Order of the President of the of the General Court of 8 May 2019 –

Sumitomo Chemical and Tenka Best v Commission

(Case T‑734/18 R)

(Interim measures — Biocidal products — Active substance empenthrin — Non-approval — Application for suspension of operation of a measure — No urgency)

1. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Prima facie case — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Cumulative nature — Balancing of all the interests involved — Order of examination and method of verification — Discretion of the court hearing the application for interim relief (Arts 256(1), 278 and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(4)) (see paras 15-18)

2. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Burden of proof — Purely hypothetical damage based on the happening of future and uncertain events — Insufficient to demonstrate urgency (Arts 278 and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(4)) (see paras 21-23, 54)

3. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Serious and irreparable damage — Financial loss — Serious nature of (the) harm — Situation liable to endanger the existence of the applicant company — Assessment in the light of the size and turnover of the undertaking and the situation of the group to which it belongs — Activity in highly regulated markets — Examination of the circumstances of each case (Arts 278 and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(4)) (see paras 24, 25, 33, 43, 46)

4. Application for interim measures — Admissibility criteria — Application — Formal requirements — Pleas establishing a prima facie case for the measures applied for — Pleas in law not set out in the application — General reference to other documents — Inadmissibility (Arts 278 and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(4) and (5)) (see paras 27, 29)

5. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Burden of proof — Financial loss — Obligation to provide concrete and precise indications, supported by detailed documentary evidence — Need to provide a true overall picture of the financial situation (Arts 278 and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(4)) (see paras 28, 32, 39, 75)

6. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Damage to the applicant’s reputation — Non-material damage not capable of being better remedied at the interim stage than in the main proceedings — None (Arts 278 and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156) (see paras 35, 36)

Re:

Application under Articles 278 and 279 TFEU seeking the suspension of the operation of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1251 of 18 September 2018 not approving empenthrin as an existing active substance for use in biocidal products of product-type 18 (OJ 2018 L 235, p. 24).

Operative part

1. The application for interim measures is dismissed.