — 
Request must be clear and precise 
(EC Treaty, Art. 175, second para, (now Art. 232, second para., EC)) 
An action for failure to act is admissible 
only in so far as the applicant has duly 
followed the pre-litigation procedure, satis­
fying the essential procedural requirement 
of calling upon the institution concerned to 
act, within the meaning of the second 
paragraph of Article 175 of the Treaty 
(now the second paragraph of Article 232 
EC). Such a request must be expressed with 
sufficient clarity and precision for the 
institution to have a clear idea of the 
content of the decision sought and to 
realise that the purpose of the request is 
to compel the institution to state a position. 
Those conditions are not satisfied in the 
case of a fax addressed by the applicant to 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-249/99 P 
the Commission, which gives no indication 
to that effect and in no way suggests that it 
is deemed to constitute a preliminary to 
legal proceedings, but on the contrary 
merely asks the Commission for certain 
information, such as the telephone and fax 
numbers of the officials and official bodies 
handling the matter, with whom the appli­
cant — according to its own statements — 
wishes to make contact. 
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