62019CJ0498_INF
Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 10 September 2020 – Romania v Commission
(Case C‑498/19 P)
(Appeal – European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) – Decision of the European Commission excluding expenditure from EU financing – Notification to the addressee – Error in the printing of the annex – Publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union – Time limit for filing an appeal – Point from which time starts to run – Lateness – Principle of legal certainty – Observance of the adversarial principle)
1.
Action for annulment – Time limits – Point from which time starts to run – Date of notification of the decision – Day on which a measure came to the knowledge of the applicant – Ddifferences between the notified version and the published version of the decision – Differences which do not preclude the content of that decision to come to the knowledge of the applicant and from filing an appeal
(Art. 263, sixth para., and 297(2), third para., TFEU)
(see paras 27, 28, 35)
2.
Action for annulment – Time limits – Mandatory – Point from which time starts to run – Notification – Purely formal errors irrelevant
(Art. 263, sixth para., and 297(2), third para., TFEU)
(see para. 31)
3.
Action for annulment – Time limits – Point from which time starts to run – Date when a previously notified decision actually or completely came to the knowledge of the applicant through its subsequent publication – Infringement of the time limit to file an appeal
(Art. 263, sixth para., and 297(2), third para., TFEU)
(see para. 36)
4.
Action for annulment – Time limits – Mandatory – Point from which time starts to run – Notification – Infringement of the right to an effective remedy – None
(Art. 263 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 47);
(see para. 53)
5.
Judicial proceedings – Measures of organisation of procedure – Written questions put to the parties – No automatic effect on the outcome of the dispute – Freedom of the General Court in its absolute discretion to assess the facts and evidence – Condition – Compliance with the principle that the parties should be heard
(Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 88)
(see paras 74, 75)
6.
EU law – Principles – Rights of defence – Audi alteram partem rule – Compliance in the context of judicial proceedings – Scope – Decision based on facts and documents provided by one party without the other party being heard – Infringement of that principle – Annulment of that decision – Condition – Possibility for the procedure to lead to a different outcome in the absence of that infringement
(see paras 76, 77)
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Dismisses the appeal;
2.
Orders Romania to pay the costs.