Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Actions for annulment – Interest in bringing proceedings

(Art. 230, fourth para., EC; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1784/1999, Art. 6)

2. Acts of the institutions – Statement of reasons – Obligation – Scope

(Art. 253 EC; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1784/1999, Art. 6)

3. Procedure – Application initiating proceedings – Formal requirements

(Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21, first para., and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 44(1)(c))

Summary

1. An action for annulment brought by a natural or legal person is admissible only in so far as that person has an interest in the contested measure being annulled. That interest must be vested and present and is evaluated as at the date on which the action is brought. Such an interest exists only if the action, if successful, is likely to procure an advantage for the party who has brought it.

In this respect, although the annulment of a decision of the Commission not to accept a proposal submitted in response to a call for proposals in the field of innovative measures under Article 6 of Regulation No 1784/1999 on the European Social Fund could not in any case result in a situation where the applicant would be entitled, by virtue of the application for financial assistance which it made in the context of the second round of applications, to the award of a grant by the Commission, the fact remains that such an annulment would give the applicant an additional opportunity to be able to obtain such a grant. In the event of an annulment, the Commission would be required to reconsider the applicant’s proposal, taking into account the assessment made by the Court. Thus, the applicant would not have to make amendments to its proposal or bring it up to date, which would not be the case if it had to submit its application again in the context of the third round of applications.

(see paras 32-33)

2. The statement of reasons required by Article 253 EC must disclose in a clear and unequivocal fashion the reasoning followed by the institution which adopted the measure in such a way as to enable the persons concerned to ascertain the reasons for the measure and the Court to exercise its supervisory jurisdiction. It is not necessary, however, for details of all relevant factual and legal aspects to be given. The question whether the statement of the reasons for a decision meets the requirements of Article 253 EC must be assessed with regard not only to its wording but also to its context and to all the legal rules governing the matter in question.

The conciseness of the statement of reasons for a decision by which the Commission refuses a grant application under Article 6 of Regulation No 1784/1999 on the European Social Fund is an unavoidable consequence of the processing by computer of several hundred grant applications upon which the Commission must adjudicate within a short period. A more detailed statement of reasons in support of each individual decision would therefore be likely to compromise the rational and efficient allocation of the financial assistance from the European Social Fund.

Compliance with the duty to state reasons must be assessed in the light of the information which is available to the applicant at the time when the action is brought. If, the applicant, before bringing an action, asks the institution concerned for additional explanations about a decision and receives those explanations, he cannot ask the Court not to take them into consideration when determining whether the statement of reasons is adequate. The institution is, of course, not permitted to substitute an entirely new statement of reasons for the original statement of reasons.

(see paras 52-55)

3. Under the first paragraph of Article 21 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, which is applicable to the procedure before the Court of First Instance in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 53 of the Statute, and Article 44(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, the application initiating proceedings must, inter alia, contain a brief statement of the grounds on which the application is based. It must accordingly specify the nature of the grounds on which the action is based, so that a mere abstract statement of the grounds does not satisfy the requirements of the Statute of the Court of Justice or the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance.

(see para. 87)