Order of the President of the General Court of 6 April 2016 — GABO:mi v Commission

(Case T‑10/16 R)

‛Application for interim measures — Grants — Sixth and seventh framework programmes of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2002-2006 and 2007-2013) — Letters requesting the repayment of part of the grants awarded — Debit note — Application for suspension of operation — Admissibility — Lack of urgency’

1. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Admissibility criteria — Prima facie admissibility of the main action — Summary examination of the main action by the court hearing the application for interim measures — Measures not producing binding legal effects — Measures not capable of forming the subject-matter of an annulment action — Measures inseparable from the contractual relations existing between the Commission and the applicant — Debit note and information letters issued by the Commission constituting a mere formal notice and not having executory force — Inadmissibility (Arts 263 TFEU, 272 TFEU and 299 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156) (see paras 14-16, 23-27)

2. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Serious and irreparable damage — Damage having already occurred — Reparation outside the purpose of the interim proceedings (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156) (see paras 22, 48)

3. Actions for annulment — Action relating in reality to a contractual dispute — Reclassification of the action — Conditions (Arts 263 TFEU and 272 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 76(d)) (see para. 28)

4. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Admissibility criteria — Prima facie admissibility of the main action — Cumulative invocation of the contractual and non-contractual legal bases of the dispute — Inadmissibility of the application for interim relief by reason of the prima facie inadmissibility of the non-contractual aspect of the main action — Admissibility of the same application by reason of the prima facie admissibility of the contractual aspect of the main action (Arts 263 TFEU and 272 TFEU) (see paras 29-32)

5. Application for interim measures — Admissibility criteria — Application — Formal requirements — Vague and imprecise indication of the subject-matter of the application — Inadmissibility (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Arts 76(e) and 156(4)) (see para. 33)

6. 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) TFEU, 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(3)) (see paras 34, 35)

7. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Serious and irreparable damage — Burden of proof — Damage foreseeable with a reasonable degree of probability (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(3)) (see para. 46)

8. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Urgency — Non-material damage not capable of being better remedied at the interim stage than in the main proceedings — No urgency (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(3)) (see para. 49)

9. 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 — Situation liable to endanger the existence of the applicant company — Assessment having regard to the situation of the group to which the undertaking and its shareholders belong — Group legally incapable of providing financial assistance — Insufficient evidence in that regard (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU) (see paras 51, 52, 56, 61, 63-65)

10. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Prima facie case — Urgency — Burden of proof — Obligation to provide concrete and precise indications, supported by detailed documentary evidence, from the lodging of the application (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(3)) (see paras 53, 54, 79, 80)

11. Application for interim measures — Suspension of operation of a measure — Interim measures — Conditions for granting — Prima facie case — Prima facie examination of the pleas in law put forward in support of the main action (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(3)) (see para. 68)

12. EU budget — EU financial assistance — Obligation on the beneficiary to comply with the conditions for grant of the assistance — Financing covering only expenses actually incurred — Demonstration that the expenses actually incurred — Production of accounting documents in accordance with the technical conditions laid down for the granting of the subsidy concerned and capable of review in the context of an audit — None — Ineligible expenses (Art. 317 TFEU) (see paras 76, 77, 82)

13. Application for interim measures — Formal requirements — Submission of applications — Brief summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based — Insufficient explanation of the grounds constituting a prima facie case — General reference to other documents — Inadmissibility (Arts 278 TFEU and 279 TFEU; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 156(3)) (see para. 79)

14. EU budget — EU financial assistance — Obligation on the beneficiary to comply with the conditions for grant of the assistance — Contracts concluded under a specific research, technological development and demonstration programme — Extend of EU financing in favour of a particular project — Total operating costs of the beneficiary undertaking — Not included (Art. 317 TFEU) (see para. 83)

Re:

APPLICATION for suspension of operation of, first, two letters from the Commission dated 2 December 2015 informing the applicant that it would proceed with the recovery of a part of the grants that had been awarded to it in the context of the Commission’s sixth and seventh framework programmes for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2002-2006 and 2007-2013) and, secondly, a Commission debit note ordering it to pay EUR 1770417.29 by 15 January 2016 at the latest.

Operative part

1. The application for interim measures is dismissed.

2. The order of 18 January 2016 delivered in Case T‑10/16 R is cancelled.