Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Actions for annulment — Actionable measures — Meaning — Measures producing binding legal effects — Letter from an institution — Letter which merely interprets a legislative provision — Not included — (Art. 230 EC)

2. Plea of illegality — Scope — Measures in respect of which a plea of illegality may be raised — General measure on which the contested decision is based — (Art. 241 EC)

3. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Bananas — Import arrangements — Tariff quota — New scheme laid down in Regulation No 2362/98 — Applicability of Article 20(d) of Regulation No 404/93 to remedying of temporary difficulties arising from the transition from 1993 scheme to the 1999 scheme despite the existence of transitional provisions in Regulation No 2362/98 — Power of assessment of the Commission — Review by the Court — Limits — (Council Regulation No 404/93, Art. 20(d); Commission Regulation No 2362/98)

4. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Bananas — Import arrangements — Tariff quota — New scheme laid down in Regulation No 2362/98 — Refusal by the Commission to adopt specific measures under Article 20(d) of Regulation No 404/93 in the light of the commercial nature of the difficulties encountered by an operator — No manifest error of assessment — (Council Regulation No 404/93, Art. 20(d); Commission Regulation No 2362/98)

Summary

1. Any measure the legal effects of which are binding on and capable of affecting the interests of the applicant by bringing about a distinct change in his legal position is an act or a decision which may be the subject of an action for annulment under Article 230 EC. By contrast, a letter sent by a Community institution in response to a request made by the addressee is not a decision within the meaning of the fourth paragraph of Article 230 EC, which entitles the addressee to bring an action for its annulment. In particular, an act by which an institution simply interprets a legislative provision cannot be held to be an act having adverse effects. A written expression of opinion emanating from a Community institution cannot constitute a decision in respect of which an action for annulment may be brought, since it is not capable of producing any legal effects nor is it intended to produce such effects. In such circumstances, it is not the interpretation of the regulation proposed by the institution which is capable of producing legal effects but, rather, its application to a given situation.

see paras 59-61

2. Article 241 EC gives expression to the general principle conferring on any party to proceedings the right to challenge, for the purpose of obtaining the annulment of a decision of direct and individual concern to that party, the validity of previous acts of the institutions which, even if not in the form of a regulation, form the legal basis of the decision which is being attacked, if that party was not entitled under Article 230 EC to bring a direct action challenging those acts by which it was thus affected without having been in a position to ask that they be declared void. Given that Article 241 EC is not intended to enable a party to contest the applicability of any measure of general application in support of any action whatsoever, the general measure claimed to be illegal must be applicable, directly or indirectly, to the issue with which the action is concerned and there must be a direct legal connection between the contested individual decision and the general measure in question.

see paras 76-77

3. Notwithstanding the transitional provisions under Title V of Regulation No 2362/98 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation No 404/93 regarding imports of bananas into the Community, by which the Commission specified the detailed arrangements for the 1999 arrangement, the temporary difficulties which can arise during the reform of the common banana market organisation may in principle be settled by applying the arrangements for hardship cases provided for in Article 20(d) of Regulation No 404/93 on the common organisation of the market in bananas. That article allows the Commission to adopt " specific provisions needed" to facilitate the transition from the 1993 arrangement for imports of bananas to the 1999 arrangement. When assessing whether transitional measures are necessary under that provision, the Commission has a broad discretion, which is to be exercised in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27 of Regulation No 404/93. Thus, although it is for the Court of First Instance to review the lawfulness of the Commission ' s action or failure to act under that provision, the scope of that control is limited in particular to examining whether there has been a manifest error of assessment.

see paras 86, 88

4. The Commission does not commit a manifest error of assessment by refusing to adopt specific provisions under Article 20(d) of Regulation No 404/93, in the version amended by Regulation No 1637/98, in order to remedy difficulties encountered by an importer as a result of the transition from the 1993 arrangement to the 1999 arrangement if the difficulties alleged are essentially commercial in nature, such as the inability to obtain supplies of ACP bananas or the decision not to foster commercial contacts with suppliers of ACP bananas. The very purpose of that article supposes that the difficulties alleged by the operator concerned are directly linked to the change from the 1993 arrangement to the 1999 arrangement and are not due to a lack of diligence on the part of that operator.

see paras 89-91, 95-96