Case T-339/00: Action brought on 8 November 2000 by Bactria Industriehygiene Service GmbH & Co K.G. against the Commission of the European Communities
Date: 2001-01-06
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: European Commission, action for annulment (EU), chemical industry, chemical product, marketing, public health

6.1.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 4/9

Action brought on 8 November 2000 by Bactria Industrie-
hygiene Service GmbH & Co K.G. against the Commission
of the European Communities

(Case T-339/00)

(2001/C 4/14)

(Language of the case: English)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 8 November 2000 by Bactria
Industriehygiene Service GmbH & Co. KG, represented by
Mr Koen Van Maldegem and Mr Claudio Mereu of the Brussels
Bar.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 1896/2000 of
7 September 2000 on the first phase of the programme
referred to in Article 16(2) of Directive 98/8/EC of the
Europan Parliament and of the Council on biocidal
products, based on Article 230(4) of the EC Treaty;

— order the defendant to pay all the costs of these proceed-

ings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant manufactures peracetic acid (‘PAA’), which is an
active substance used in biocidal products.

Pursuant to Article 16, paragraph 2 of Directive 98/8/EC (1),
the Commission initiated a programme of work for the review
of all active substances of biocidal products already on the
market. To this end, the Commission adopted regulation (EC)
No 1896/2000 (2). This regulation initiates a notification
procedure for active substances to be evaluated for a possible
inclusion in a list of substances that are eligible to be placed
on the market.

The applicant submits that it is individually and directly
concerned by this regulation and seeks its annulment on the
following grounds:

— The Regulation violates the data protection provisions
set forth in the Directive by ignoring protection for
commercially sensitive and expensive active substance
data, legally granted by the Directive, during the review
period of these active substances.

— It distorts competition in violation of the EC Treaty in
that it allows companies which do not participate in the
review process to take a free ride on notifications made
by participating diligent companies, like the applicant;

— It grants phase-out periods for the continued selling of
active substances that are found to be unfit for EU central
register inclusion which are unreasonably long and will
economically damage participating diligent companies,
like the applicant.

— It requires companies to share commercially sensitive
market information when making a notification, which
gives rise to antitrust concerns when producers become
aware of each other’s market volumes and shares.

— It infringes well established principles of EU law such as
the fundamental right of data ownership, the principles
of
legitimate expectations, proportionality, uniform
application of Community law, and supremacy of inter-
national agreements.

(1) Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing of biocidal products
on the market, OJ L 123 , of 24 April 1998, p. 1.

(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 1896/2000 of 7 September
2000 on the first phase of the programme referred to in Article
16(2) of Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council on biocidal products, OJ L 228 , of 8 September 2000,
p. 6.

Action brought on 7 November 2000 by the Comunità
Montana della Valnerina against Commission of the Euro-
pean Communities

(Case T-340/00)

(2001/C 4/15)

(Language of the case: Italian)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 7 November 2000 by the Comu-
nità Montana della Valnerina, represented by Emilio Cappelli
and Paolo De Caterini, of the Rome Bar, with an address for
service in Luxembourg at the Chambers of Charles Turk, 13 B,
avenue Guillaume.